Could building a single garage be a big mistake?

We have a fairly limited budget with building and have been advised by our builder (an independant) to keep our house size to no more than 25sq - including garage. We're yet to meet with a drafty but have been drawing up some floorplan ideas ourselves for now.

We were considering building a single garage (or a little larger than single, but not double) to increase living space. Could this be a big mistake in the long run?

We're not worried about storing the cars in the garage all the time, as long as we can fit in one we're happy, but should we consider what is best for resale? We do plan to live in this home for quite some time so we aren't neccessarily building it to sell quickly but I guess we want to make sure it's not going to leave us with a house that will be hard to sell simply because of the garage.

Would like to hear peoples thoughts on this.

Thanks

I think if you are planning to live in the house and not sell now, you should build what you need. If you only require a single garage and that's all you can afford then that should be what you do.

Ify ou are worried about comparisions however, what do the other houses have around you??

I think you have to build what suits you for your purposes - however a house only having a single garage would put me off buying it - we only park one car in the double garage but we like to have lots of room around the car for kids to get in and out etc so if you were only doing a single garage but did it a bit wider than it would probably be ok.
Hope that helps.

What about a double carport which you may be able to get for the same price as a single garage? You can always enclosed it yourselves at a later date - one of the reasons we moved because we had a single garage and we were constantly moving cars around. We have a double now at the rental and it's heaven except when DH parks in the middle!!

We're building on stumps with a 3 metre rise so there will be a LOT of under house storage - would that change the way you might feel about the place? We'll be enclosing the under house storage so it'll be like a large shed which is where we'll store the kids bikes, lawnmower, etc.

I'd love to be able to do that but I think the shape of our block will limit us from doing so. It only has a 9.5 metre front so the space we have at the front is quite small. (The rear fence is 30ish metres and the shortest side fence is 28ish metres - so it's like a big triangle )

I love the idea of just doing what suits us but a part of me can't help but worry about what seems like a really big decision. The street we're building in is a new extension of a street that is about 20-25 years old. A lot of the homes are on big slopes so have been able to build garages under their homes. I have noticed some without garages but most seem to have a double.

Yep it does - also being a new house in an older area would make not having a double garage as noticeable (new estates around here all the house have double garages so if one had a single garage it would look different and you would wonder why). So I think if it suits your family and budget now - go for the single.

I'd go for a single.

We only ever park one car in our double garage.

One suggestion is make it about 9m long so you have room for a workshop/storage at the back.

I'd say go with what you can afford and need/can fit.

Personally, I wouldn't keep my car outside, but that's just me.

Our last home had a single garage, and the build we did a few years ago had to have single also due to the width of the block. I would never build again with a single garage, it puts alot of buyers off. We did ok selling both homes, but would have done better if we had a double garage. The agent's favorite conditioning tool was " oh you only have a single garage" they never said it at the start, but both times, it was said in the first week.

Is there room to put a driveway down the side of the house and put in a separate colorbond garage in the backyard later? A single garage as part of the house with an external double lock-up garage/shed in the back yard is pretty much the norm in our neighbourhood (but might not work for yours).

go for the widest single garage you can. single and a half if possible is that's all you have room for. If You've got the room I'd got for a double carport in preference though as it can be enclosed later as someone else said.

Where I live, there are many newly built houses of the smaller size, on cottage blocks with single garages, not to mention older homes with single garages/carport.

Within reason, I am always a fan of building what you want yourselves - but I agree that for re-sale value, it depends on what is the norm in your area.