My Garage.

[SOSAGES]

Hello all,

Hopefully someone here will be an expert and able to help if not i will google!

I own a house, it has been valued at £215,000. A shocking price for the property and im glad i wont be the one paying it (instead i will be paying over the odds for someone elses)

I have had 3 estate agents round and they all came up with £215 when asked if i could make the house be worth more (do up the kitchen/Paint something etc) i was told it was already at the max price so i would be wasting my money.

The house comes with a garage in a block about 30 seconds walk from my front door. I asked each estate agent if that added any value to the house as all 3 valued it at £215k before they knew about the garage and all of them said the garage adds no value.

I looked into it and it seems garages sell for a fair bit (5-8k) So is it worth selling the garage seperatly and then selling the house? Any legal issues?

Oh and it seems placing a value on a property is easy - look what others sold for and add a bit.

Thanks in advance

[superbiatch]

Its not a particularly good time of year to put your house on the market, so if you're wanting a quick sale i'd think seriously about the asking price quoted and maybe reduce it - if you can hang on, i would as the market is not stable at all atm.

If you do want a quick sale, i'd tie up any loose ends like unfinished paintwork or curtains that need hanging, in order to show people they can just move in without having to do any major work.

I'm not sure how the garage fits in with legalities - is it in a block of garages? Do you own the deeds?

[Rob]

It's rare to be able to sell a garage in an adjacent block separate to the house. There will usually be restrictive covenants in the title deeds to ensure the house and garage remain as one.

It would be a rare situation to say that the garage adds no value to the property. Garages in nearby blocks (depends how nearby) are no where near as beneficial as a garage directly in the grounds of a property. This is primarily due to the security, or lack of, and that in many cases the blocks can get neglected. If they are some distance, convenience of access plays a part too. However if there is no alternative parking available outside your house (road or driveway) the garage remains important.

These days garages are often not used for cars but for storage of all our other lifestyle trappings such as bicycles and other leisure toys. If you have a large shed then the garage is often superflous and would add little value.

It may be that the garage doesn't increase the price as such, because the real value is in the quality and size of the house. Valuation is an art rather than exact science and yes it is based on a knowledge of what else similar has sold for what price. However, estate agents will often quote asking prices, which are not the same as actual market value i.e what you will actually get.

[SOSAGES]

not planning on selling just yet, prices coming down for the last few months makes me want to wait. But the garage is never used and yes in a block with about 30 others.
I could rent it out for 15 quid a week but i talked to some estate agents and they get people (mainly plumbers and other tradesmen) asking to buy / rent garages all the time.

the garage comes with the house so i dont know where i stand to seperate the 2

[alferret]

If both properties, house and garage are freehold (title deeds should show what the garage is, normally the same as the house) then you would be able to sell the garage as a seperate entity IIRC land registry need to be informed prior to sale (not 100% sure though) But if as I read its in a block it could well be leasehold (or terminology along those lines) and could only be sold as a part of the house.

I would consult a solicitor for the finer details.