Not only does a garage add value to your home, it also protects the value of your vehicles :)

guess it depends where you really are, w
where I live, a garage is waste of space..considering we also don't experience snows, ..only a shading net car port that can be utilized for outdoor activities..garages end up storing crap

I would say a driveway would be more important to me. Off street parking is a beautiful thing!! Having a garage not so much. Don’t need another place to store junk.

@ Milson Fotch ,

If you don't have to contend with snow and ice, driveway parking is fine. Otherwise a garage is very desirable. You don't have to fill it with junk, a good place for the car is what you need. And bikes, and .....

We have an attached two car carport. I'm very satisfied with it.

Lucky that you don't have to deal with snow storms which would push snow into your car port.

You're right about snow. Here in the southern most part of Louisiana, the 3 flakes of snow that we might get every few years aren't a problem!

Man, we have a 2 car garage and I would be lost without it. Everything has its proper place so we can get our cars in there. One other neighbor parks their car in their garage but that's it. The rest of the neighbor's park their cars outside, they all have kids and so much stuff! SO MUCH STUFF!

A garage would be nice, but I have dedicated parking in front of my house, and we live in a walkable city that means I usually only drive once or twice per week.

Now, a basement is something I could go for!!

The garage is where we park our bikes, kayaks and camping gear....Wish there was room for the car when weather is extreme.

As a single woman, an attached garage is an absolute must for convenience and safety. Back in, close the garage door and unload groceries and supplies in comfort.

My car insurance requires that the car is stored in a locked garage.

We have winter many months in a year with heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain, a garage is most helpful in keeping the car dry and saving having to clean it off each morning.

We have a garage that's empty 90% of the time. One of us only park in there when guests visit to free additional parking space.

I don't like parking in there because of spiders and husband loves it but hardly ever actually does. A nice custom carport would have worked as well.

I would prefer to have a climate controlled storage room. My car does not need a special room! Spend way to much time trying to keep garage tidy and clean

I do need a garage. We don’t use it for autos but for work related equipment, Christmas decorations, storage in general and exercise equipment.

Everyone needs "more space". In most "suburban" parts of South America people have attached 2/3/4 car garages BUT, they do not park their cars in them. The floors are beautifully tiled and most have large windows. The "garages" are used to hold BBQ's for family & friends. The weekly "asado" is a HUGE part of life in SA.

In our harsh winter climate, a garage is a necessity if you don't want to be digging your car out of the snow and ice that will bury it. While it also provides convenient storage, we bought our current house because it had a large attached 2 car garage where we could park and store our cars safely.

We need our garage for quite the opposite reason as those in cold climates. I would not want to leave my car outside in 110 degree weather!

No mater where you live, a garage is crucial. it protects your ca from thieves or hooligans, as well as bad weather!

*Car

3 car garage with 3 cars in it.. overhead storage racks for stuff in 2 of the bays + drive in to back yard for our service van.. and still parking 1 more car in driveway or the street.. could not live without the garage and wish it was bigger so we have more room for storage.. hubby's bay is like a man cave for his car..

Live in a townhouse in Virginia and do just fine without a garage. We have a shed for bike and tool storage.

It is an opinion on how people wants the garage or not. But when it come optional to convert

a garage to a house, it will reap the market RE value. Most people rather to have a garage.

2 things that make life in MN easier: a garage, and all wheel drive. I have no interest in standing outside spending extra time scraping ice off my windshield winter mornings while I'm waking up.

A garage is nice. When the weather is bad, you don't have to get wet getting in and out, unload groceries, etc. Also, the car is dry and ready without having to take time to defrost the windows in the morning. We have a 3 plus car garage so have room for 2 cars plus the recreation toys (bikes, boats), garden apparatus and a workshop. If there was no garage, there would have to be a storage area of some sort to house the yard tools, "toys" and workshop. My parents had a 2 car carport with a storage room on one end. It was large enough for a nice workshop and yard storage. However, it was not attached to the house so they got wet when the weather was bad.

We've always had a garage of some sort and prefer the attached type. It provides protection for the car so you don't have to spend time scraping the windshield, and protection for you getting in the house on wet/cold days. We now have a 3 plus oversized garage. There is room for 2 cars, recreation "toys" (bikes and boats); yard care apparatus; and a workshop. It is nice to have that all under one roof, right by the house.

Nobody "NEEDS" a garage. Houzz's wording is inaccurate. However, I suppose some would really want one. I, however, have never had one and don't care either way.

Everyone's needs are different. We need a garage. It is not just a want.

As I earlier indicated, the "need" for a garage varies from person to person and family to family. If you don't think you need a garage, then you don't. I own an old car that is worth a lot of money and it would make no sense to have that car sit out in bad weather and/or have strangers have access to it. I have a garage and I use it to store cars, motorcycles, tools, for storage, and as a place to do certain kinds of work. Those of us who live in parts of the country where it snows a lot certainly like having a garage. And it can be safer to drive into a garage, get out of your car, and enter your house. But, again, if the above are not issues for someone, then they don't need a garage. Let's remember to be nice to each other and to realize that people's situations can vary widely.

Well if you live in Montreal, Canada, you really do need a garage at least in winter. For the rest of the year you cna get by with a driveway or a parking lot, but these too are rare finds.

In the city few people have one though and it's just awful for them when their cars get buried in several feet of snow that they have to dig out before they can get into their cars, especially when the city posts signs that force you to move your car so they may eventually get around to clearing the snow on the street. The fact that it may take several days until snow removal is actually done adds to the frustration with cars circling trying to find a legal available and accessible spot which simply does not exist.

Most people live in small attached buildings that date back to the time when not many people owned cars. Nowadays many people no longer keep cars when they live in the city, but those that do it's really because they simply cannot take public transit to even go to work. These same people not only don't have garages but there aren't any driveways or parking lots they can use.

Seems that nobody lives close to where they work, nobody works close to where they live, and public transit is not always the option.

Odd facts:

• Easily 80% of Montreal residents are renters.
• Every year at least 20% of them move, usually on July 1st when most leases expires.
• The majority of these people who move end up repainting their apartments, replacing the previous tenants idea of paint color with their own. Seems nobody's happy with anybody else's idea of decor. Thus walls will have at least 20-30 layers of paint, sometimes even wallpapers painted over and over.

I don't care about what anyone's NEED for a garage is, but, in my life, I NEED one. Always have....always will. A house is NOT complete without a garage.....or at least, a CARPORT.

Love my carport. Easy to pull in and out of, easy to clean, and gives me a protected, ventilated space for projects like spray painting . Depending on vehicle size and carport width, a tall closet for tools and garden items often can be built onto one wall.

I keep possessions pared down to A. functional necessity, and B. only things I truly love, so wanting a garage in which to stash a bunch of stuff isn't "me."

@bloomingdogwood. I agree about a covered carport. I had one at my house in N.O. and I loved it. I could do projects underneath. I would grill underneath it. my car was parked there. Was kept cool in the summer. I have a garage now. It's been converted. There is nothing like a carport though.

@bloomingdogwood. I agree about a covered carport. I had one at my house in N.O. and I loved it. I could do projects underneath. I would grill underneath it. my car was parked there. Was kept cool in the summer. I have a garage now. It's been converted. There is nothing like a carport though.

If not a garage, at least a carport! Between everything weather related and birds, it's mandatory in my life.

this is the first time i've had a garage - after 4 homes. never realized what i was missing. now have lots of storage space - area for washer/dryer, freeing up the old laundry room to now use as a compact office -........... and i can even park the car and get into the house without getting drenched, in a heavy rain. what's there's not to like?

For real sale, I would have one. just bought our first house with a garage and still haven't used it for parking. I tried once and scraped the side of my SUV. :( but I live in the south so I don't have to worry about snow.

Automobiles regardless of climate last significantly longer when stored in an area protected from the elements. Outside of the home purchase there are few items we own in which we invest a similar amount of money. Its the most significant investment made in an item that immediately decreases in value even without any real change in condition. Add to the equation the deterrent to auto theft or break-ins and it becomes even more clear. A simple garage need not be expensive. The payoff is far in excess of the cost. It is in my opinion a no-brainer.

In the South we don't have basements so we need garages to store our lawn equipment, and general maintenance & home repair equipment/tools!!! We don't have a garage right now, but I hate not having one, b/c I had to convert an extra bedroom into storage for all this stuff instead of for fun stuff or guests; however we do keep all flammable, chemicals, and garden soils in a small but slowly crumbling shed in our back yard. I voted for a garage, because I know what it is like first hand not having one when you need it for your lawn equipment.... especially on 11 acres! Still I would rather keep all my wood working tools (i.e. table saw, band saw, etc.) and general home and auto maintenance and repair tools IN A GARAGE! I just wish they were not so expensive to build!!!

We get hail storms on occasion here in north central Texas and some are severe enough to damage your car. Also, our summers are brutally sunny and hot, so I would never buy a house around here that didn't have a garage

I need the garage to protect my car from the salt air. Having a place to store some stuff is also helpful in an under 1000 square foot house.

It’s a MUST for my marriage! My husband is an old ‘shop dog’ and would be miserable without his personal retreat space.

I definitely have to have a two-car garage. Being that we live on a hill, and being elderly, it is so much easier to get in and out of our vehicles on level ground. Nothing worst when the door closes on your leg while trying to get out or in the vehicle. There is nothing better than climbing into your car in the winter mornings or when it is rainy inclement weather. It is nice not having to scrap ice or snow off of the vehicle before taking off. The vehicle temperature is usually comfortable inside the garage and helps to maintain our vehicles for a longer life span when they are kept inside and protected from the environment.

Yes I need a garage at home!! I wouldn't even consider a home without one. I just bought a brand new home after retirement and yes, all homes here in NE Tennessee have garages. We have 4 full seasons and a garage keeps your vehicle clean, dry, warm or cool when you get in it to go out. Snow and rain in particular are issues here. You get into or out of your vehicle in a controlled environment. The most wonderful part of a garage though is the security it provides you to enter your home.

Yes, I agree with you. We utilize our garage to get in and out of our home. The doors are barely utilized for getting inside. Our son and daughter have programmed their cell phones to open the automatice garage door to let themselves into our home. It is so convenient. If we would move, we would definitely have to have this luxury in the new home as well. It is a must have to have the garage connected or in the basement of our home, which is bi-level (raised rancher style).

I voted that I need a garage because I need a place to store my four bicycles. We never park a car there, and very few people in my neighborhood do. It is more awkward to get into the house from the garage. All houses in my neighborhood were built (1947-1953) with one of four floor plans, but they all have a garage on one side - and this acts as a buffer between houses. Therefore, if I look out my kitchen window, I see my neighbors' garage, but no windows, and this also blocks noise from one house to the next. I have my A/C unit under my kitchen window, and while it is very quiet (for an A/C), my neighbor cannot hear it at all, except perhaps from inside her garage.

I need the storage that I get from my garage, but if the house were larger, I could store a lot of it inside the house, although it would not be as pretty. I'm not at all familiar with basements and have only been in one house that had one, and I thought it was a bit weird. You could call my garage a tool shed, if you like, since you cannot park a car in it, but it does have a regular garage door, which is handy for the bikes.

I live in Los Angeles, and so weather is not an issue regarding the garage. Even when it rains, the rain is so light that an umbrella is not usually needed. I'm in a frost-free zone, and so we never get any frost on the cars, and we have a double-wide driveway, which will accommodate two cars. The easiest way to get groceries into the house is from the driveway. My house in Venice (CA) had a carpeted garage, and the previous resident used it as an office, but I put my universal weight machine there and used it as a personal gym. I could open the garage door and look at my beautiful back yard while I was working out. In Venice, the garage was at the back of the house instead of beside the house. I don't have such a good view from my garage now, or at least not a private view like I had before. In San Francisco, I almost never had a garage, but then I didn't have a car there either. At the last place I lived in SF, we stored our garbage cans in the garage.

I like my garage and never would have had one, but, my husband at the time wanted it, so, when the house was built it included a garage. It's not big enough for my truck, so I use it as a workshop & my dogs consider it their doghouse.

We love having our garage, my husband works on our automobiles and stores our tools and gardening stuff out there. We store tons of things out there, like extra touch up paint for the interior and exterior. And I have used the garage when refinishing furniture. Having a garage is super convenient. And of course, having my car out of the snow in winter is a plus, we live near the mountains. And in summer when it's 100 out, having the car in the garage is also a bonus, no burning hot steering wheel is quite lovely

I dislike when a person says nobody "needs" a garage. I have severe rheumatoid arthritis. Try going through winter with that, naysayers.