We live in the south where we pretty much have only one season through out the year - SUMMER! This house is in the suburbs of a major city where 2 car is standard, and 3 would be a bonus. I'm torn because I like the 3rd car bay, but the floor plan is a little more compartmentalized than the traditional 2 car garage house. Thanks for your opinion!

"IF I had to choose, I would pick a nice floorplan and a 2 car garage over a house with an undesirable layout and a 3 car garage. "

Same with me.

2 car garage is the standard and norm in my area. AND people actually put their cars in them!

When building our home, we were more concerned with the garage not over powering the home, so we went with a two car garage.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Foursquare

The floorplan would be more important to me provided there is ample storage elsewhere (basement, walk up attic).

I'd want a house plan with both elements. If you have to choose either/or, then you don't have the right plan. Have your architect redraw it.

I agree with Green, no reason at all you couldn't have both. In our area, buyers expect a 3 car garage at a certain price point.

I agree with Green, no reason at all you couldn't have both. In our area, buyers expect a 3 car garage at a certain price point.

Three car garage is a big value-add for me, but only if the entire elevation doesn't look like a "garage-mahal". Perhaps you can opt for a tandem for that third space.

We couldn't fit a proper 3-car on our lot and with our plan, but we were able to make it extra wide and extra deep, so there is plenty of storage - and steps directly from the garage to the basement.

You have to at least meet the norm for the area you're building in.

Three is the standard where we're living now, with tandem fours and fives a bonus.

By contrast, in many downtown neighbourhoods here you pay a premium for a municipally licenced parking pad in your front yard. I even owned homes where you had to buy an overnight street parking permit. And sometimes even those were not available. One guy I knew used to park his cars in a storage unit.

We live in the south where we pretty much have only one season through out the year - SUMMER! This house is in the suburbs of a major city where 2 car is standard, and 3 would be a bonus. I'm torn because I like the 3rd car bay, but the floor plan is a little more compartmentalized than the traditional 2 car garage house. Thanks for your opinion!

I agree with the others that it depends on what is the norm for the neighborhood and the price point. In a neighborhood of starter homes, I'd expect a 2 car garage to be standard and that resale wouldn't suffer for not having a 3 car garage. At a higher pricepoint where houses have more amenities, I could see that not having a 3 car garage would really hurt. In our first house, which was in a warm climate, we didn't see the point of a 3 car garage and converted the 3d car garage part into a guest room. The next house was in a cold climate with homes that were probably the next step after a starter home, and there were a good mix of homes with 2 and 3 car garages. When we went to sell that house, however, which was in a tough market, one thing that people would comment on was that they wished our house had a 3 car garage. It wasn't a dealbreaker, but it sure would have helped to sell the house quicker in that tough climate. Hopefully, you can find a way to get both a good floorplan and a 3 car garage. Are you limited by your lot size/configuration in fitting in both?

We are building a garage with 2 bays, but one side is extra deep so we can line up 2 cars bumper to bumper. This works for us because one car is rarely used, and we don't end up looking like the "garage-mahal" (to quote booksandpages, I found that funny!).

We value it a lot. It is a big reason we felt like we needed to move. We are building now and will have a three car garage AND an open floor plan. We did look at all the existing houses in the neighborhood in which we wanted to move and they all had three car garages. We wouldn't have considered a house that didn't have one, no matter how much we loved the house. But, I definitely think it depends on how big your family is and your lifestyle. We have five bikes, five scooters, three pogo sticks, a hundred balls, etc. And we only have three kids! We play as much as the kids and need space for all our stuff!!

Go with the 'norm' for your neighborhood.

Of course, we didn't! LOL But we are not normal anyway. We have a two car garage and one car. We also park our car IN the garage -- always have -- and the other stall is available (not packed with the 'stuff' George Carlin used to talk about in his comedy routine).

Our neighborhood 'norm' is edging to four-car garages, but I still see three and four cars left outside. I'd understand that better in non-basement areas, but some of these are 7-12K sq ft homes with basements and attics, housing perhaps a couple with two kids. Everyone has a landscape service, so we aren't talking gardening gear. I just don't know why the garages are not used...maybe they are 'man caves'? LOL

I agree it depends on your area. We had a 3 car at our last home and we are building a 4 car now. One reason we upgraded, the price to build the 4 car was less than the value added to the appraisal for the additional bay. Another reason is that we park both cars in the garage and still felt pinched for space with the tools, freezer, oh and we have a golf cart for fun! We didn't sacrifice the layout at all but we have a large lot so we were not confined by setbacks.

To even out the house and not make it feel like it was all garage we brought the front of the house forward and made the front porch 15 feet wide which really helped balance the house. We also put a gable over one garage side and bumped out one side by 2 feet to give it some dimension.

My husband was set on having the garage doors 8x18 so we can back the trailer with the golf cart on it into the garage. If you go with a 2 car I would suggest the 8 ft door over the 7 for both resale and it is an upgrade from the norm.

.....but only if the entire elevation doesn't look like a "garage-mahal"

bwahahahahaha, too funny booksandpages!

That is so true, especially around here where the giant garages are pushed out further than the much smaller houses. I believe another word is "Snout House". This style of home is my pet peeve. When we were designing our house, I made sure the designer knew we wanted a large garage, but one that did not look dominant in any way. Our garage sits to the side of our house, and has that attached "carriage house" look. The garage has its own roof and cupola, and is connected to the main house via the small wing that is the laundry/mudroom. (If that makes any sense.)

I agree that it depends on the area...

At a certain sq. footage and/or price point here, a 3 car garage is expected.

In the small town I live in, a 3 car garage is almost too small.... (most homes also have shops, barns, etc!)

The only reason we just bought a house with an attached 2-car garage was that it also has a detached 3-car garage. We would never have bought the property with just a 2-car. Our area of CA has a mix of old and new homes, so lots of variation on what type of garage comes with the house.

i think it really depends on your area. around here it's not really a bonus as it is expected. and a three car would be the bare minimum. many homes have four or five car garages ...and some even more. i don't know why really!

When we were considering buying instead of building, we only looked at homes that already had a 3 car garage or had enough room to add one. It was an absolute requirement. The home we moved out have had a two car garage, but only room for one car in it. (The rest? Riding lawn mower, 2 motorcycles, 5 bikes, work bench, tools, freezer)

We had several items that were non-negotiable: 3 car garage, 5 bedrooms, basement/other storage space, a workable kitchen.

When we built, we built a 3.5 car garage--and it can hold 4 cars if two are small. It appears to be 3 bay from the front, but the rightmost bay goes back quite a ways. The bays are also wider than standard. We keep 3 cars in the garage, and still have room for push lawnmower, a motorcycle, 4 bikes, workbench, tons of tools.

The items in the garage all "garage items" (we have other storage in the basement). One of the things that will eventually push into a different house is my husband wanting a 4/5/6 bay garage. (He likes old cars)

As others have said, though, it depends on your neighborhood. I was surprised, though, that people would build 5 bedroom homes with a 2 car garage.

For storage in general, though, I have found that some of our room sizes could have been smaller because we have so much closet space--the rooms themselves aren't as cluttered.

Garage space is a cheapest space in the house. Extra bay 4k at most? Flatwork is cheap.