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G'mornin' guys,
The wife and I are looking into options to expand our garage and add a room above it. We have one of the smallest and cheapest houses in our neighborhood so adding a lot of square footage wouldn't negatively hurt us if we ever sell.
I can see two options. One is to expand the original attached garage to give it a new bay and put a room above it. The other is to build a new 3 car garage in the back yard with an apartment.
Below is a picture of the existing garage. We would need to put everything into storage, expand the foundation (and probably build a retaining wall), tear off the existing roof, build the add on...
The 2nd option to build a new garage would require me to get our property replotted. the entire back field is an easement because of the power pole that is on the property behind ours. I don't think that will be an issue because Denton city easement rules state that we need to be 30 feet from the center of the pole. Well, that 30' feet only extends about 10 feet onto my easement area. There is another 40' on that property. Others in our neighborhood have gotten this done. One guy had it replotted so he could build a swimming pool and cabana house.
The upsides to the 2nd garage is that it would give us FIVE parking spaces. It would allow me to eventually repurpose the existing garage into a family room/media room. That media room would also give me A LOT of extra livable square footage. I currently have just over 2400 sq ft but my neighbor has 3500 and the guy across the street has over 4000. I think a 2nd garage would also keep me from ruining the lines of the house. Oh, and it would be less disruptive since I wouldn't need to put any of my crap into storage.
The downside is that I would end up paying significantly more in property taxes due to the extra structure, square footage, and the replotted land being revalued upwards by a significant amount. Right now Denton County only values it at $800 due to the easement. I figure it would jump up to $20K in value if not more. We would also have a new structure to look at in the back yard instead of a nice field.
So I'm asking what downsides/upsides am I missing when considering either option. Also, which option would potentially be the more affordable one. I'm open to stick building or steel framing for the garage. It would just a brick front and sides to match the house. I'm still pretty early in this process. The only things that are locked in is that I want a 3 car garage with an apartment above it..
The wife and I are looking into options to expand our garage and add a room above it. We have one of the smallest and cheapest houses in our neighborhood so adding a lot of square footage wouldn't negatively hurt us if we ever sell.
I can see two options. One is to expand the original attached garage to give it a new bay and put a room above it. The other is to build a new 3 car garage in the back yard with an apartment.
Below is a picture of the existing garage. We would need to put everything into storage, expand the foundation (and probably build a retaining wall), tear off the existing roof, build the add on...
The 2nd option to build a new garage would require me to get our property replotted. the entire back field is an easement because of the power pole that is on the property behind ours. I don't think that will be an issue because Denton city easement rules state that we need to be 30 feet from the center of the pole. Well, that 30' feet only extends about 10 feet onto my easement area. There is another 40' on that property. Others in our neighborhood have gotten this done. One guy had it replotted so he could build a swimming pool and cabana house.
The upsides to the 2nd garage is that it would give us FIVE parking spaces. It would allow me to eventually repurpose the existing garage into a family room/media room. That media room would also give me A LOT of extra livable square footage. I currently have just over 2400 sq ft but my neighbor has 3500 and the guy across the street has over 4000. I think a 2nd garage would also keep me from ruining the lines of the house. Oh, and it would be less disruptive since I wouldn't need to put any of my crap into storage.
The downside is that I would end up paying significantly more in property taxes due to the extra structure, square footage, and the replotted land being revalued upwards by a significant amount. Right now Denton County only values it at $800 due to the easement. I figure it would jump up to $20K in value if not more. We would also have a new structure to look at in the back yard instead of a nice field.
So I'm asking what downsides/upsides am I missing when considering either option. Also, which option would potentially be the more affordable one. I'm open to stick building or steel framing for the garage. It would just a brick front and sides to match the house. I'm still pretty early in this process. The only things that are locked in is that I want a 3 car garage with an apartment above it..
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