Garage converted into living space, convert it back?

[Jay Y.]

Hi all, I have a house I'm interested in purchasing. It's a 1 story; 3bed/2bath home about 1500 sq ft. The garage has been converted into a family room and siding covers what was the garage door. I still can't decide whether I want to flip it or if I should rent it out. For resale, my opinion is the lack of a garage is a detriment but having extra living space for a rental could be an attribute - although I could be completely wrong.

Please share your opinions! Thanks!!

[Chris Adams]

This is very common in the areas I invest in with houses $80k and under. If the revamped garage living space looks like it was done correctly and isn't an eye sore then I leave it as living space.

Pay attention to how well they added HVAC to the new living space, this tends to be the hardest part of converting the garage.

If there is a way to add a small 20x24 garage in the back yard, then i would check comps to see if its worth doing so. Around me the numbers don't work since the garage ends up costing more then the increase in sales price.