The value of a garage in Rochester, NY rentals?

Question

In my search for SFRs and small Multis in Rochester, I've noticed how few city houses have *usable* garages. I say usable because there are plenty of garages that aren't big enough for a modern car, are deep in the fenced in, unpaved back yard, etc. Let's just call those what they are: tool sheds.

For those of you with rental properties in the city, have you found that access to a garage has a noticeable impact on rental rates? Given the long, cold winters, I would think that it would be a huge selling point. But I've noticed that my friends and family in the area really don't care too much about having a garage. Perhaps they've all given up looking for a place with one and are just happy to find off-street parking. For comparison, in California where the weather is perfect 350 days per year, most people wouldn't even consider a place that didn't have a garage.

Have any of you considered adding garages or carports to properties that don't have them? Have you followed through? If so, what effect did it have on your rental rates?

Anya K. · Answer

Hi @Bryan W., have to agree with Mark and Shannon. Tenants are more concerned with off street parking rather then garage space. We actually have a property with one of those narrow driveways with a three car garage in back that has not been used for parking at all before we bought it. We will take the doors off and actually instead of charging extra will give the spots to the third floor smaller units as an incentive (they tend to be harder to rent). Our properties are in great locations and we rehab them as people move out; so we never have any issues renting even if there is no off street parking. I also have seen landlords rent out garage space for storage as opposed to parking. They charge less then what a storage place would but more then what they would get as just a parking garage.

Shannon Sadik · Answer

Great question! Coming from Phoenix, where a garage was essential so the beating sun wouldn't destroy your car's paint job, I thought a garage would be essential here too, especially to save time having to clean snow off your car. However I have several rentals in the city and none of my tenants seem to care that we don't have a garage.

I actually live in one of our duplexes right now with no off street parking and that hasn't even been as big of an issue as we thought since parking is very easy on our street and potential tenants can see that when they visit. Also, our units are extremely nice and I think that sways them.

However the houses on both sides of me are rentals and both have garages and NO ONE ever uses them. I have no idea why but they just don't seem to care. I work with a realtor who is also a property manager and she told me if I buy a house with a busted garage (which we've seen quite a few), to not even worry about fixing it, but keep it for storage. She said that broken garage doors, etc are a pain to maintain and tenants don't care enough to bother with the expense.

Mark W. · Answer

I have 2 duplexes with garages and while I thought garage space would be considered an amenity, I found that most potential tenants didn't care too much about it.  The ones that do are willing to pay a little extra for it, so I've started advertising my apartments with "available garage space" and add a fee to the monthly rent.

More important in the city is off street parking.  On most streets, the on street parking alternates sides each day and the city enforces it.  So that can be a bit of a hassle.  But even with that, I've found many potential and current tenants shrug it off as no big deal.

Bryan W. · Answer

Thanks @John Farrell and @Larry T.,

I'm amazed that anyone would rather fill a garage with stuff than hop into a snow and ice–free car in the morning. But that's great to know if it's the norm!

John Farrell · Answer

Hi Brian W, I agree great question.  Seems to be the norm in Rochester. My tenants in Florida don't use the garage for their cars  and all my rentals have 2 car garages with electric door openers. They use it for storage, I guess people do like their stuff.

Larry Turowski · Answer

I am amazed at how many people fill up their garages with junk and park in the driveway in the winter--I'm talking people in my neighborhood.  This is Rochester folks!  You have to clean off your or scrape your car EVERY day if you don't park in the garage in the winter!  I refuse to not park my car in the garage in the winter.

As for the how important it is to have a garage, I think it depends on the neighborhood-- whether most other houses have garages--and the type of property.  I do mainly single family rentals and I do feel the garage is a "selling" point.  There will be some people who are less interested if there is no garage.  But I do have a couple of houses without garages and haven't had too much difficulty finding tenants.

Bryan W. · Answer

Thanks, @Anya K., @Shannon Sadik, and @Mark W.. That will be really helpful in my search for properties and for marketing effectively.

Bryan W. · Answer

Thanks Mark, I personally never minded on-street parking, except when coming out to the car after an all-night snowfall or freezing rain. Brushing off a couple inches of snow was fine, but I hated digging out from a plow pile, pushing a foot of snow off the roof, or scraping icy windows. Now that I don't have to, I realize how much it would have been worth. I guess for city renters, they just don't know how bad they have it. You should give them a "one month free trial" garage space in mid-December. Time the trial to expire right when the big January blizzards are due. You should have no trouble filling those garage spaces.

The value of a garage in Rochester, NY rentals?

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