If you buy a new home, maybe you’ll feel pride and excitement. Perhaps you’ve only lived in apartments before this. Maybe you lived in a smaller house, and now, you’re moving into a larger one.
What if your new house doesn’t come with a garage, though? If you own a car, then that’s not ideal. You can always park in your driveway or out on the street. However, you may worry about it if you know there’s sometimes crime in your area.
You might want to buy and install a garage. If you do, then you will need to think about whether a one or two-car model makes more sense.
A two-car garage might work best for you in some instances, but in others, a one-car garage sounds ideal. In this article, we’ll talk about some situations where you might want one or the other.
Do You Own One or Two Cars?
When thinking about whether to get a one or two-car garage, you will probably first consider whether you only have one car or two. Some families have two cars, while others have even more if they have several adults living there who all work outside the home and must drive to their jobs daily.
If you have at least two cars, then it will probably make more sense for you to get a two-car garage. If you pay for and install it, then you will have spaces for two vehicles readily available.
Even if your family owns more than two cars, that’s probably still fine. You can put two of them in the garage and park a third one in the driveway. That’s almost always better than leaving it out on the street.
Might You Own a Second Car in the Future?
Maybe you only own one car right now. However, you feel like maybe you will own a second one in the not-too-distant future.
Perhaps you have a teen who’s starting to learn how to drive. You plan to give them your old car and to buy a new one once they get their license.
If so, then you might want a two-car garage, even if you don’t have two vehicles right at this moment. You know that you will own a second car before long, and once you have it, you will feel glad that you have that extra space in the garage.
How Much Space Do You Have?
You must also think about how much physical space you have available when determining whether you can get a one or two-car garage. You can only act within the confines of the space you have on your property. You might have some space next to the house where you can install a garage, but you can’t have the building spill over into the neighbor’s yard.
You will have to look at the property’s line’s location. Then, you can measure very carefully. You should probably then talk to a garage installer. They can show you the models they have available.
They might show you that even if you want a garage with two car spaces, you simply don’t have the room for it. If that’s the case, and you can only afford a one-car garage, then you have little choice.
You will probably feel that a one-car garage beats no garage at all. You can always keep parking your second car in the driveway or on the street.
Do You Plan to Use the Garage for Storage?
You may also have plans for the garage that don’t include cars. Perhaps you have just a single vehicle, but you feel that you need more storage space. You have already used up the closet space in your house, as well as any space in the basement or attic.
You can try to give away some of your possessions, but if you want to keep them, creating a space in your two-car garage where you can pile up some boxes might appeal. If you have the space and enough money, then you can get room for your car plus some additional storage space that might come in handy for years to come.
How Much Money Do You Have?
You need to think about how much money you have available as well. You might have a set amount that you can spend on your new garage. Perhaps you don’t think that you can go over that number. It would require you taking out a loan, and you would prefer not to do that.
You can ask some individuals who install garages how much their different models cost. That price will include materials and labor.
If you find out that there’s no way you can afford a two-car garage with the money you have, then you will have little choice but to get a single-car garage, or no garage at all. Again, the one-car garage might not seem perfect, but if that’s the only choice you have, you will probably move forward without any hesitation.
Do You Have Other Plans for the Garage’s Extra Space?
Maybe you want a garage with two car spaces, but you only have one vehicle. You want the rest of that space not for storage, but for some other purpose.
Maybe you like to conduct some science experiments, and you plan to do that in the extra space in the garage. Perhaps you want to work out the details of a product prototype. You plan to tinker with the product till it’s ready for you to sell it to the masses and make a fortune.
Some people like to have some extra space in the garage because they like to do some DIY projects. You might install a workbench in the second car space in the garage and do some woodworking.
Consider all of this before you move forward. Ultimately, you should try to get the type of garage that you feel fits your lifestyle best.
