Building a garage addition is a great way to gain comfort, convenience, and storage space. It’s also a reasonably good investment. According to Remodeling Magazine’s latest Cost vs. Value Report, a homeowner who invests the national average of $58,432 in a freestanding two-car garage addition can expect to recoup more than 60% of the cost at resale—a higher rate of return than an added-on bathroom or sunroom, and on par with a new family room or master suite.
A garage addition makes especially good sense along the West Coast, where homeowners can expect to get back almost 75% of the cost of a midrange project, even though they’ll spend 20% more than the national average. In Los Angeles, a midrange garage returns almost 84%. Returns tend to be lowest in the country’s midsection. In Indianapolis, for example, the same garage recoups slightly less than half its cost.
As a general rule, you’re likely to recover a higher percentage of your investment if you build a relatively basic garage—one with open walls, an unfinished concrete floor, and shelves for storage—rather than one with interior drywall and trim, an epoxy floor coating, and designer storage solutions. Such an upscale project runs a national average of close to $87,000 and returns around $49,000, or 56%, of its cost.
But there are financial considerations to adding a garage that go beyond resale value. Protected from the elements, your vehicles will stay in top shape, which could make them more valuable when you sell them. If you include workshop space, you’ll be able to do many home repairs yourself, saving on the cost of pros. And if you outfit the garage so that it’s easy to access stored items, you can save leftover materials, reducing the cost of future projects.
National average cost, 26 x 26 ft. midrange garage addition: $58,432
Resale Value: $36,361
Cost recoup: 62.2%
National average cost, 26 x 26 ft. upscale garage addition: $87,230
Resale Value: $48,762
Cost recoup: 55.9%
Regional info:
Pacific
Mountain
West South Central
East South Central
West North Central
East North Central
South Atlantic
Middle Atlantic
New England
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