Convert single car garage to office?

I have a few questions I hope you all can help me sort through. My wife and I own a 1600 sq.ft. single story ranch with a very small attached single car garage (10x14). The home is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath with living, dining & eat-in kitchen. The dining room (which we converted into a den) is the only entry to the garage.

First, I was wondering how this would affect our home value to convert it into an office? The garage cannot fit my Tacoma pickup and can barely fit my wife's little Mazda 3s so it's practically useless. I figured adding an office (or 4th bedroom) may actually increase the value by increasing the livable square footage. Larger 4 bedroom homes in my area go for $300,000+ even though my home just appraised at $155,000. Does anyone have any insight?

Second, would I be required to upgrade the septic since I'm adding another "bedroom" and the opportunity for higher occupancy?

Last, can anyone ballpark the amount it would take to DIY this conversion? My family has some building experience to help me. We would be removing the garage door and putting in an exterior wall (possibly with bay window), carpeting the room, and possibly adding an exterior doorway to the front porch.

Thanks in advance for any answers to these questions!
K2

 

My first question would be.
Under current zoning ordinances, is there a covered off-street parking requirement, and can you fulfill that requirement elsewhere on the lot?

 

Like said go down and check all codes for where you live. Before you start and get any permits.

ED

 

Nope - I know there's no off-street parking requirement. We're in a suburb of a small city (about 150,000 ppl). Everyone has a long driveway and there are no sidewalks in my neighborhood. My driveway is probably a good 120+ feet long.

I have plans on getting all necessary permits. I was just curious if anyone had any idea of what this may do to my value --- good or bad?

Thanks for the replies!

 

I would think at worst it would stay the same if not go up a little. We have a 1 car garage attatched to our 2 story house we just bought last yr. But ours fits our 99 durango with about 3 ft on each side. We wanna do the same to our garage but convert it to a play room/den type deal. Ya know big screen all that stuff. But we would have to frame the floor I think and do a lot of other stuff b/c the garage was added onto and there is a garage door then 2 regular ent./exit doors. Would you have to do something w/ your floor like frame it in then put sheathing/plywood ontop first or can you just install over your existing floor? Our concrete is cracked every which way to. But serves the purpose of keeping my lawn mower in there. Our project won't take place till i get my new garage!! CAN"T WAIT!!

 

K2 02: IMO, value depends on the market...also- IMO...it would help the value of your home but then you are minus a garage. You will also have to make that a factor. The homes in your area that you are comparing your home to...do they have a garage as well? Living sqfootage will be a plus for you if you convert the garage...BUT, you will not have a garage either. Appraisal wise, selling or refinancing wise...that's how it can affect the value. Since your home just got appraised, look at your appraisal. It should help out some w/the comparisons on it.

Check the all the comps adjustments and compare it to yours. You should be able to adjust your own home value with those calculations-somewhat.

 

On part of your question I didn't see addressed - and something else you can check with your local code people (and real estate agent) - your office may or may not be considered like another bedroom. In a house I used to own, the code folks didn't care if I called my office a bedroom, but the local real estate people said they wouldn't advertise it as a bedroom unless it had a closet. (The room had sufficient emergency egress so that wasn't an issue.) In some markets, they will list it as 3 bedrooms, office/den/bonus room, et cetera - others might just call it 4 bedrooms.

 

re: bedroom or office?

This question comes up fairly often (just do a forum search), the answer is still the same.. "it depends". It depends on what the requirements are for a 'bedroom' in your area.

To answer the secondary question though, if the new room gets classed as a bedroom, you will likely have to upgrade the septic to accomodate the higher occupancy rate. That too depends on the requirements in your area. Questions only your Zoning and Planning board and Health Department can answer.

 

Thanks to everyone who responded. A lot of my assumptions were confirmed (bedroom or office, septic, etc). My father-in-law, an architect, is coming into town this weekend and I'm going to pick his brain.