Having a garage will nearly always help you sell more quickly and likely at a higher value than a home without one. The bottom line, buying a home with a garage won't hurt your investment plans (unless it's a mess and falling down!) and will likely help you sell with a higher future value.
Home Storage Hack #1: Use a Shed
This option is one of the more common to choose when living without a garage. You can find sheds of different sizes and price points. They help to store, organize and contain all of the extra tools, landscaping equipment, recyclables and anything else you don't want in the house.
Labeled shoe boxes or sturdy gift boxes are perfect for miscellaneous tools and hardware. Clear plastic boxes or stackable utility bins are also great solutions. And a basic pegboard with hooks for hanging tools is a good way to use vertical wall space. It also makes it easy to see everything.
Even though you're allowed to store your vehicle in a storage unit, most facilities won't allow you to work on your car due to liability reasons. Any and all vehicles you keep in a unit need to be operable — i.e., in working condition — before you bring them to the storage facility.
If you're thinking about how to protect your car without a garage, you own your home and have the space, you could consider building a carport. A carport can help protect your car from sun, snow, rain and most debris.
One of the quickest and least expensive ways to get a garage up and running is to erect a pole-style post frame construction. Many refer to these pole style building, as post-frame buildings or pole barns because they believe they are superior than traditional stick-built garages.
Carports are typically used as alternatives to garages, perhaps where the convenience of access is valued above vehicle security. Carports can be attached directly to a home, or other outdoor buildings or can be entirely freestanding.
As stated above, post-frame construction is one of the most cost-effective building methods for garages. Although you can probably find garage kits at similar prices, they don't always provide the quality and customizable properties you need.
Providing storage space for cars, gardening supplies, tools, sports equipment, bikes and more, the right garage can be an essential part of a home. But garages are not a one-size-fits-all solution. What works for one home – or one family – may not work for another.
Rain, mud, slush, wind, extreme heat from the sun, can all damage the exteriors of a car for life. Parking your car inside a garage protects it from the elements. Your vehicle has many rubber components that can wear out if they get exposed to the harsh weather and fluctuating temperatures for an extended period.
In California, sleeping in your car at rest stops for up to 24 hours is legal. However, you should always park the vehicle in the designated parking place, though no camping or tent pitching is allowed. In addition, you cannot leave the rest area to hike, camp, or hunt.
Home improvement stores such as Home Depot, Lowe's and Menards are generally welcoming to those travelers looking for overnight parking. Most stores' overnight parking allowance is determined by local store managers, though. Be sure to call ahead to make sure.
There are no federal laws around parking in your own front yard, but it is outlawed in some states. For example, California State Law states that it is “unlawful for any person to park a vehicle in the front yard area of any residentially used lot or parcel of land, except in a paved driveway”.
Self-storage has the benefit of being safe and secure. So, storage units can be much more than a dumping ground for unwanted belongings or a suitably secure place to keep your valuables. So, can you use your self-storage unit as a workshop? Yes.
Short answer: yes. As mentioned previously, you can't set up a desk and meet with clients in person at your unit. But a storage unit is a perfect place for online businesses to house all their products, branding, documents, and extra supplies.
Depending on the facility, they'll either offer climate-controlled or non-climate-controlled indoor spaces. In order to store a vehicle in an indoor unit, the space MUST be a drive-up storage space. Indoor-access facilities will NOT be able to accommodate vehicles.
The most popular garage alternatives are carports, sheds, Quonset huts, awnings, and car covers.
If you need help with basic decluttering and organizing of your garage, expect to pay $200 to $700.