No gearhead properties..

[rerod]

Iv been watching the real estate market in Iowa City for over two years and haven't seen not ONE house with a nice tall garage come on the market yet! I keep broadening my search area, but still nothing.. Most existing 2 bdrm homes have small lots with no access. Or there a hour away.

Do I really need to start from scratch and build it? I imagine most HOA's wont allow huge garages with a small 2 bed room house, so the lot would have to be in a older neighborhood. On top of that, I'm building a home most people would not want.. Double whammy..

I'm single and don't want to dump money into my 5 bedroom house I ended up with after a divorce. Its in a nice neighborhood and I feel adding my dream garage might actually decrease the value and make it hard to sell since it already has a 2 1/2 car garage. Tax's are ridiculous.. Went from 1800 to 4600 in 19 years. Or is that normal when taxes climb faster than inflation?

Anyway.. Just venting a bit.

Anyone else looking and cant find? Or looked and found? Or gave up and built? Or simply gave up and lived with limitations?


Thanks!

 

[Mika401uba]

I feel your pain. Divorced 1.5 years ago, had to sell the house I was in and like you looked high and low for a small house with a big garage. After getting the **** kicked out of me in the divorce someone up above was must have felt I had suffered enough and I came across exactly what I was looking for on 5 acres and on a lake.
So don't give up its out there.

 

[engineer2]

Similar problem around here. Anything with a 3 car garage in a decent area is $350k-up with over $1000/month in property taxes. It's normal for tax increases to exceed inflation because of the tax and spend mentality of government. It's so bad around here people are moving out-of-state.

Some people have found commercial buildings with a shop on the first floor and an apartment above. Seems like an ideal arrangement if you are single. I read where someone bought an old firehouse and converted it to living quarters and a garage.

Another option is buying commercial space, but it needs to be secure and close to home.

Commercial real estate agents tell me they can usually find anything.

 

[Mrroo]

Sorry to hear about the divorce. I looked for 3 years till we settled on the house we just bought. I could not find anything in our search area that had a man cave or decent extra workable shop. The place we have now is in a nice neighborhood on 2 acres. Walkout brick ranch on a real nice wooded lot with gorgeous ravine and 3500 sq ft. 24x24 attached insulated garage. I need much more room though for my all my work. At least I have room to build a nice shop in the future. That was one selling point. It'll be 3-5 years now before I can build. Buying this house killed my shop budget for a while. I'll have to make do with what I have for now. Good luck with your search!!

 

[Gotcha640]

I'd suggest the commercial property as well. If you get a place with an office built out as well as a bay door, you get all the play space you want, real electric service, and could occasionally sleep there if you were working late.

That way the house is just the house, and if you need to move, you aren't losing an expensive custom garage that doesn't pay you back.

Depending on the market, a small strip center can turn a profit even with one stall for your personal shop.

 

[bwringer]

A friend of mine had a very similar situation and eventually stumbled into exactly the sort of unicorn property you're talking about -- a small, but new-ish house with a HUGE heated shop out back, paved access, air compressor, the works.

The thing is, people who build these sorts of properties tend to stay put. After all, they have exactly what they want. And it's even rarer to find a property with a shop that was well-kept. You don't want something owned by a hoarder.

 

[Red89gt]

Similar problem around here. Anything with a 3 car garage in a decent area is $350k-up with over $1000/month in property taxes. It's normal for tax increases to exceed inflation because of the tax and spend mentality of government. It's so bad around here people are moving out-of-state.

Some people have found commercial buildings with a shop on the first floor and an apartment above. Seems like an ideal arrangement if you are single. I read where someone bought an old firehouse and converted it to living quarters and a garage.

Another option is buying commercial space, but it needs to be secure and close to home.

Commercial real estate agents tell me they can usually find anything.

Agreed, I have a house with a 4 car garage and $15.500 a year in property taxes for unincorporated 1.7 acre lot. I too will be moving out of IL first chance I get.
I am pretty much prepared to build since will be moving to rural Ohio. I feel the OP's pain, prior house I bought I must have looked at a 100 before settling for 2.5 car garage, it sucked, I was not happy.

 

[Big Dad]

I looked for 3 years for a house with a decent sized garage here, or like you say a house with a lot with room to build .

Property went up at least 15% in the that time .. found a nice , older home that had been all remodeled nicely that lucky for me , they had to sell fast

The deal was very fair

And I built my own shop, but its been a battle to get it done, getting power trenched in today (hopefully)

shop is $$ and I most likely did nothing to property value but, no shop and I'm not happy

 

[Ironhorse74]

Let's see you are in a major university town. They build homes that easily sell for people who move in and out of there to work at U of I. You are looking for a specialized property and are surprised you can't find one?

There are a gazillion farm houses that are unused because they sold the farm land aroundbthem to corporate farms within a 20 mile radius. Buy one on 2 - 5 acres and rehab or tear down and build your dream shop.

I would rather not live around all the stupidity that surroumds U of I or any major University anyway.

 

[dodgejunkie]

Been looking here in SW Michigan for several months! The real estate is insane right now! Settled on a house finally last week! 3 bedroom ranch with a walkout! 2 stall attached and a 16x20 pole building out back. Sits on about a half acre! Was looking for property but with what the market is demanding, I wasn't going to drop that kind of cash down!

Keep looking and good luck!

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Years ago 1 car garages were the norm (or even optional). Then 2 car garages were popular. Some higher end homes started getting 3 car garages. More recently lifts have become affordable but few people want or need them, or even think about them when building.

 

[Jazz1]

We had same issue 20 years ago. Wife found us a house in the city on 1/2 acre lot but no garage. She was more interested in a larger lot for the hounds so as soon as I fenced the property I put up a garage. The buildings and trees add to the privacy

the hound is Jazz

 

[rerod]

Let's see you are in a major university town. They build homes that easily sell for people who move in and out of there to work at U of I. You are looking for a specialized property and are surprised you can't find one?

No, not really. Just hoping I would get lucky.

Farms? How's this one? Perfect, until the owner said he wants 80k after leading me on for a few days.. 80k?? half hour from town on gravel?? I offered 50k

I would rather not live around all the stupidity that surroumds U of I or any major University anyway.

Agreed.. But there are two perks to my property.. Enough room in the backyard for my toyhauler.. And the bus stop across the street sure comes in handy!

Frankly, I'm going to have to retire into a cracker box the rate taxes are climbing.

This one is more my level.. lol. I missed it after one day on the market..!

Its great to hear about you guys who did score. It gives me hope, where this morning I was about to give up.

Keep em coming..

 

[ratdoggy]

Do yourself a favor and forget a 2 bedroom house, try for a 3 bedroom house.
My parents wanted to build a 2 in Florida and I talked them into a 3..My brother gave me **** saying that I wanted that so I had a place to stay when visiting and I said it was for resale (which it was...Not that we didn't stay with them) After my mom passed we sold the house in a week...Probably still be trying to sell it 6 months after it was sold

 

[wendlwacker]

It's a tough thing to find. I spent s year looking. I looked at lots of junk with a nice garage in west Des Moines. Finally I found what I wanted. They are out there but you really have to search. Also know the codes for the areas you are looking at. You can build in some areas of neighborhoods and not in others. Depends on the original developers when the houses were built sometimes. Just don't get in a hurry and use Zillow. It allows you to set perimeters and key words and emails you if something pops up. Mine was on the market 3 days and I bought it. I found it with Zillow and key words.

 

[pmiranda]

I think you could eventually find a 2+ bdrm house with room to build the shop you want. Just be prepared for it to take a few years of weeding through redfin listings daily and being able to check the deed records at the county on a moments notice to tell if it has unacceptable restrictions. You'll also want to have studied up on the applicable city zoning and building codes so you know exactly how much space you need available to comply with impervious cover, setbacks, etc.
I did about 5 years of this and went through 2 or 3 offers, surveys, etc. before finally closing on a lot last fall. I had to increase our acceptable budget by 50% along the way to widen the net.

 

[bdbecker]

...Also know the codes for the areas you are looking at...

+1... that is one of many reasons why I bought a non-HOA house in Urbandale. I really like the relatively generous building code laws for detached buildings. Assuming things don't change, its nice knowing that I could always replace my 24x24 with something much larger if I wanted.

Also, as others have mentioned, shoot for a 3 bedroom place instead of 2 - they are a lot easier to sell. My first house was a small 2 bedroom in a college town with a 30x30 garage. It sat on the market for almost two years before I ended up writing a check for $8k just to sell the place to the one person who put in a reasonable offer. None of the slumlords wanted to touch it because a garage that size is a liability for renters throwing big parties, and none of the normal residents wanted to touch it because it was too small.

 

[My Old Tools]

Buy an acre or two outside the city limits and build a shopdominium.

 

[stikman56]

Maybe build what you want, just be ready for non-stop hassle and headaches until it's done. Nobody ever said it goes smooth, at least nobody I ever talked to, and our home was no exception. Well worth it though.

 

[bobcatdan]

When I was looking, I found a lot of nice houses with little for shop space. One place had a three car garage with one bay divide off for a small shop, but it wasn't going to do much good. I also found a few where the garage was the big selling point until you saw the house. About eight months of looking and I found my home. Nice house and property. Three car garage and a second 24' x24', insulated, drywalled, heated with own LP tank and 220v. Added bonus was property taxes were so dirt cheap over other places it allowed my to push my budget up $20,000 to get it. With what a nice shop cost, it really drives up property value and they seem to get snatched up quick.

 

[landlord30]

Buy an acre or two outside the city limits and build a shopdominium.

This is exactly what my friend did. He built a huge garage / shop and lives above it.

 

[garage rookie]

I'd like to sell ours in the future.2bdrm,1bath 1200sqft house,1200sqft garage almost 2 ac. corner lot, rural area, $400 in taxes this year. Tennessee near Nickajack Lake west of Chattanooga. Asking $85k. Why selling? Need to move closer to kids in Ohio.

 

[rerod]

I'd like to sell ours in the future.2bdrm,1bath 1200sqft house,1200sqft garage almost 2 ac.

Sounds reasonable..

Check this Shouse out! To bad its over a hour away.

Its surreal how my needs have changed after shedding needed baggage. I havent shed all of my intellectual baggage yet though.

After all this searching, I'm very tempted to tear into my family home. Its worth less than what I paid for the divorce. I'm in about 180k
I mean.. If I'm considering buying property (50K) to build a 3 bedroom unicorn ($?) with two post lift garage, It would cost more than it would sell for. Probably way more.
So why not devalue my existing house? I still haven't come up with a sane plan that wont increase taxes yet though.

 

[rerod]

Let's see you are in a major university town. They build homes that easily sell for people who move in and out of there to work at U of I. You are looking for a specialized property and are surprised you can't find one?

There are a gazillion farm houses that are unused because they sold the farm land aroundbthem to corporate farms within a 20 mile radius. Buy one on 2 - 5 acres and rehab or tear down and build your dream shop.

I would rather not live around all the stupidity that surroumds U of I or any major University anyway.

Im still looking.

Ironhorse hit the nail on the head. Except for the part about the abundant acreages available within a 20 mile radius..

The closest Iv found to that is this property..

Iv been throwing offers at the owner but she wont back down from $70K I offered $60K.. Even though its not perfect with more acres than I want, and on gravel.

 

[Falcon67]

No house, that does seem a little fat. - wait, Zillow says 5 BR house. Zillow is confused. Google Maps shows just the barn and the small garage. Hard to tell if Rr Ave is paved or not.

 

[Motorman55]

As a single guy I'd take any house I purchased with an attached garage and turn the whole damned thing into a workshop with a bedroom!

What the hell if you end up getting married in the future, your new wife will not want to keep any house you own anyway.

 

[kjdhawkhill]

1.Iv been watching the real estate market in Iowa City

2. Went from 1800 to 4600 in 19 years. Or is that normal when taxes climb faster than inflation?

3. Anyway.. Just venting a bit.

1. That's one issue living in a small market - low inventory.
2. I for one actually don't mind (intellectually) paying taxes (they're how I get paid), but I should pay more attention to where my property taxes go.

 

[teamextreme]

Tax's are ridiculous.. Went from 1800 to 4600 in 19 years. Or is that normal when taxes climb faster than inflation?

Just curious, what has the value of your home done over those 19 years? I know the house I bought 25 years ago is now worth 3.3 times more than what I paid for it. Your taxes went up 2.5 times, that's close, and taxes are most closely tied to your property value, which often does not follow inflation rate (especially in the last few years).

Good luck with your search, it's going to be a tough search, as you've found. These types of properties are not common. Not many people share our addictions.

 

[minytrker]

I went through the same thing when I was looking for a place, big problem I ran into is around here its hard to find smaller acreage. I found a couple places I liked BUT when they were sitting on 100-200 acres that put the prices in the million plus range. I finally found a place on 5 acres that really wasnt for sale but told them I was interested if they sold it. They called me about 2 years later and I ended up buying it 3 years later and then completely remodeling the house and building my own shop.

 

[ZRX61]

Just hit up Google for "gearhead properties" & all sorts of places come up.

 

[rerod]

Just hit up Google for "gearhead properties" & all sorts of places come up.

LOL do they come with a harrier jet to get me to work on time?

Just curious, what has the value of your home done over those 19 years? Your taxes went up 2.5 times, that's close, and taxes are most closely tied to your property value, which often does not follow inflation rate (especially in the last few years).

I bought it for $150K and have dumped about $25K into it and zillow says $240 and county says $223K

No house, that does seem a little fat. - wait, Zillow says 5 BR house. Zillow is confused. Google Maps shows just the barn and the small garage. Hard to tell if Rr Ave is paved or not.

Its beautiful out there. Until the spring thaw and rains cover every inch of your car with mud.

As a single guy I'd take any house I purchased with an attached garage and turn the whole damned thing into a workshop with a bedroom!

What the hell if you end up getting married in the future, your new wife will not want to keep any house you own anyway.

You know Motorman.. If I could hack the floor out above my garage easily, I would!

 

[Falcon67]

>Its beautiful out there. Until the spring thaw and rains cover every inch of your car with mud.

Lot of rock road around these parts too. Part of livin' in the country. No so hot if you're a hot rodder/ car show type that likes to drive the car(s). However, in our little town there are plenty of large pot holes and low places holding water, so for the last month with 6"+ over average for the year so far, you can't keep any car here clean unless you wash it and store it in a trailer LOL.

Keep looking, keep thinking positive - things come up pretty much when you least expect it.

 

[dsimatt]

There really are not any in the city here, you can go out in the country a little bit and there are tons of places with atleast a 2.5 car sized shop if not bigger but the problem is the prices are thru the roof on these so not even a option.

I really screwed up because when I was looking to buy my place I found a different place that the house wasn't very good but had 2 acres and a 30'x40' insulated shop and was at the top of my budget but it was farther than what I wanted to commute so didn't pursue it. the biggest lesson I learn from it is how valuable land is because on my city lot there is no room to grow in the future and it *****.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Maybe you might look beyond Realtor.com??

LandAndFarm.com helped find our place after Katrina. Full basement of parking / Billy's work shop, a 30x40 detached (where I work amongst his projects lol) and 5 1/2 acres. Most listings are By Owner.

There's also this site ... http://carproperty.com/

Happy hunting!

 

[rerod]

Lot of rock road around these parts too. Part of livin' in the country. No so hot if you're a hot rodder/ car show type that likes to drive the car(s). However, in our little town there are plenty of large pot holes and low places holding water, so for the last month with 6"+ over average for the year so far, you can't keep any car here clean unless you wash it and store it in a trailer LOL.

Keep looking, keep thinking positive - things come up pretty much when you least expect it.

If you live on a gravel road, you need a winter beater as a daily driver. Because anything you drive will soon look like one.

Just curious, what has the value of your home done over those 19 years?

Forgot to mention. County assessed price is $223K

Id be happy selling for $200k since my family trashed it.

 

[ZRX61]

Maybe look up "old buildings with coach houses"

 

[Bib Overalls]

Check and see if the tax assessor in your county has an online plat book. Basically a map with individual parcels lined out and a parcel number. The one we have here can be switched from a plane map to an aerial photo. Use this to find vacant land in areas that are acceptable to you. With the parcel number you can get the owner's name and mailing address. You will be amazed at what you find. Just because a property is not listed for sale does not mean it is not for sale. No harm in asking.

We have a second lot next to our house. It is platted out and has a parcel number. Several times a year we are contacted by interested buyers. We always say "no" but someday we might say "yes."

We are on a gravel road and have been for about 15 years. To us it has been no big deal.

 

[Falcon67]

Bib, that's how we bought the lots on either side of us. Looked up the property on the GIS viewer, it provides the parcel ID, went to the assessor site and looked up the tax records, hunted down the owners from here to Santa Fe NM to Euless TX. Score.

We have a half a mind to sell, buy a decent size 32'ish pusher motor home, buy a couple of acres outside the city limits and park said mow-bile-home in a fair size shop.

 

[rerod]

Check and see if the tax assessor in your county has an online plat book. Use this to find vacant land in areas that are acceptable to you. With the parcel number you can get the owner's name and mailing address. No harm in asking.

We are on a gravel road and have been for about 15 years. To us it has been no big deal.

Iv considered that using my counties assessor website map.. I even had a bunch of leaflets printed up with my lame request but lost my nerve. What if they accept but I then decline? Kind of awkward IMO. But maybe I should reconsider.

Maybe you might look beyond Realtor.com??

LandAndFarm.com helped find our place after Katrina. Full basement of parking / Billy's work shop, a 30x40 detached (where I work amongst his projects lol) and 5 1/2 acres. Most listings are By Owner.

There's also this site ... http://carproperty.com/

Happy hunting!

Hi Leanna! I must admit, I lurked your youtube and facebook pages because your interesting and I want *******.
Thanks for the tips, but carproperty.com wasn't what I hoped for. Ill keep landandfarm in mind but I like landwatch.com to.

My go-to web site is zillow because it remembers which properties Iv looked at, so I don't look again. I also search iowacityareamls.com and after two years of looking I only need to look at the new listings of the day because I've considered Everything on those sites. I'm sure some slip through the cracks. I don't look at forsalebyowner.com that much because you cant search lot size and I have to look at most of them over and over, and over...

Hey! I got a tip this property might be for sale for a sane price hopefully and Im outta here!

 

[zmotorsports]

I'm not in Ohio, but when the wife and I were looking I was also trying to find something with an existing work shop space. Looked for nearly a year and got frustrated.

I eventually decided to buy a house with just enough property to build the shop myself. Turned out to be the best decision we made. Our home is nothing grand, just a smaller, modest sized home and the lot is just under 1/3 acre but enough for a 1150 square foot shop and still have some back lawn.

Once we bought the house it took me about 4 years to save up the money for the shop because I didn't want to borrow for it, but again, it was worth it.

Maybe you can find a house and just enough property and build your workshop space the way you want it.

Mike.