Like all good questions…..it depends. With some garages, they are very important when selling your home and in others it really doesn’t matter.
When it is most important is when you have one of those picture perfect garages like you see in a magazine. Finished floors, beautiful storage cabinets, a wood workers dream set up.
If you are blessed enough with one of those garages it is valuable and you need to show it off. So that means your garage needs to be cleaned out, organized, polished and shined. You are probably asking more money because of those features so you need to treat them as the asset they are.
If you have a garage that is so old and small it barely holds the lawnmowers, it really isn’t a big deal and you don’t need to spend a lot of time getting it spiffed up. But you don’t want it to look trashed either. You still want to make sure it is in good repair, no chipped paint and organized if possible but it is not on the top of your ‘to do’ list.
Many of us have that in-between garage. It’s nice enough, holds 2-3 cars but it’s just a garage. Then what? I get asked a lot about the garage when I am doing Home Staging Consultations. It is a great question and this is how I almost always answer it:
- It is low on your priority list. Get the things done inside the house first.
- Buyers know you are moving so they will understand if you have bins stacked in there or a few pieces of furniture.
- Still organize it as best as you can. Have boxes and bins stacked neatly along a wall or neatly in one stall. Clean up scattered items, sweep it out and clean it up.
- If you have a special feature in an area like a work bench or great shelving then make sure that is clean and visable.
All in all don’t sweat the garage factor but do your best you can.
