Why you must NEVER buy a house without a garage (rant)

So today I was trying to get the AE92 ready to drive tomorrow, and was topping up the tires and shaking the rocks out of the mats with the (perpetual) threat of rain coming. The last thing I needed to do was top up the oil, which was showing 75% at the dipstick earlier so to save time I didn't check again. So I added about 1/4 quart and checked the level, and suddenly it was at 150%. WTF!?!?! I triple checked. So in an even bigger rush I got a spotlight, oil drain pan and piece of cardboard and rushed to let some oil out. So as soon as I got under there and got the drain plug loosened, the berkeleying wonderful Caribbean weather came in, so I let out as much as I could (nowhere near enough in the end) and ran back to get the thick dripping oil off my hands so I could pack up the rest of the stuff. When I got back to pick up some of the things I saw my cardboard take off like a kite into the night air. The warehouse across the field will probably call and ask me to get it off their roof tomorrow. I needed that to finish tightening the drain plug and get the rest of the stuff out from under the car. So I got a bamboo mat and in the pouring, blowing downpour, tightened the drain plug and moved the drain pan, which wanted to blow away as well.

So it probably still has too much oil in it. But I don't care, I'm not going to drive it tomorrow. I'm going to put chains on the Sammy's tires and go out and berkeleying kill nature itself. That'll show the bitch

Too bad you didn't get a video of that.

Driving kills nature. I vote you drive.

When we shopped for our first house our realtor told me that I'd have to change my 'requirements' as we'd never find something in our price range with a two car garage. After I ultimately fired him, we did find one that had a sort of barn/garage/shed thing that had a concrete floor, electric and was full enclosed from the weather.

Realtors are morons.

ddavidv wrote: When we shopped for our first house our realtor told me that I'd have to change my 'requirements' as we'd never find something in our price range with a two car garage. Realtors are morons.

We would use a realtor and they would show us 3-5 houses. When we didn't like those houses, they would tell us they will check and get back to us. Sometimes the realtor would never call us until we called them to see what is new on the market.

We learned all we could by looking at a lot of houses and when a FSBO came up, we jumped at it. No garage though, so I built my own.

yup....I agree

buy the most garage you can afford

I get the double, wife gets the single

Yep, when we went house huntin' the boss got to choose everything (within reason)my only stipulation: that there be enough room to put my workshop in the back yard. She wanted an attached 2 car garage so she and the bambino could get out of the car without getting soaked so now we have 2 garages.

when i bought my house, i gave the realtors very specific instructions: 1. It MUST have at least a two car garage 2. There will be NO home owners association and 3. there must be at least one habitable room, everything else was optional.... I went through three realtors until i found one that could follow directions, and the last one almost blew it as well, but came through in the end.

The next house will be a four car garage...with clearance for a lift, and If all goes well, I will have it built...

like one of these: http://www.topsider.com/collections.asp?c=TWO-STORY&plid=88 with one of these attached fro the workshop: http://www.topsider.com/collections.asp?c=GARAGE&plid=117

This is pretty much my dream house:

http://archwaypress.com/catalog/cart.php?target=product&product_id=2070&category_id=61

Build your own garage! I have less than 15k in mine.

Joey

You are a car nut without a garage? At least buy one of those Wally world instant up garages :)

I'm planning to get a tent garage eventually, but part of the back yard has to be converted into a parking area first...

My dad lives in a cool neighborhood attached to an airport. The development was built for pilots. All of the houses there have hangars attached to them, the way most houses have garages. I love going over to his place to work on my car.

Hey Gameboy- What do Bajuns have to pay for a decent house? I'm familiar with Jamaica and Trinidad prices, but not yours. Although I'm seriously considering retirement there.

A decent house like your average 3~4-bedroom 2-storey suburban American home will run you $200~$400kUS. If you're picking between those three I'd go with Barbados for the lower crime rate...I'd warn you about the weather, cost of living, and culture here but I guess you've experienced those before.

I am well aware of the crime rate there. I deal in electronic security equipment. I find it quite interesting that Barbados, with a very low overall crime rate, (compared to other Caribbean nations) is still a very good market for my products. I deal with sophisticated buyers, with clients that are quite demanding, but are willing to spend serious money on security. It seem like Barbados is quite similar to Great Britain, civilized, but not as up tight. Compared to Trinidad and Jamaica, a decent place to live. As far as the weather goes, I'm used to South Florida, not very different than yours.

I always say "my house will be a 4-car garage with lifts and air-conditioning and air lines with a studio apartment on the second floor." Why have anything else? You just have to clean it!

And I can relate Gameboy, I have been in the middle of replacing a thermostat when a giant electrical storm decided to descend upon my driveway...

ddavidv wrote: Realtors are morons.

You know how to tell when a realtor is lying? Their lips are moving.

Went through the same deal when we bought Casa Pretentious. First broker just did not get it, and after he showed us four houses without garages we fired him. The second broker did not get it, but at least understood what we wanted.

Alas, my title for this thread would be "Never Settle For An Oversized One Car Garage and A One Car Wide Driveway When You KNOW Two is Better!"

atlantamx3 wrote: This is pretty much my dream house: http://archwaypress.com/catalog/cart.php?target=product&product_id=2070&category_id=61

I have print-outs of that same plan... only I've modified it... spin the second floor around and make it the first floor with the garage becoming a walk-out basement... and add an additional bay on the right with a separate wall to serve as the "shop/service" area (this is where the lift and tools would be)... and add a side-entrance 2 car garage to the living level for the daily drivers (with enough side space for bicycle storage/shop).

If you're gonna dream... dream BIG... It doesn't cost any more...

Of course, the cheaper/easier way (and what I hope to actually do in a few years) is to just find enough land to put up a big-azz steel building, install water and sewer hook-ups and live in a travel trailer.

Ian F wrote: Of course, the cheaper/easier way (and what I hope to actually do in a few years) is to just find enough land to put up a big-azz steel building, install water and sewer hook-ups and live in a travel trailer.

I always kind of figured on putting up a 60x200 steel building for a shop sometime, then get a 30x50 steel building and split in half as a 15x100 lean-to off one side. Pour the floor in the lean-to part about 3' down from ground level, with a ramp at one end, and just pull a whole single-wide trailer house inside. Add a couple window boxes to connect the windows in the trailer to the outside walls and it would be a ground level home with a real shop attached. If and when the trailer gets ratty, just pull it out and back in a new one, and with a whole building built around it the outside condition wouldn't matter at all.

Hahahahaha that sounds like a good day.

Wow I just feel so much better after reading that. Thanks.

Sorry but I know exactly how you feel... bloody rain. Props on the killing of nature

Twin_Cam wrote: I always say "my house will be a 4-car garage with lifts and air-conditioning and air lines with a studio apartment on the second floor." Why have anything else? You just have to clean it!

And of course Tony Stark tools and robots :)