Garage/Storage Decision Help

I was faced with the same sort of situation about a year ago and I went with an Option 2 type scenario. Here are my thoughts after a little time living with the situation.

Option1 Good: Access. Even though my offsite place is only 1.5 miles away, it's still a trip to go over there and my cars/toys are not around for people to see when they come over to the house.

Bad: Resale. You're unlikely to find a buyer who's going to appreciate the additional garage, not impossible, just not likely. And depending on the size of your lot, future buyers may miss the loss of yard.

Option 2 Good: In a more industrial area, I don't worry about starting up loud engines. I can always sell the warehouse independently of the house and vice versa. My buddies are keeping their extra cars there and giving me a little walking around money. When I semi-retire, I can run a business out of the warehouse which you might not be able to do in an area with a restrictive HOA.

Bad: Security. Even with an alarm system, I worry. I'm in the process of adding webcams now so I hope that will help.

Good luck with whichever way you decide to go.

 

had a friend who bought a large warehouse. drive in loading docks, four doors, rail spur. he had a double wide trailer set up inside. put down a astro turf lawn and an above ground pool. it was a great party spot.

 

Tough call when you have multiple cars. I'd opt for the warehouse if you can swing it. The shared thing always sucks for the reasons described plus people think they can check out other peoples stuff. Having multiple cars is expensive any way you slice it. The other option is renting warehouse space. You can throw a stick and hit 3 empty places around here so they may be willing to deal in your area. The absolute cheapest option is finding a currently used warehouse and offer to rent some space from them. You get into the shared hassle again though. I think if you buy you'll have wish you had done it sooner providing it isn't any kind of stretch financially.

 

I love my warehouse and don't regret buying it at all, but I forgot one downside...

With any kind of off-site shop you may need to buy extra of stuff you already have. For instance I'm going to buy another set of tools so I'm set at both places. Also needed are a second shop vac, air compressor, etc.

But I don't want to over play that too much. Because for other furnishings/stuff, I'm going to turn this problem into a justifcation for buying new stuff at the house (TV, fridge, couch, guest bed, etc.) and demote the old stuff to the warehouse. In fact, I hope that by doing enough furnishing then the warehouse becomes a second home for tax purposes (cooking, sleeping and toilet).

 

That's easy, just do the work at home or the warehouse and keep rotating out cars. Probably best to have the tools at your home as that's where you spend most of your time unless you want to get away.

I'd love to convert a warehouse into a living area and car storage. Keep the outside totally non-descript but have a nice cool living area where probably the office is. Maybe a gym, music set up etc. Natural lighting as much as possible. Have cameras in strategic places so you can check on things when you want. A total man-cave as a friend calls it.

Oh, and two large doors front and back to make it easier to come and go. Automatic doors even better so that you don't have to get out of your car. Although you'd probably want to use pad locks. Your own warehouse set up is the ultimate.