If you’re looking for a new house, and you’ve only lived in apartments up to this point, then you probably realize you’re about to embark on an exciting chapter of your life. Going from a renter to an owner should make you feel proud. Not everyone can get to this point anymore, since home prices just keep going up with each passing year.

You may love your new house, but there might be a few things about it you don’t enjoy so much. That’s typical. It’s difficult to find a house that you’d consider perfect or that doesn’t come with a few eccentricities. 

For instance, maybe you notice that your new house doesn’t have a garage. That might bother you. Several viable garage alternatives exist, and they’re worth discussing. In this article, we’ll talk about what you might do if your new house doesn’t come with a garage. 

Do You Really Need a Garage?

First, you need to think about whether you actually need the garage or whether you can live without it. Maybe you don’t own a car, and you take public transportation or walk everywhere. If so, then you’re probably fine with no garage, at least till you decide to get a car.

Maybe you have a vehicle, but you feel like it’s fine in the driveway. Perhaps you can park it on the street instead.

Usually, you will have to determine whether you live in a safe neighborhood. If you feel like you can leave the car in the driveway or on the street in front of the house, and no one will attempt to steal it or break into it, then you might not install a garage the whole time you live at that house. 

Can You Live with Having a Carport Instead?

Maybe you own a car, and you feel like you want some shelter for it. Even if you’re not thinking about possible thieves, perhaps you know you get some serious weather in that part of the country. You’d rather not come outside to see a foot of snow on the car. 

If you’re in this situation, but you feel like you don’t want to pay for a garage because of the high price tag, then you can install and pay for a carport instead. Carports usually cost much less than what you’d pay for a garage. You’re often looking at a difference of several thousand dollars at least. 

Also, it’s usually easier to get permission from the city, town, or village where you live to install a carport versus a garage. You can’t consider a carport as big of a project as a garage, and you can probably get the necessary permission and building permit quite easily. 

You Can Get a Home Improvement Loan

If you do decide that you want a garage, and you’re willing to pay the expenditure to have a company build one, then you will need the money for that. You might get it by approaching a local credit union or bank and getting a home improvement loan. 

Local credit unions or banks will often give you a home improvement loan if you can plainly state what you have in mind and how much it will cost. If you have excellent credit, then that’s another point in your favor. 

If you don’t have such great credit, then you may need to put something up as collateral. You might not feel like you need a garage that urgently, though. You may decide to just wait until you have the money to pay for the whole job without getting any kind of a loan. 

You Can Wait Until You’ve Saved Up the Money

By waiting till you’ve saved up the money for your new garage, you can avoid going through the whole process of approaching a credit union or bank. You can settle on a price with the garage’s installer and pay them when they finish.  

This plan makes sense, but it may take quite a while for you to save up enough money for the garage this way. A garage can easily cost $15K-$30K or more, and that might take years for you to get together. 

You Can Install Motion Detectors and Cameras Instead

Alternatively, you may decide you won’t build a garage on your property, but you’ll install motion lights and cameras and keep an eye on your car that way. Hopefully, such measures will deter thieves.