I agree that the realtor of the house for sale COULD try different things to try to put potential buyers st ease but the unknown does reduce interest by potential buyers.
That area has a lot of HUGE McMansions.
Incidentally, our old town theoretically only allowed two story houses but all the new construction included a basement and a very tall attic that included living space. So four floors of living space. The developer who bought our house as a tear down even put in a sub basement to be used as a driving range in the giant house he built. We’d seen construction on all the cardinal points around us over the years we lived there so had no guilt over what was built.
That’s what husbands are for. :)) For me, stairs are all just exercise. Nothing wrong (for me) with a “sandbag” carry up a flight of stairs.
A few years ago I saw this one house which could fit like 10 cars underneath in the garage. Unbelievable. I loved it. It also had a wine cellar and an elevator.
In Colorado, the important thing about a garage/driveway is which direction it faces. North? NO. South or southwest are best for natural snow removal, to not ice over or retain icy spots.
We sell those with north facing driveways to people from Minnesota who don’t think it is strange to have a pile of snow on the driveway in mid March.
I’m having a lot of trouble imagining a one story, two bedroom McMansion. I mean, I suppose, if it was 9000 square feet and had a ballroom, a conservatory, a home theater and an exercise room…
“A few years ago I saw this one house which could fit like 10 cars underneath in the garage. Unbelievable. I loved it. It also had a wine cellar and an elevator.”
We checked out one house with a 2 car garage that had a giant hydraulic lift in the garage, so the owner can store 2 or 3 cars in the cellar below. 
We passed that opportunity. The lift is a giant liability and a PITA to have an annual inspection
The1950/60 swingers houses in the desert. Frank Sinatra style.
Our next door neighbor is building a huge home, and it’s fine. He’s building from afar. He has been unhappy with the contractor and I can see why - this seems to be their side job. They are here more on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays than during normal work weeks. Not in love with getting woken up on Sunday morning at 6am since my bedroom is right there, but I won’t say a peep. If they could work 24/7 on it I’d be all for it to get it done sooner.
Link to pictures? I don’t know what one of those houses would look like.
For me, a house has to be more than big to be a McMansion. It has to be gratuitously big, and also cheaply and badly designed, with a mixed up, ugly facade. For example, these specimens (I hope we’re allowed to link to this hilarious site): http://mcmansionhell.com/post/170587298531/50-states-of-mcmansion-hell-10-worst-pennsylvania
My house faces east, so my driveway. While the sun is softening or melting snow (is that called radiant effect?) my neighbors across the street hsve to wait until after noon to get that benefit.
That east facing driveway is okay if it warms up enough in the morning. In Colorado, it is often in the 30’s in the morning but in the 50’s in the afternoon. East is better than north, but south is still best.
We had an inclined, north-facing driveway in MN and it was the worse thing ever. The smallest amount of snow would turn to ice before it got shoveled.
My garage is attached one car but since my house was built in 1927, there is only a pass through Dutch door kind of thing from garage to basement which we sealed up and weatherstripped years ago. I think before we did that we only used the pass-through twice in all the years we lived here, once returning from a trip and there had been an ice storm the previous day and once when a friend stored stuff in my basement before she moved into a larger apartment from her tiny studio
Didn’t someone point out people don’t tend to use their detached garages? It got me counting. On my short street, 4 homes have detached and only one couple uses theirs for cars. (No one here has an attached garage.)
Because the space is filled up with other stuff? Because they require more trekking to their homes?
Detached garages are not that common here. Most garages are attached, and people still park in front of their attached garages - they are filled with crap.
Despite the good street appearance, I know a couple of the garages, not part of the home itself, are less well maintained. Another family gave up the access when they built a bay window that projects over the driveway (say what? I do think they could squeeze past that, but they don’t.) And no one here seems to mind seeing cars in the driveway, even two (or occasionally more) lined up. (But I’m in a city residential area. Parking is restricted to an hour or two on the streets.)
Unlike some places I’ve lived, these aren’t narrow buildings with only a foot of clearance around the cars. So “stuff” wouldn’t block the cars. Everyones got a side or back house door, so it’s not the trek.
If we were to build a garage, I think we’d have to share/split the structure with the driveway neighbor. They’re in no rush, recently added a shed for outdoor storage.
These old homes ofted don’t have whole house AC, either.
Maybe part of our relief is being in a historical district- not the max restrictive sort, but limits to building size and some details. Some odd permitting is needed to even switch to modern windows. There are several strong preservationist groups. Not perfect, there are some moderns built. But generally not the hideous sort of McMansions. Close your eyes and think hard and you can sort of see them as fitting.
We have a 2-car carport (which is wider than the usual), on a sloped, north-facing driveway. About half of this model in our neighborhood have converted to garages. We’ve avoided it because we like the openness and it’s a serious deterrent to collecting junk!
I don’t know what the percentage is, but it seems much more common that either garages are used for storage or they’re built out into a recreation or game room or another bedroom for extended family. I’m the opposite. I use the garage for parking.
How do I turn off notifications just for this thread!