Many are designed for RVs and workshops

Be it the bitter winds of the winter or the brutal heat of the summer, there’s one thing homebuyers look for to make their commute a little easier. It makes for a warmer skip from the living room to the road; it creates an instant mudroom; and, now, most Las Vegan homeowners can’t imagine life without one.

The garage has become the essential extension of the home.

“We have had buyers talk about turning the garage into a gym, dojo, game room, hobby shop and even a place to showcase collectibles,” said Jen Acevedo of Liberty Homes. “The great thing about a garage is it’s a blank canvas, you can do just about any hobby or sport in a comfortable, enclosed environment just steps from your own front door.”

Liberty Homes’ newest project — Liberty Estates — offers oversized garages with extra-large doors as well as recreational vehicle garages in the neighborhood, which has no homeowners association restrictions.

“Using the garage as anything but a parking space can lead to trouble within an HOA community where they expect you to avoid parking in the driveway,” Acevedo said.

But, it’s not just about the size of the ship, it’s also how you rock those details.

Buyers are looking for customizable lighting, air condition, heating and insulation and even specialty flooring to make working in the garage much more comfortable. Hobbyists and woodworkers like electrical upgrades.

Even a beautiful, well-tailored space needs to be sturdy for the rough-and-tumble lifestyle of a garage.

“We’ve had some serious car collectors and hobby mechanics find that foundations capable of handling RVs can also handle heavy equipment like car lifts,” Acevedo said.

And, don’t forget true functionality.

“The latest trend is adding a convenient toilet and sink area which helps avoid tracking oil and dirt into the home,” Acevedo said.

In oversized garages, the hottest commodity is storage space. When buyers end up with an RV garage and no RV? Many turn that extra space into storage.

“Some have talked about turning the large garages into casitas, but they must contend with code issues and property lines for habitation,” Acevedo said.

She said with the oversized doors — 14 feet wide on the RV garages — you can even fit a monster truck into the garage. And, with the taller, wider openings of the car garages, tow vehicles, trailers and the big mudding trucks slide in with ease.

And as the final touch, remember to dress the floor for your needs.

“We can really place any flooring the buyer wants into our garages — carpet, sport-type mats, marble, or bamboo,” Acevedo said, “but the most common request is our epoxy floors which are very durable, capable of withstanding heavy loads, and are easy to keep clean.”