Buying a house for its garage in Phoenix, Arizona

When I bought the house that I am in right now, in Glendale, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix), I was looking for a garage. That is, I wanted a safe place for my car. I'm sure that I had some thought that it would be nice if there would be a place for me to sleep, etc., but mostly it was the garage that I was interested in.

I found exactly what I was looking for, as the house I own appears from the front to be nothing but garage. The front door isn't really visible, there is no large expanse of lawn, no big picture window. Mostly garage. And, of course, it opens directly into the house. I step out of my car, and in a couple of steps I'm in my kitchen. And it's all for my cars.

I've owned some really nice cars. And in my younger days I just hated the thought of them having to sleep outside, maybe in a parking lot where they could get rained on, or having the heat of the sun fade the paint, or be vandalized, or stolen. Yeah, I worried a lot. The idea of a garage fascinated me. It meant a room where my car could sleep in safety and comfort. And I would sleep better, too! I would no sooner let my car stay outside all night as I would lock my dog outside all night, either. Just unthinkable.

And yet, to my amazement, many of my neighbors didn't park their cars in their garages. Instead, they filled their garages with old cardboard boxes full of stuff, and made their cars sleep outside, on the driveway. I remember a neighbor with a beautiful Lexus that sat in the driveway, in 110-degree heat, while cardboard boxes got the luxury of shade in his garage.

To me, seeing cars parked in front of their garages always reminds me of the old Snoopy cartoon where he's sleeping on top of his dog house, not inside of it. And while it looks strange to me, to most people it makes perfect sense.