A third garage bay sounds like a simple win until you’re standing in it with a tape measure, realizing that “3-car garage” on a Cadence floor plan can mean anything from a true tandem bay deep enough for a full-size truck to a tight third stall better suited for bikes and storage bins.
Why 3-Car Garages Matter in Cadence
For households relocating to Cadence with recreational gear suited to the nearby wash and trail system, whether that’s bikes, kayaks for Lake Mead, or off-road vehicles for Boulder City-area trails, a genuinely usable third bay solves a storage problem that a two-car garage simply can’t. Remote workers also sometimes convert a third bay into a workshop, gym, or secondary office space, which makes the bay’s depth, ceiling height, and electrical setup as important as its existence. Buyers searching for this feature often also look at Cadence Homes with Spas and Hot Tubs, since both features tend to appear in larger lot configurations within Cadence’s various villages.
What to Inspect Before You Make an Offer
- Measure the third bay’s depth and width independently rather than relying on the floor plan diagram, since tandem configurations can list total garage square footage in a way that obscures whether the third spot is full-size
- Check the garage door dimensions for all three bays, as some Cadence floor plans use a narrower door for the third stall that may not accommodate larger vehicles
- Inspect the garage flooring and walls for any signs of conversion to living space by a first owner, including outlets, flooring changes, or insulation additions that may not have been permitted
- Confirm the garage’s energy-code-compliant insulation and any HVAC extension if the space was finished or partially conditioned, since this affects both comfort and the home’s overall energy rating
- Review HOA rules regarding garage door types, exterior storage, and any restrictions on using garage space for purposes other than vehicle storage
The Most Common Buyer Mistake in Cadence
Buyers frequently skip measuring the actual garage dimensions because “3-car garage” sounds self-explanatory, but tandem configurations, where the third bay is positioned behind one of the other two rather than side-by-side, can make the third spot unusable for a vehicle that needs to be accessed independently. A buyer who plans to park three daily-driver vehicles can discover after move-in that the tandem configuration means whichever vehicle is in the back bay is effectively blocked in until the front vehicle moves, which is a significant daily inconvenience that wasn’t obvious from the listing photos.
Resale Perspective & Market Reality
As Cadence continues to attract move-up families with multiple vehicles and outdoor recreation equipment, homes with a true side-by-side three-car configuration have generally outperformed tandem configurations in terms of days-on-market, even when the tandem homes have comparable total square footage. This is particularly relevant for buyers also considering Cadence Homes with Dens or Offices, since households that need both a dedicated workspace and serious vehicle or gear storage tend to prioritize the garage configuration heavily in their final decision between similar listings.
Local Cost Context
Converting a tandem third bay into usable independent storage isn’t generally possible without structural changes, so buyers should treat garage configuration as a fixed feature rather than something to plan around fixing later; by contrast, finishing a third bay for use as a gym or workshop, including flooring, insulation, and electrical, can run into the thousands of dollars depending on scope. Cadence HOA dues don’t relate to garage configuration, but they fund the wash-trail system and Cadence Cove Park that make owning recreational gear worth the storage investment in the first place.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are tandem and side-by-side three-car garages both common across Cadence floor plans?
Both configurations exist across Cadence’s various builder phases and floor plans, with side-by-side configurations more common in larger lot, move-up-oriented plans and tandem configurations more often appearing in plans designed to maximize livable square footage on narrower lots.
Does finishing a garage bay for non-vehicle use affect a home’s energy-code compliance rating in Cadence?
If a garage bay is conditioned (heated or cooled) as part of a finish-out, it generally needs to meet the same insulation and energy-code standards as the rest of the home’s conditioned space, which may require additional insulation beyond what an unconditioned garage originally had.
For comparison in a different part of the valley, Spanish Trail Homes with 3-Car Garages shows how garage configurations differ in an established, larger-lot community.