Questions Re Rental of Double Garage

[tobiconnors]

I am a new REIN member and have just taken possession of my 1st property which includes a double detached garage. It is located in West Edmonton and has 2 separate single garage doors.

I was wondering if it made sense to install a wall separating the 2 sides and rent them out individually? Or if I would get more $$$ for rental of 1 double garage ?

As well, if I do install the wall, do I need to have power on both sides and lights on both sides? How do I bill the tenant for the power as it is currently connected to the house which will have a separate tenant? Do I need to provide access to power?

Would I charge more for the side that has the people door and the single garage door?

Also are garage door openers a necessity?

I appreciate your feedback.

Cheers,
Tobi

HTK Property Investments

 

[kaelsmith]

QUOTE (tobiconnors @ Jan 7 2008, 02:14 PM) I am a new REIN member and have just taken possession of my 1st property which includes a double detached garage. It is located in West Edmonton and has 2 separate single garage doors.

I was wondering if it made sense to install a wall separating the 2 sides and rent them out individually? Or if I would get more $$$ for rental of 1 double garage ?

As well, if I do install the wall, do I need to have power on both sides and lights on both sides? How do I bill the tenant for the power as it is currently connected to the house which will have a separate tenant? Do I need to provide access to power?

Would I charge more for the side that has the people door and the single garage door?

Also are garage door openers a necessity?

I appreciate your feedback.

Cheers,
Tobi

HTK Property Investments

Hello Tobi,

My thoughts are that you might or might not get more $ if you demise the garage into 2 separate spaces. I rent some of my garages, and there are definitely people looking for both single and double garages. You might consider calling around on ads for garage rentals in your area (look in the bargain finder for example). See if there is any value in demising the 2 units (ie 1 single car garage renting for more than half the price of a double car garage). Consider the cost (either in time or money or both) of demising the space. If it will make you an extra $25.00 per month but cost 3500.00 to build the wall, re wire etc. It might not be worth it. If it were me, I`d probably rent it the way it is and focus my energy on the next project.
The same goes for the garage door opener - check and see what kind of a premium the garages with the garage door openers are charging by looking at the garage rental ads. I don`t have any experience with renting garages without automatic doors as all my garages have them.

As far as power requirements, it will depend on what usage you allow for the space. My thoughts are to minimize the potential headaches and rent it for storage (as opposed to renting it to someone who wants to use it as a shop, work shop, car repair, etc.) If they are using it for storage, I would think a light bulb in the middle of the space should be adequate. I would also think the power requirement / usage for this would be minimal. You might just consider charging a gross amount including power, or just charge them a nominal rate (like 5 -10%) just so they won`t leave the lights on.

Hope that helps,

Kael

 

[tobiconnors]

QUOTE (kaelsmith @ Jan 7 2008, 05:24 PM) Hello Tobi,

My thoughts are that you might or might not get more $ if you demise the garage into 2 separate spaces. I rent some of my garages, and there are definitely people looking for both single and double garages. You might consider calling around on ads for garage rentals in your area (look in the bargain finder for example). See if there is any value in demising the 2 units (ie 1 single car garage renting for more than half the price of a double car garage). Consider the cost (either in time or money or both) of demising the space. If it will make you an extra $25.00 per month but cost 3500.00 to build the wall, re wire etc. It might not be worth it. If it were me, I`d probably rent it the way it is and focus my energy on the next project.
The same goes for the garage door opener - check and see what kind of a premium the garages with the garage door openers are charging by looking at the garage rental ads. I don`t have any experience with renting garages without automatic doors as all my garages have them.

As far as power requirements, it will depend on what usage you allow for the space. My thoughts are to minimize the potential headaches and rent it for storage (as opposed to renting it to someone who wants to use it as a shop, work shop, car repair, etc.) If they are using it for storage, I would think a light bulb in the middle of the space should be adequate. I would also think the power requirement / usage for this would be minimal. You might just consider charging a gross amount including power, or just charge them a nominal rate (like 5 -10%) just so they won`t leave the lights on.

Hope that helps,

Kael

 

[tobiconnors]

Hi Kael
Thanks for the response. I really appreciate the advice.
Cheers,
Tobi