Best way to convert a garage into a room for rent?

[Alfonso Aramburo Zepeda]

Just placed an offer on a SFR that has an attached garage and in order to cashflow It has to be converted into a rental.

What steps would you take? Someone has done it already?

[Frank Chin]

The first step you have to take is to visit or call city planning, and see what your area is zoned for. If it's a SFR zoned area, then they would not grant you a variance for 2, which is what you're saying. If it's zoned for 2, then there are square footage ratios, and if you exceed these, then you would need a variance.

While you're looking at cash flow issues, city planning is looking at congestion in your local schools, traffic, power grid, water and sewer etc., where if they grant too many approvals, the area would be over congested.

Your next step after this, if you get the OK, is to have an architect do a walkthrough. I have a garage converted to a rec room, connected to the house by a breezeway, so the architect advises I need footings for a breezeway, replace windows in the rec room to larger ones that open out (egress requirements) and larger roof beams, on the garage.

I will get the variance if the building issues are corrected, as they have granted similar ones in the neighborhood.