Rent primary w/o finished basement or finish and rent both?

[Michael Garland]

Currently living in a 6 yr old new construction home. We did not finished the basement during construction. Basement is poured concrete with 9’ ceiling, egress window and has plumbing roughed in during construction for a bathroom.

Looking for advice on renting the whole house as is or finish off the basement as a studio type apartment with private entrance, approx. 710 sq’ ?

Thanks for your time!

[Brenden Mitchum]

Hey @Michael Garland

Always love to discuss creative income boosting strategies. However, there are several questions to think through to help determine if this is a good call. 

How much would it cost to finish the basement? What do rental comps tell you that space would rent for once finished? Is there enough parking for both top and bottom? Are you going to run into occupancy issues with municipality? Is there an HOA and would they allow this? Is there a safe, well-lit path to get to the entrance from parking? How would you bill utilities if there is only one meter?

Might be simpler to just finish the basement and rent the entire house out for more? Just depends how much it'll cost to finish and how much extra rent you could get..

Hope these questions help a bit! Please, feel free to reach out anytime if you need help thinking through any of these.