Adding second story to garage/carport for STR

[Taylor Williams]

I've been on the hunt for my first investment property in the Charlotte market, so far, no luck. Between the rates and lack of inventory within my price range, it doesn't seem that anything will pop up soon. However, it occurred to me this morning that my single-story garage/carport could be an excellent alternative investment solution. My thought is to add a furnished second story and either target the travel nurse audience or AirBnb. The back of napkin numbers seems to work out, and from what I've read online it could be a healthy value add to the property. Does anyone have experience adding/renovating a detached ADU in Charlotte or elsewhere? I'm interested to know how this has worked for others and hear some of the pros and cons.

[Henry T.]

I've done a couple(outside of Seattle). One with stairs inside. The other outside. I like inside stars. Here in the Northwest anything outside rots. If your garage is 2x6's, you have the support. Still they may require a partial slab footing build up if you have a glulam cross beam (depends on your span of course). Find a experienced drafter to draw you some plans, you don't need an expensive architech, but you will probably need a structural engineer to sign you off. Use it for str, LTR, or for yourself, and rent out the house. If your garage was legally permitted, it probably has adequate structure. Talk to your building dept. Probably the biggest question is if you have easy sewer line access, your biggest cost. If you're going true ADU, find out the impact fees, they usually don't tell you about this (in Seattle) until youre almost done. For example, in Seattle, to hook up to the sewer is 25k. That price includes nothing except allowing you to hook up. Many people end up backpedaling their plans. Calling their new unit office space, storage room, or whatever, to avoid those fees, and therefore not a legal ADU. You can always change your mind later.