Renting Out Garage - Lakewood

[Jack Bier]

Hi BP!

I am looking at buying a duplex in Lakewood w/ an unused 2 car garage. Where I live, in Miami, it is common for landlords to fix up and rent out a garage as an efficiency. In Miami, it's usually done w/o permits. Is this common in Lakewood/Cleveland?

[James Maradits]

It won't be feasible to convert to a unit in our climate and with the extensive amount of money it would take to run plumbing and power to the garage.  I don't think the city would even allow it, but if they did I would estimate that you'd be looking at somewhere upward of $50k or more to make it happen.

A lot of Lakewood doubles have an attic that can be finished, this would probably be a more cost effective and profitable route in terms of adding additional living space.

You can try to rent the garage as a garage, but I can't see anyone other than the tenants wanting to rent a garage space in a residential area unless they live at the property.  I would just include the garage as an amenity for the tenants and build that into your rent price.