JUST ASK BOB - Home Renovations: Creating an income property
Layout and design
This will be your very first mission: to design the basement properly, in order to maximize your investment and ensure you make good use of the space. This will be a new rental home, so start thinking of it that way and forget about the “man cave” or big “rec room with the pool table”, storage area or home gym!
Designers and contractors can be brought in at this stage, in order to help you with ideas and foresee any structural inconveniences, or if you’re handy and have vision and creativity, you can save that money and use your common sense in designing the basement to act as a fully sustainable home for someone – one that is comfortable for someone to live in day in and day out.
Shared or separate entry/exit points?
Does your home already have a walk out basement? Then you are definitely in luck, otherwise you must figure out a way to separate an already-existing doorway to be used exclusively for the future tenant. Sometimes there is a side door with a staircase leading to the basement and another door leading into the home’s hallway or kitchen – in this case, you can simply replace the interior door that was leading into the home’s hallway or kitchen with a fire-rated locking door. Now you have isolated a separate basement entrance for the tenant to use exclusively. If there is no existing separate entry/exit available, then you must create one, and this will require excavation and boring through your home’s foundation – a very expensive task!
Shared laundry room?
Most homes still have the laundry room in the basement, which is great for the tenants, however not so good for the homeowner. In this case you have two choices: design the new basement rental suite to accommodate a shared laundry room, or find the space somewhere else in your home for either a main floor or second floor laundry room. Remember, carefully weigh your choices as there is serious money to take into consideration for either choice, and there is always the issue of privacy. How comfortable will you and your tenants be with sharing a laundry room? And if your tenant hasn’t completed doing their laundry and you need to do a wash, what will you do? What if your tenant is messy? What if they aren’t comfortable with using the settings in the washer or dryer?
Natural light
A deal breaker in how fast you can start banking money on your rental suite (and for that fact, even how much money you can earn) will depend a lot on how much natural light shines into your newly built basement suite. Basements with large windows and lots of windows will rent out much faster, and for more money, than dark basements with too much artificial light. The window located in a basement bedroom must also act as a fire escape and must be of adequate size – it’s the law! Take this into consideration when designing your basement, and either update the existing windows to be much larger ones or have more windows installed.
Kitchens/Living Room
Another good way to maximize your rental income is by creating a large and spacious kitchen that leads into the living room without any unnecessary walls in the way. “Open Concept”, as designers like to call it. Depending on your existing basement’s HVAC layout (Heating, Venting & Air Conditioning), systems and structural obstructions may make it difficult to create an open concept kitchen/living room area. The kitchen must be easy to use, and hopefully be designed with a window right above the sink (remember you want it to feel like a regular kitchen and not feel like a make-shift basement kitchen), plus you will want to ensure there is lots of counter space available.
Love the closet space!
Ladies (and even men!) love a spacious closet. Basements are very difficult to remodel because sometimes the home’s heating and air conditioning systems are in bad locations. This is where you must be creative and find (or invent) space in every possible area. The master bedroom must have a good-sized closet, even if you build it under existing ductwork where the headroom would be limited. This is okay because it does not have to be a walk-in closet. Even one with limited headroom which spans along the entire length of one of the bedrooms’ wall will be appreciated by the tenant. If possible, you should also create a closet at, or near, the new basement rental suite’s entranceway, somewhere for the tenants to have immediate storage of jackets and shoes.
Bathrooms
Every rental should have at least one three-piece bathroom! However if you can find the space, add even a tiny two-piece ensuite bathroom into the mix. Then you will have a real winner on your hands, resulting in finding tenants right away and being able to charge more for the rental suite.
BASEMENT RENTAL SUITES: Do’s and Dont’s
Do’s
- Always check with your municipality before constructing a basement rental suite; remember they are not allowed in some neighbourhoods
- Always consult with your homeowner’s insurance company because you will require additional homeowner’s insurance coverage to carry the additional remodel and associated rental risk
- Whether you’re doing the work yourself or hiring a contractor, make absolutely sure that you or the contractor obtain a building permit, and have all inspections carried out
- Pretend that it’s you that is shopping for a basement rental: step out of your own shoes for the moment and pretend that you cannot afford to purchase your first home, but rent ‘fits the bill’... then design the space accordingly and it will surely appeal to the masses
Don’t
- Do not cheapen out on material quality. Remember some tenants can be abusive on the finishes, so use good quality finishes that will stand the test of time. And remember that when something is not working or breaks, it is you (the landlord) that the tenants will call right away!
- Do not use hardwood or laminate flooring in the basement, you will regret it! Instead use ceramic tile and area rugs
- Stay away from MDF (medium density fiberboard) baseboards and casings for finishing the bottom of all the walls and for trimming out the doors and windows, instead use finger-jointed pine
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Questions? To find out more, ask specific questions, or send comments to Just Ask Bob’s Bobby Assadourian, please phone (289) 649-0196 or email@triplerinc.ca
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