I have an old detached garage that needs to come down (its rotted and become a hazard). It is on a foundation, and the driveway goes to it. I don't have the money to build anything there yet, so I was thinking of renting the space out to someone looking to park a Tiny House. Does anyone have any experience with something like this? I live in Washington state and I know laws and building codes are finicky about ADU 's or "mother-in-law suits". I thought this might be an interesting way to offset some expenses?
In most jurisdictions, the tiny house ADU still has requirements that have costs. This could include permits, sewer hookups, to code electrical hookups, etc. There will be costs even if your "tenant" is supplying the tiny house. You would need to consult with a local expert. In my area (San Diego) there is a company (Maxable: no affiliation - I do not know if they support WA state but think it unlikely) that has a reasonable ADU consultation fee. I suspect they do it as a loss leader type service in hopes that you use them for some of the ADU development. You will want a local ADU expert.
Also it is likely that the tenant will desire a long term lease because moving a house is more cost/effort than moving the contents of a house.
I have never heard of someone doing this; I like the creativity.
Joel, while this sounds good on paper, it may not be the easiest thing to do. Depending on the city you live in, they may restrict what you put there. I have an RV that my city won't let me park at my house for more than four hours. Also, you would need power, water, and sewer if you were going to have someone there very long. You can't just plug into an outlet from the house.
I have seen where people with some space to spare will lease some of the POD units, stick those on their property and rent them as storage. You would need no utilities and may not have the issues with the city. If you are in a more rural area or where the city is alright with it, you could rent it to someone to store a trailer or car.
I pay to park an RV and construction trailers so I know there is always a need for people to store their stuff.