How to find out if you can turn a separate garage into a rental

Question

My house is separate from my garage, and my garage is 750 sq ft. How can I go about finding out from the city/ or what do i do or who to call to find out if I can legally turn it into a livable space to rent out separately? My lot is over 7000 sq ft and my garage isn't to bad. Also, would it be expensive to turn the garage into a livable area? It's in Florida. I'd do a split unit in the garage because it's small or see how easily it is to add on to the A/C unit (its brand new). I'd have to add plumbing, etc. What do I need to do, so I can rent it out as Florida rental market is very good now.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Call your Building Dept. They will be able to tell you if it is allowed. Also bear in mind that depending on age and type of construction, the garage may not be able to be permitted as 'living space' due to slab PSI/steel pattern/vapor barrier.

At least in San Diego County where I did most of my building, it was rare to be able to convert a standard garage into living space....

Bob S. · Answer

Call your city building dept

Carolyn Yates · Answer

As the others have mentioned, you need to check zoning or planning to make sure that it is allowed. If you are zoned for single-family residential then probably not, but the different zoning districts allowed various levels of density. Also, the SFR zone may allow an ADU. I would start with city hall.

Bud Gaffney · Answer

@Randall Re II go for it

Randall Re II · Answer

@Allan Smith thats very interesting on the dublex comment. I'll look into these things.

Randall Re II · Answer

@Kenneth Garrett, I feel there is plenty of square footage as I've seen homes with the same size on the market, which is what gave me the idea.

Eliott Elias · Answer

Call the permitting office and make sure you're permitting all of this. Last thing you want is to sell a home with un permitted garage conversion

Allan Smith · Answer

1. Find out zoning of your land. R-1, rs7... every city is different. Make note of any overlays ( the more urban, the more common these are)

2. Find the city's land use descriptions. Other terms would be city zoning ordinance, planning and zoning, zoning guidelines.

this will tell you if your property allows an accessory dwelling or a full on second detached dwelling (some allow duplexes but not 2 separate units).

Kenneth Garrett · Answer

@Randall Re II

Contact the city’s zoning department (might be the planning department) or the building department. Each jurisdiction is a little different. If they allow ADU’s then you might be able to do it provided you meet the building setbacks and minimum square footage. What about parking for that structure, is there enough?

How to find out if you can turn a separate garage into a rental

How to find out if you can turn a separate garage into a rental

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