Can you rent out storage space and housing on same property?

Question

Hello all!

I am curious if there is anything illegal about renting a home to tenants and in addition renting out storage space to someone who is not renting the property.

For example if I bought a multi-family property with a garage AND a pole barn, could I rent out the house (along with the garage) to a tenant, but also rent out the pole barn separately for storage to make extra cash flow on the property?

Similarly could I purchase a property and rent out the home to tenants, and in addition build a pole barn on the property to rent out separately?

Thanks in advance!

- Brad

Bryan Blankenship · Answer

@Brad Beadling Yes, you can rent separately! We have a duplex that sits on top of garages for each unit, and then has a detached 2-car garage with its own power/meter, and even a fireplace, and they're all rented separately. A lot of small business owners that would need a garage space for storage of vehicles will snap up garage rentals quickly!

Brad Beadling · Answer

Yeah I figured it would require some work initially to get it all set up, but if there isn't any weird law prohibiting it and the structure is already on the property it seems like it could be a nice way to get some extra cashflow!

Thanks for the response!

Jaysen Medhurst · Answer

@Brad Beadling, of course you need to check local / state laws, but that shouldn't be a problem. A lot of owners do this. There are some complexities, like power to the external structures and how it's metered.