The Garage (Apartment)- Part 4

(continued from part 1, part 2, and part 3) 


Buying a home with a garage apartment has definitely been a lesson in "you have to spend money to make money." I'm having a tough time deciding if I would go back in time and re-do the whole thing by hiring everything out six months ago. We would have spent more money on labor costs (we were too busy fixing up the other rental, painting our own house, and training for the Ironman), but we would have made around $3,600 by having it rented out over that time period. At the same time, I'm not sure if our bank accounts would have been able to handle all of the upgrades right after buying our house. 

Oh well. Here we are at the home stretch!

Thanks to a some mid-week day off of work, there are just a few more things for us to check off of the list before renting it out:


1. Finish the floors- In a perfect world we would put down some hardwood or tile across the entire thing, but with the past mold issues and costs, we'll try to stain the concrete for now. We've never stained concrete and I'm a little worried about the patched portion taking the stain... so I'll let you know how that goes...

2. Add new baseboards and trim- This is another new-to-us task. I'm sure it will be super easy and we won't have any issues at all! (sarcasm)


3. (Re)Paint and hang the cabinets- We primed, we painted, and they peeled so we'll try again. After three unsuccessful attempts, we'll also try to eventually find new hinges that will actually fit with the doors. 

4. Swap out the faucets and toilet seat


5. Make a better path to the front door- The old broken concrete path went through a muddy patch of our yard and we would like to better separate their space from ours.

My July 4th fun:

I really hope I can convince someone to take this pile of rubble!

The rock above sits on top of our Invisible Fence which will keep Hugo away from the tenant. If you look at the before picture, you can see the flags which outline the walking path.

6. Have an electrician replace and add plugs- $$


7. Buy kitchen appliances- I'm leaning towards getting a simple hot plate and toaster oven combo instead of a full oven. There isn't any ventilation in the apartment and I'm just worried it will take up too much space/ budget. Plus, detached apartments in our area are very popular so I think we don't have to necessarily appeal to the masses... If you were renting out a <400 sqft space, would you need a full-sized oven?