Earn a Secondary Income with a Garage Suite in Calgary

Imagine having an extra $1,000 or more per month to help pay for your current mortgage, or perhaps supplement another part of your lifestyle? Maybe you would save all that money and put towards your children’s post-secondary education when the time comes? Whichever the reason for wanting to earn an additional income by utilizing the property you already own, building a new backyard suite on top of your garage is one excellent way to do it.

Let’s be realistic. Building a backyard suite is likely a smart move no matter how you put it. Not only are you creating an opportunity to earn additional income by becoming a landlord for a rental suite on your lot, but you’re likely also increasing the overall value of your property if and when the time comes to sell your home.

Home owners across the Vancouver Metro area have already shown a keen interest in building garage suites that allow them to earn a secondary income and help pay for their bills. Now, residents in Calgary and Edmonton are turning their attention to these “income-earning” backyard suites which provide the opportunity to earn more each year over the long-term with a relatively small initial investment compared to the value of your current residence.

Here’s a few examples of how a new garage suite build for your inner city home in Calgary could financially benefit you for many years to come – if not forever.

The most obvious way you could earn secondary income by building a garage suite is by renting out the property to a tenant. Many home owners in Calgary communities such as Garrison Green, Currie Barracks and Mount Pleasant, for example, have backyard suites and are earning a secondary income of up to $1,000* or more each month.

Depending on the design of your garage suite, you could potentially earn even more per month if you were to include a single-car garage as part of the package. Another option with some builds is added storage space for the tenant in the furnace / utility room, which they may or may not have access to depending on your agreement.

A pre-cost analysis for inner city apartments on rentfaster ranging from roughly 400 to 600 square feet in size (likely the size of a moderately priced garage suite in Calgary) rent out for anywhere from $900* to more than $1,350* per month (including heat and water).

YEG Garden Suites also has a website which freely lists backyard / garden / garage suites for rent. Units range from $1,300 and up.

What could you do with an extra paycheque each month from your backyard suite tenant? Imagine the possibilities!

*Please note that rental units vary in year built and square footage plus utilities and options included. Income earning opportunity is deemed accurate, but may not be exact or up-to-date given current rental market conditions.

Some home owners in Edmonton and Vancouver have made their backyard garage suites into Air BnB units, with the potential to rake in well over $2,500 a month (at $75 a night) when fully booked. Given that zoning restrictions are different in Calgary than in Edmonton, these examples below are just to give you an idea of how much you could charge on a per night basis for a garage suite Air BnB in Calgary.

Keep in mind that inner city garage suites might be able to command a higher price than those seen in suburban areas of Edmonton below.

A few examples of such units found on the Air BnB website:

Building a new garage suite for your inner city home in Calgary will add value to your property when the time comes to sell. It’s a win-win situation if you think about it. The process would go something like this:

#1 – First, you get to build the suite with a relatively small initial investment (compared to your house)

#2 – Second, you would have the opportunity to earn a secondary income from your backyard suite for many years by renting it out or turning it into an Air BnB

#3 – Third, the added value created by the garage suite is then incorporated onto your listing price if and when the time comes to sell your property

Ask any professional REALTOR® about the value added by building a garage suite in your backyard. Just keep in mind that there’s always a fine balance between features and costs. Always seek advice from professionals in the home building industry before making any decisions!

Is a garage suite the thing you need to start earning a secondary income? If so, you probably have a lot of questions about costs, designs and other important details when it comes to the actual product.

Contact our team of professionals anytime at 403.269.1696 or send us an email and we will be happy to answer any questions you have about garage suites in Calgary. We are looking forward to connecting with you and helping you accomplish your goals behind building a backyard suite!