Moving to house that's too big

amother

Purple

Mon, Dec 21 2015, 8:27 am

Over five years ago DH and I bought a house that we weren't going to live in. But things we thought would not happen did, and things we thought would happen did not, so we now find ourselves with little alternative other then moving into that house. Those reasons also preclude us from selling the house.

That poses two problems for (1)The house is way is way too big for our family. Most of it won't be used.(2) A house of that size also carries a large mortgage. When we bought it as an investment the mortgage was easy to cover . Now that we are footing the bill ourselves it is really more than our housing budget. The basement is rented out and will remain so after we move in.

The question is: Without breaking zoning construction laws or taking in boarders is there anything we can rent out the excess space in our house for while we live there?

iriska_meller

Mon, Dec 21 2015, 8:31 am

Any way you can convert part of the house into an office with a separate entrance? Put in a 2nd kitchen and make another unit?

amother

Purple

Mon, Dec 21 2015, 8:40 am

iriska_meller wrote:

Any way you can convert part of the house into an office with a separate entrance? Put in a 2nd kitchen and make another unit?

OP Here:

I'm thinking into that. Question is if we can do that without breaking major zoning laws.Also to convert part of the house into a rentable office would also require adding a bathroom and I don't know if after the construction costs it will be worthwhile.

pause

Mon, Dec 21 2015, 9:04 am

amother wrote:

Anything that you rent out to other people will require use of a bathroom, and as you said you don't want boarders, where exactly do you expect your renters to go?

amother

Purple

Mon, Dec 21 2015, 9:17 am

pause wrote:

Anything that you rent out to other people will require use of a bathroom, and as you said you don't want boarders, where exactly do you expect your renters to go?

A playgroup or some sort of storage with occasional sales etc. would not need separate bathrooms constructed to meet it's need. A 9-5 office would

Ema of 5

Mon, Dec 21 2015, 9:20 am

amother wrote:

A playgroup or some sort of storage with occasional sales etc. would not need separate bathrooms constructed to meet it's need. A 9-5 office would

Why would a playgroup not need a bathroom? And if they don't need a bathroom, then renting the space to someone for office use would also not require a bathroom.

Mon, Dec 21 2015, 9:21 am

amother wrote:

A playgroup or some sort of storage with occasional sales etc. would not need separate bathrooms constructed to meet it's need. A 9-5 office would

Morahs use bathrooms too Very Happy

And playgroup kids sometimes do too (and sometimes use the bathroom on the way to the bathroom...)

And I wonder what would happen if you illegally rent out part of your house to an unlicensed playgroup.

MagentaYenta

Mon, Dec 21 2015, 9:27 am

The first thing you need to figure out is what your zoning restrictions really are. Then figure out how to legally optimize the space you have.

amother

Purple

Mon, Dec 21 2015, 9:34 am

kb wrote:

Morahs use bathrooms too Very Happy

Of course they do. But neither I nor the playgroups in my area have any problems with using any part of the house with it's bathrooms. An office would me to make a detached space that I have no access to. To create such an area I would have to do major constructions

mha3484

Mon, Dec 21 2015, 9:36 am

It really depends on the business. I know a few people who are self employed or have a partner but one or none employees. They don't want to work from home because its distracting. A nice basement office might be attractive based on price and convenience.

Raisin

Mon, Dec 21 2015, 11:00 am

How much of the house are you using? You say most won't be used. Is there anyway to extend the basement apartment into the upstairs so its a bigger apartment and gets more rent, but you won't need to build additional bathrooms or kitchens?