Having an income suite located in your home comes with many benefits. The space may be used to help out extended family that needs a place to stay. It can be used to generate rental income which can help you pay the mortgage and other bills. It can also be used to add resale value to your home when you decide to put it up for sale. Of course, the income suite only really provides value if it is a desirable place to live that can generate the highest rent possible. Here is how to create a desirable income suite in your home:
Most income suites don’t come with a lot of square footage, so it’s important to make use of all the space available. It’s a good idea to start from scratch so you can plan an efficient and functional layout. This also gives you the ability to install energy-efficient appliances and fixtures. Ideally, an income suite should have at least one bedroom. A one bedroom apartment will generate on average 25% more in monthly rent than a bachelor apartment. We can help you plan and design a desirable income suite from the ground up to maximize rental income, value, and attractiveness to potential tenants.
It’s very important to take the municipal building codes seriously. Your income suite needs to be fully compliant with all regulations for safety and livability. In general, you will need to provide a separate entrance, working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and provide the tenant with sufficient natural light (see the next paragraph for info). These things are also important to your insurance company, who will not insure your suite if it does not meet certain standards.
There is a requirement to allow for a sufficient ratio of natural light in an income suite. It’s one of the requirements we mention above that will allow your suite to pass municipal code. Besides that, most tenants would prefer to live in a bright and airy space, and not feel like they are living in a dungeon. This is especially true here in the Toronto area, where the winters are long and dark.
It’s inevitable that some sound from downstairs will leak upstairs, and vice versa, but it’s important that you make an effort to prevent this kind of disturbance as much as possible. The two units should be considered separate, so there should be insulation in the walls and floor to prevent as much sound as possible from leaking through. Your tenants will appreciate it, and so will you.
Medallion Capital Group can help you with your income suite. We will work with you every step of the way, from advising on the rental rate your income suite can generate and getting you in contact with the best contractors in the business, to managing your rental to get you the best return-on-investment possible with no effort on your part. Get in touch to get started.