Has anyone tried living in a garage/storage space?

[James_0011]

I see a lot of posts on craigslist advertising garage/storage spaces to rent for around $100/month. Has anyone every tried this as a living space? Some of them look like it would be equivalent to living in a tiny house. I'm curious about the best way to approach an owner of such a space. I would imagine many of them would not be okay with someone renting it as a living space.

I might go see a couple spaces in person, then after they see I'm a normal guy ask about living in it full time. What do you think? Have any experience with this?

[Campitor]

The biggest challenge is having access to a bathroom/shower. I assume the garage comes with an attached house which makes the bathroom facilities available or contains its own bathroom. Storage units don't have bathrooms/showers so either you have to live in one very close to a gym that has these services and you can afford the monthly fee or you have to do the composting toilet & baby wipe routine. It's illegal to live in storage units so you have to "stealth" it.

Video of guying stealt living in a storage unit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPVCTLPNUzo

[Sclass]

I lived in a basement that was divided off from a subterranean car garage. The owner rented it out as a 1br apartment so it was more like a granny suite he built out of an unused part of the garage. No asking needed. I took one look and moved in...for ten years.

But that’s not what you’re asking.

Recently I bought a Hoyer lift for my mom from a guy on Craigslist. I met him at a public storage facility. I figured ok, he stores it here. Yeah, and he lived there too. There were people loitering all over the lot chatting. It was like the town plaza. Everyone knew each other and focused attention on me till I was met by my vendor.

My guess is that there are a ton of public storage owners who do this. You just need to find one. Go cruising these places on your bike. If people loitering become alert to you be friendly and tell them what you’re looking for. You may be directed to a landlord. Don’t get stabbed.

Almost every business associate I had in Silicon Valley who owned their building had a “pad” in their industrial space. A typical guy would have a room, with a bed and shower. Microwave and propane bbq grill that could be wheeled out (to fool inspectors). The excuse was they were working so hard they needed it for all nighters. The bbq was for Friday parties. The real reason was escaping from an angry wife who was prolly mad because he had been having sex with his employees in that room. Seriously I knew four guys like this. So it is possible that many businesses with have these installations in place.

I recall visiting the grand opening of a mentor’s place. We got a tour at the party and we were shown a loft over the warehouse with a queen bed, shower, toilet. The owner proudly said, “this will be for visiting student interns”. My SO and one of the other wives scowled and mumbled “sure, right, gross” while rolling their eyes.

[Gilberto de Piento]

I once saw some people living in a large detached garage on a residential property. It was a nice space though it was all one room. There was a toilet and utility sink but no shower and no kitchen appliances. The shower and kitchen were improvised. For the price it looked like a good situation.

[Jean]

I'm going to do this, but I own the property. I'm going to shave 50.- off my tenant's monthly rent and pay one third of the utilities.
I will need to add a drainage around it because it tend to be wet, and insulate it a had and stove pipe and 2 windows. It's going to be 2.4x4.9 meters.
I'll cook on the wooden stove but might add and electric cooking plate and oven, or maybe just research on how i could use the stove like an oven.
I will also had a turkish toilet in which showering will be possible.
I'm really excited about this project.

If I were you, I would look for someone owning a house with a garage but no car. Walking in a neigbourhood you might like could help?

[7Wannabe5]

The year after my divorce, I rented a teeny-tiny 2 bedroom apartment for my DD and me, so she could graduate with the same kids she started kindergarten with in rural county, but I moved all the storage and office space necessary for my book business to a more central location 45 minutes away. My DS had been living independently, but then he experienced temporary crash/burn, so I let him have my bedroom in the tiny apartment, and I lived half the time couch-surfing with my kids, half the time camped out in my storage/office space which was part of a large warehouse/garage divided into modules for different businesses. Bathroom facilities were a problem, so I spent a lot of time hanging out in a combo donut shop/laundromat nearby.

There was also a period of time when I was living with my "ex" that I used a small storage unit to temporarily store books until I shipped them in bulk to Amazon's warehouses. I stored a small electric heater and a sticker printer in the unit, and I would bring my lap-top with me and jack electricity out of the socket in the hallway, so I could use the unit as an office too.

So, this is a semi-viable option, but there is so much wasted heated residential space in my region, I generally think working out some sort of deal to make use of this glut is preferable. People are usually happiest at occupation levels of approximately 300-350 square ft/human (more space needed for pets and active home business/production), but sometimes they forget this. If you clean up after yourself (broadest possible conception), provide just a bit of service value beyond this, and somehow improve rather than inhibit the property owner's social/sex life and/or freedom of movement/behavior, it is likely you can pay $0 rent.

[James_0011]

@7wb5

I'm not socially savvy enough to trade anything besides money for rent. Thats why I would like to rent a garage, because it seems like the cheapest option.

Another problem , is that I don't know how to meet property owners besides craigslist/the internet.

[7Wannabe5]

Put a little pull-tab paper up on the bulletin board at your local senior center or near a dog park in an affluent district. Being a live-in very part-time Manny for sports-active kids would also be a good possibility, so maybe recreation center bulletin board? Another possibility is living in a space that is currently being renovated for flip. Might be rough, but better than a storage unit!

You just have to tell yourself that the most cash money you are willing to pay for rent is $zero.

[Astra]

Very often, living in a storage box is illegal. Meaning part of the contract you sign says you will NOT try to live there and if you disobey, they can kick you out pronto. They say it's a fire hazard and safety issue. Some places can even sue you. It's all in the fine print.
Living in a privately owned garage however, is entirely possible! I have a friend who rented a garage for half a year from a neighbour who wasn't using it. This wasn't really for money reasons though (he was just staying for a semester and coudn't find a room or studio for such short time). It was a brick construction adjacent to a house - you migth have bigger problems with less-insulated garages, depending on the climate. Toliet and shower he used free at the University gym, but even if you buy a cheap gym membership (Planet Fitness), you will save money. He had a futon bed + sleeping bag and a water kettle and a small hotplate. But he mostly ate out or at my place
In short, make sure that your landlord and "neighbours" are aware and ok with you living in the garage. Don't try decieve anyone.

[Riggerjack]

My wife lived in artist's studio space back before we met. It was just a room with a door, people were expected at all hours, and she had a real door, rather than the roll up. She set up her space so when the door was open, it looked like storage/art space, then she set up a sleeping roll on the far side of the desk.

She had a cheap gym membership, and a van to make good her escape, as needed.

This place very specifically denied anyone living space, and would evict if someone was suspected of residence.

There is good reason for this. Building code, and tenancy laws prohibited it. The owner would be fined if she were caught. The fine is far bigger than rent, so they are incentivized to enforce the policy.

Now, it's inconvenient, and a bit big brotherish to prevent people from having the opportunity to make their sacrifice in living quarters, instead of sacrificing paychecks.

But the other option is to allow people the freedom to live as they choose, and clearly, that can't be tolerated in a city. Of course, we can't say that, so instead, we call it saving tenants from evil, greedy, slumlords. Because poor people need to be saved from their choices, right?

[Italiano]

No, but a place i first rented office space from i know people rented space to basically live in.. And there are plenty of those places around and most dont have cameras to worry about dodging and they have bathrooms etc.. Not to mention you dont need to worry about heat etc.. IF you look for more off the beaten path offices like in basements under strip malls etc.. You could find something pretty nice and carpeted I bet for 150$ a month. Put a fake business sign on the door and your set.

[Campitor]

Now, it's inconvenient, and a bit big brotherish to prevent people from having the opportunity to make their sacrifice in living quarters, instead of sacrificing paychecks.

But the other option is to allow people the freedom to live as they choose, and clearly, that can't be tolerated in a city. Of course, we can't say that, so instead, we call it saving tenants from evil, greedy, slumlords. Because poor people need to be saved from their choices, right?

+1000

[jacob]

-5

I will readily agree that some building/ordinance codes have gone too far ... but where the exist, they also serve a purpose. The lack of building codes/planning made the Houston/Harvey flooding worse, but acknowledging that requires thinking 1-2 steps further ahead than what most people are able to due to cognitive or ideological constraints.

Things that come to mind with these kind of solutions are fire, cold (freeze deaths), and public health. Fire is the reason for all those annoying rules about window sizes for basement apartments. Sure, people can tolerate living in the bat cave, but if they can't get out ... it's conceivable that after the statistical deaths happen ... people will want to hold someone responsible. Of course, some living spaces might be exceptions to that problem but try write a code/law around that describing exceptions---then you end up a giant mess akin to the tax code.

Ditto for the first person to die of hypothermia. Sure, it's their theoretical choice ... but practically speaking, someone will be blamed and sued (because this is America!) and maybe the code doesn't exist as much to save helpless people from killing themselves, but more to protect everybody from stupid people.

Then there's this whole "not too many in the same room" law. I got a few words for that ... TB and measles. Since this hasn't been much of an issue for almost 90 years, people no longer think it's an issue and so seek to relax the regulations that were successful in stopping that. So here we go again ... merely, around and around.