What would you pay for garage space?

shelby27604

shelby27604

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Location
Efland NC
I am looking at purchasing some garage space, it comes with more bays than I have a need for. My idea is to hold the largest half of the shop for personal use, then rent out the extra bays (1 bay has a lift, the others do not).

I am wondering what the going rate for a bay would be. The goal would be to rent to hobbyist, and to not have full time mechanics working out of this space (not just yet anyway).

The shop is near the NC / VA border, it isn't the heart beat of hustle and bustle, but it is easy enough to get to.

Ultimate goal is to generate enough income to pay to keep the lights on and the mortgage paid.

I would have to play with the rates if this gets off the ground, but I am thinking $125/week or $400/month. I know there have been a couple of projects where I would have happily paid $500 to have a roof over my head and concrete under the jack stands.

There is ample outside property as well, outside storage of stalled projects would also be an additional revenue stream if all works out.
 
Don't forget to check on the cost of insurance with that in mind, I'm betting that is actually going to be the biggest cost, and with hobbyists working on your s shop, you definitely want some good liability insurance..
 
For commercial space…$6sq/ft for open space…$15sq/ft if furnished (meaning you’ll have tools and lifts and whatnot). Then divide by 12 for a monthly rate…for long term (12+ months). That’s the going rate for my area.
 
All good points, I have not gone very far down the rabbit hole for insurance yet, I am dreading the numbers they will spit out.

As far as terms go, I guess it will be what the market demand is, I know personally I would use space like this every couple of months if it were something I could access.

Do you think a weekly, monthly, or yearly term is more likely to generate the most income/least headache ratio? Obviously, the goal would be a handful of annual leases...I just don't know if the demand is there.
 
UTfball68 said:
For commercial space…$6sq/ft for open space…$15sq/ft if furnished (meaning you’ll have tools and lifts and whatnot). Then divide by 12 for a monthly rate…for long term (12+ months). That’s the going rate for my area.
Click to expand...
Show me where someone is paying $6/sqft to wrench. Maybe for a pharmaceutical clean room...
 
Jody Treadway said:
Per year.
1500 sq/ft would be $750 a month. Which ain't bad at all depending on a couple of variables.
Click to expand...
Shit that's still whack. You could (or damn near) make a payment on a shop for that much.

$750 is still crazy. I pay ~$1,000/mo/24pallet spaces in cold storage
 
awheelterd said:
Shit that's still whack. You could (or damn near) make a payment on a shop for that much.

$750 is still crazy. I pay ~$1,000/mo/24pallet spaces in cold storage
Click to expand...
I pay less as well. But, that's going rate most places.
OP needs to put expenses on paper like his payment, insurance, utilities, etc. Figure out what the cost per sq/ft is. Then figure out how much of that he'll be renting out. Charge accordingly but with 30-40% tacked on for himself
 
When I started out renting the shop that I'm in now, I paid $900 A month for 1200sqft, (This is in Northern Virginia though), I bought the shop about 7 years ago now, and the mortgage is less than $600 a month... Rent is Always higher than buying cuz it's got to cover the mortgage, maintenance and taxes on the space. Rent is expected to be higher than buying, other wise why would an owner ever rent out space?
 
awheelterd said:
Show me where someone is paying $6/sqft to wrench. Maybe for a pharmaceutical clean room...
Click to expand...

All over…2023 dollars my man. And that’s not even a triple net scenario. 5 years ago, you could find warehouse space for $3sq/ft, but paying $6sq/ft is cheaper than inventing time travel. Otherwise you could probably go find a 10x20 storage unit and pay $150-300/month…but then you won’t have power, water or anything else required for occupancy.

Edit…now if we’re talking buying, anytime I’ve personally bought a building, I’ve never paid more than $4.5sq/ft.

Double edit…also keep in mind $6sq/ft is an annualized rate. If a shop bay is 15x30…450sq/ft x 6= $2700…divided by 12, your monthly is only $225.
 
Last edited:
UTfball68 said:
All over…2023 dollars my man. And that’s not even a triple net scenario. 5 years ago, you could find warehouse space for $3sq/ft, but paying $6sq/ft is cheaper than inventing time travel. Otherwise you could probably go find a 10x20 storage unit and pay $150-300/month…but then you won’t have power, water or anything else required for occupancy.
Click to expand...

Hell…this was $10sq/ft in the bad part of town…

IMG_0888.jpeg


Luckily the Town of Spencer is trying to ‘beautify’ and ‘industrialize’ so they cut me a killer deal on this space yesterday for $9sq/ft…turning it in to showroom/garage space.

IMG_3508.png
 
zuke said:
When I started out renting the shop that I'm in now, I paid $900 A month for 1200sqft, (This is in Northern Virginia though), I bought the shop about 7 years ago now, and the mortgage is less than $600 a month... Rent is Always higher than buying cuz it's got to cover the mortgage, maintenance and taxes on the space. Rent is expected to be higher than buying, other wise why would an owner ever rent out space?
Click to expand...
don't forget inflation. What you paid years ago is irrelevant, and so is that old mortgage payment.
What matters is the cost in 2023 doll hairs.
 
awheelterd said:
$750 is still crazy. I pay ~$1,000/mo/24pallet spaces in cold storage
Click to expand...

Now curiosity is getting me…24 pallets, I assume is basically standard 8x40 conditioned container/trailer space or 320sq/ft…maybe a little bigger for aisle space. $12,000/yr…would put you around $37.50sq/ft.
 
awheelterd said:
Show me where someone is paying $6/sqft to wrench. Maybe for a pharmaceutical clean room...
Click to expand...

americandiyg.com

Bay Rental - American DIYG - American Do It Yourself Garage

Bay Rental Rate/Reservation Form Pricing: Lift Bay: 50/hour Motorcycle/ATV Lift Bay: 40/hour Flat Bay: 35/hour Media Blaster Use: 20/hour Tools & Tackle Area Use: 25/hour (if you just want to come use some of our equipment, without a bay) + Shop Fee: 9 Military? (Active or retired) First...
americandiyg.com americandiyg.com
 
RatLabGuy said:
don't forget inflation. What you paid years ago is irrelevant, and so is that old mortgage payment.
What matters is the cost in 2023 doll hairs.
Click to expand...

That is absolutely right! I paid right at $100,000 for the unit I'm in, Neighboring units of the same size are now going for $150,000 to $180,000. and rents in the complex are now $1,300~1,700 a month. But this is Northern Virginia, I hope rates around the NC/VA border where the OP is are going to be considerably lower...
 
shelby27604 said:
Do you think a weekly, monthly, or yearly term is more likely to generate the most income/least headache ratio? Obviously, the goal would be a handful of annual leases...I just don't know if the demand is there.
Click to expand...

It would be a proportional ratio. Longer term is going to be lowest return/least headache while shortest term is greatest return per hour, and most headache.

An important factor not in that equation is that the longer the term the more consistent the income... you might get $30 to $40 an hour for a 1 day rental, but the bay would sit empty M~F and you'd have a waiting list for Saturday and Sunday...
 
Last edited:
UTfball68 said:
All over…2023 dollars my man. And that’s not even a triple net scenario. 5 years ago, you could find warehouse space for $3sq/ft, but paying $6sq/ft is cheaper than inventing time travel. Otherwise you could probably go find a 10x20 storage unit and pay $150-300/month…but then you won’t have power, water or anything else required for occupancy.

Edit…now if we’re talking buying, anytime I’ve personally bought a building, I’ve never paid more than $4.5sq/ft.

Double edit…also keep in mind $6sq/ft is an annualized rate. If a shop bay is 15x30…450sq/ft x 6= $2700…divided by 12, your monthly is only $225.
Click to expand...
Yeah like I replied to Jody, I was thinking you meant per month rent. I would have trouble paying that for one bay, but can see how it might be worth it for someone.

Yes, the cold storage is stupid priced, but $1000/mo is the highest it is. The longer a load sits there, the cheaper it gets. Part of the rate includes unloading, racking and vice versa. The load is also insured Incase something catastrophic happens and it thaws out.
 
Back
Top