Curse of home parking stall

[shootingstar]

Though I don't have a car, I have an underground parking stall that I bought along with the condo.

I caved in to people who told me...it would be good for investment purposes, from re-sell standpoint. I could have had a small discount off sale price of home, but the % reduction was not enough to cover off value.

Now it feels like a curse. Yes, I know I can rent it..still....I have to:
*pay property tax on it yearly ($190.00)
*"manage" the space, ie. police it so that cars don't park there when I never gave them permission

It has happened twice already. A 85 yr. old guy parked his son-in-law's jeep as a favour. So he slunk off and moved the car.

Then I noticed another car a wk. later.

By the way, in Calgary to buy a home parking stall is around $30,000 to $40,000. In City of Vancouver it can be up to $50,000 in some condo buildings.



I also noticed someone parked their bikes unlocked in a parking stall. Something definitely I couldn't do.

Our strata board is being set up but it's a new building, etc.

[bouncybouncy]

Do you have to put a car in your space? Since you own it do you have the right to put whatever you want? What about one of these then you can store your bike?

http://www.dogrunkennel.com/

I see these (of course they are not dog kennels) at many elementary schools for the kids bikes to keep them secure.

[PamNY]

If you can get rental income, why not do it?

[ny biker]

If you can get rental income, why not do it?

That's what I'm thinking. Rental income would cover the taxes, and the renter would take over responsibility for policing it in order to make sure the space is empty when they need it.

[lph]

Do you have to police it? I realize it's irritating when people "borrow" the space without permission, but it sounds like watching it is more trouble than it's worth, up to the point that you do want to rent it out.

We had a parking spot before we had a car, and rented it out for a small sum to a neighbour's son, pretty straightforward.

[Susan]

I am in the same situation, shootingstar, I bought the parking stall with my flat 10 years ago. Someone who works in the city and needs parking space rented it, this covers the yearly costs and one of my insurances.

I have never seen my own parking stall, ever

[ny biker]

When I first moved to DC, I rented a condo in a building with a small garage. My condo did not have a parking spot, but a neighbor had two. He posted a notice saying one was available to rent right about the time I had decided to buy my first car. I lucked out and was the first to call him -- several other neighbors also wanted the spot. So I had parking before I started car shopping.

It was a nice, easy thing -- I just went upstairs and gave him a check once a month.

[malkin]

I lived in a house with covered RV parking. Some nice neighbors stopped by with a check quarterly and their boat couldn't have been a nicer, quieter tenant.

[Geonz]

If you rented it would you still have to police it?
I would be *sorely* tempted to do something creative with the space.

[PamNY]

Geonz, those are great. I want to go out and do likewise.

Shootingstar, if you rent the space, could you make it clear in the rental agreement that "policing" is the tenant's responsibility?

[shootingstar]

Good point about the car "squatting" possibility to build it into the agreement, when I rent it out. Right now, I don't have any common channel or even a bulletin board in our building to even post a notice up.

We really will have a new strata council shortly.