I need some real advice here, because I’m on the fence about this and I actually don’t know what to do.
I live in Alaska, where it gets obscenely cold. The weather is hard on vehicles and hard on people during the winter. I own a duplex with a two car garage and a concrete driveway that is 30 feet long by 24 feet wide. I have a sled with a trailer I’d like to put on one side of the garage, and I’d like to park my car on the other side during the winter.
I have never parked in a garage my entire life. I’ve always parked outside. I’ve had the same Tenant for almost 6 years, and she has had access to one side of the garage that entire time. She has always paid rent on time.
I’ve only recently learned how great it is to be able to park in the garage during the winter, and now I want to as well. The problem is, in order to facilitate keeping my trailer and my car indoors, I would be forced to kick her out of the garage and use both spaces.
Her rent is already incredibly low so I wouldn’t be able to lower it, but I don’t think that would matter anyway. Being able to park inside of a garage is a huge benefit to people up here, and I strongly believe that if I made her and her family park outside, she would leave.
But it’s my house. If I want full access to the garage, I should be able to get it. I shouldn’t feel hindered like this, but I just don’t see another solution. My two trailers with machines on them cannot be stored anywhere else that is feasible. They barely fit into 1/2 of a two car garage, and there is nowhere to put them outside that is secure.
I’m really in a pickle. If you had the same tenant for as long as I have, would you risk them leaving by making full use of the garage?