For tenants, renting an apartment or a house can mean giving up some things you previously considered default – a TV, dishwasher, washing machine, parking space for your car, free utilities. And when you want to rent a place of your own and move out of the family house, you are as happy as a clam because you’re finally going to live alone. Right?

However, this joy might fade when your first bills arrive…or you have a super loud neighbor. Believe it or not, this is a problem that affects landlords, too. You never know what kind of noisy hobbies your tenants might have. So, landlords, what can you do if your future tenants are mechanics, music producers or carpenters?

What Causes Problems?

If your tenants are college students who like to party every single night and take it up a notch on the weekends, your problems are vast – the neighbors are going to complain, there’s a chance that police might react to the noise, the apartment/house might be damaged, etc. Since not everybody’s tenants will be peaceful and quiet, you have to be prepared to face this circumstance. But under some circumstances, like the rental apartment is in the middle of a community of musicians or an artsy neighborhood, you might want the option to add a studio space to your current rental.

One easy way to do this if you have extra room on your property is choosing to on your premises.  They’ve become popular with the rise of the tiny house movement and are extremely customizable. That way, your tenants can work in a soundproofed space.

How Can a Shipping Container Be Useful?

A shipping container – you know, that big object you most commonly see on aerial shots of big transportation ships – is a large container that is strong, durable, and made for packing, storing, and moving goods. Their size is anywhere from ten to fifty feet in height and they can even be custom made to fit the need. In the last decade, they have been used in modern architecture designs since people make houses, greenhouses or sheds out of them. So, they have surpassed their original purpose as storage units to other uses. One of those is a mobile workshop – if someone needs to isolate their work from the surroundings, but can’t afford a big space, they can rent a shipping container turned into a portable workshop and they will certainly be satisfied with the choice.

What Does It Offer?

First of all, there are several advances of shipping containers. According to the guys at Royal Wolf, these objects are quite soundproof, insulated, safe and secure, and can be as big as you need. You can combine them and use two, for example – one as a workshop and the adjoining one to store the material. Plus, you can attach another one as a presentation/showcase area. These structures are not only hard to break into – there is a set of locks no burglar will outsmart – but are also resistant to weather conditions, and if you live in windy, sunny or rainy places, this will be a great bonus. Finally, shipping containers can be modified and adjusted to your needs: you can install electrics or advertising signs and can even place some solar panels on the roof and be sustainable.

Why Choose This?

As shown before, there are many reasons why shipping containers turned into portable workshop are ideal for renting – they are cheaper, isolated, reliable and spacious. So if your tenants are noisy and require special care, these shipping containers might be perfect solution for their problem, and yours as well.

Photo via Flickr Creative Commons
Amanda has worked as a journalist, an SEO copywriter, and a social media specialist. Her aim as a Four Walls contributor is to provide something worth reading and create a community for people who lease and love it. She’s also a real person, not just a mysterious internet writer, who loves silversmithing, podcast-binging, and trying to figure out how to fix her rented apartment’s bad linoleum floor (see, just like you!)