Your house is probably your biggest monthly expense. However, it’s a good expense. In theory, you’re building equity and holding on to an appreciating asset. But are there ways to leverage this asset today?
Over the years, new opportunities have emerged to allow homeowners to profit from home ownership. If you’re looking for a way to put some extra cash in your pockets, consider these creative ideas and strategies:
1. Lease a Spare Bedroom
Do you have a finished basement? Or maybe a bedroom over a garage? Leasing a spare bedroom that you don’t use could provide you with hundreds of dollars in additional cash flow each month.
2. List on Airbnb
Even if you don’t have a spare bedroom, you can put your property up on a website like Airbnb and occasionally rent it out on weekends when you’re gone. This is a flexible option that works with your schedule.
3. Move Out and Find a Tenant
While leasing a spare bedroom and/or occasionally renting out your property for a weekend can make you some cash here and there, there’s a more permanent option. It involves moving out of your house and finding a tenant to lease your house for six months or a year at a time. This is a good option if you’re considering moving, but don’t want to sell the property.
“Instead of receiving a lump payment for your house, you’ll instead get the benefits of a monthly rent check,” Green Residential explains. “Assuming you’re charging more in rent than you’re paying in ongoing expenses, that means you’ll make a profit, sometimes several hundred dollars a month or more. Plus, you can always sell the property in the future.”
4. Run a Bed and Breakfast
If you own a large property with lots of square footage (and perhaps some land), you could always look into running a bed and breakfast. You’ll have to check on local zoning codes and ordinances, but this could be a very profitable endeavor. You could even hire someone to run the operation for you while you continue doing your day job.
5. Rent Storage Space
Do you have a garage that you don’t use? Or maybe an unfinished basement, walk-in attic, or backyard storage shed? This is valuable square footage that a neighbor, coworker, or friend might pay for. Private storage space leasing has become pretty popular over the past few years – you should give it a try!
6. Rent Parking
“Renting out an investment property is a great way to earn reliable extra income — but what if the property you’re renting out is just a patch of asphalt? In crowded cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco, parking spots are a precious resource, and city drivers pay top dollar to rent spots by the week, month or year,” Anna Swartz writes for Policygenius.
In New York City, parking spots in desirable locations can go for upwards of $400 per month. The same is true in urban hot spots like San Francisco and Chicago. There are even websites and apps that will connect you with potential renters.
7. Offer Childcare
Do you love kids? Do you have connections with lots of young parents in your neighborhood or community? Perhaps you could run a childcare service out of your home? Just make sure you get some insurance to protect yourself.
8. Run a Doggy Daycare
Not keen on having a bunch of snot-nosed toddlers crawling all over your furniture? Perhaps you’d prefer to run a neighborhood doggy daycare. If you have a large fenced in backyard and no HOA to hold you back, this could be a good option.
The key to running a doggy daycare business is quantity. While you can’t make much money off of one dog, you can generate some pretty serious cash by having five or six dogs on your property. (This option also requires you to work from home, since you can’t dog sit when you’re working another job outside of the house.)
What’s Your Game Plan?
What would an extra $350 per month do for you? What about another $1,500? It would almost certainly change your current financial situation for the better and enable you to pursue more opportunities. And as this article proves, generating income from your house is not only possible – it’s realistic! What will you do?