Your home is your sanctuary; the place you go to get away from it all and to enjoy some peace, quiet and relaxation. Of course, it’s also the place you go when you need to find time to think and to ponder your next life move. But did you know it’s also the place that you can use to earn a little extra cash every now and again? That’s right; most people are aware that they can get a second job, take on some babysitting jobs or sell some of their belongings to make a little extra money, but they’re not sure just how much of their home they can actually use to make some money. We have some outside-the-box concepts right here you can use to potentially raise a little money and make a profit using your house, and some of them might surprise you. I’ll warn you in advance though, some of these ideas will not be for you and others might be exactly what you’re looking for. Read on to find out how your home can make you some money.
Refinance
Okay, so you’re sitting there saying that you don’t want to raise your payment to earn a bit of cash, because it’s kind of an oxymoron, right? Right; and that’s why we want you to refinance for a lower rate and not take out any additional money. We want you to refinance only what you owe and save yourself a few bucks every month.
Rent a Room
Foreign exchange students, friends, family; whatever. Rent an additional room in your home to someone that needs it and make a few dollars every month in the process. One person isn’t going to make a huge difference when it comes to things like your utilities going up, so get on board with this one, stat.
Rent a Closet
Did you know that you can let people store stuff at your house for a fee? Not everyone has the space that they need to store their belongings, which means they might be willing to pay you to store things in your home for them.
Rent the Yard to Campers
AirBNB is a great website for something like this. The site allows you to rent your yard to people who need a place to go camping, and it’s a great concept. Of course, there are always places that people can camp free of charge, but sometimes people would prefer a yard in a safe neighborhood when they’re unfamiliar with the area.
Rent Your Garage
If you have a garage you’re not using or a pole barn or a detached garage or something to that effect, consider renting it to someone to house their boat or their jet skis or their other items. I can tell you that this is a concept that I think could really work. In our highly deed restricted neighborhood, we have to have our boat, jet skis, golf cart and other items stored in a garage, which often means applying for permits and going through construction to add a detached garage to the yard. If someone down the street was willing to let us use theirs, it would be so much simpler.
Rent Your Driveway
Do you have a home in a busy neighborhood on a busy street where parking is tough? Do you have a parking spot or driveway in a busy city where sometimes people have to park blocks away to get home? Rent your driveway to the neighbors. You’d be surprised how many people are willing to pay big bucks just to have a convenient and personal parking space close to home.
Start a Sitter Service
Without licensing and other important documents, you cannot start a home daycare in your house. But that does not mean you cannot start a sitting service in your home. For example, why not let other moms and dads bring their kids over for an hour or two while they run errands, attend school functions for older kids or just head to the doctor? It’s a great way to make a little money using your home to care for the kids of people you know for only a little while at a time.
Start a Boutique
Do you have an additional room in your home you can use to organize things you make or want to sell and then get them where they need to go? If so, start your own boutique. There are probably restrictions about running an actual live store from home, but you can do things like sell your stuff online while using your home as a business location.
Sell Your House Parts
That’s right people; you can sell pieces of your house. Do you have a kitchen you want to renovate because the cabinets are not for you? Sell them to someone online or in person. Do you have fixtures you want to replace for something that goes better with your style? Sell the old ones. It’s so easy. Fans, light fixtures and just about anything else you remove from your home can be sold to someone who needs it.
Rent Your Party Space
This is one I came up with on my own after everyone who comes to our house for the first time suggests we should rent out our outdoor living space for weddings and parties. I’m a neat freak and a control freak, so I’d never do it, but people are dying to get married and renew their vows on our back patio because we have beautiful trees, a gorgeous house in the mountains kind of view (pretty impressive for living in Florida less than 10 minutes from the ocean, right?) and we have a 1200-square-foot wooden deck with railing and all kinds of other cool stuff. If we wanted to, we could probably rent it out as a place to host gatherings, showers, weddings, or whatever else we wanted. We won’t, but if you have a space similar to that, you might.
Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
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