5 Unusual Property Rental Income Streams You Might Not Have Considered

5 Unusual Property Rental Income Streams You Might Not Have Considered
Image – Pixabay (PD)

This is a simple real estate strategy.If you are a property owner (or even as a tenant!), you may be able to generate some additional passive revenue without too much difficulty by renting out a small part of your property. Here are some interesting and unusual ideas to consider.

Create Additional Accommodation – Spare room / Cabin / Annexe / Boat / Geodesic Dome

Most people are now aware that AirBnB is a potential way to make a four figure monthly income – if you rent your entire home. However you may be able to free up some space and make some money without needing a secondary place to stay while you are doing it! AirBnb is in fact one of several web sites that connects people that have a “space” of whatever kind for short term rental (i.e. per night) with people who are looking for a place to stay while traveling. On AirBnB’s introductory video I saw spare rooms, boats, cabins, annexes and even a geodesic dome being rented out in this way.
If you are a homeowner – you have a spare room “just full of junk”, right? I bet you do. Clear it out; put stuff in the loft or basement, get some better shelving elsewhere, sell some of it… do whatever you have to do… and then list the room on AirBnB! This can create a great source of additional revenue – especially if you are in an area that has high demand or many visitors – either for business or tourism. Also, if you work for a big multinational corporation, the kind that often flies people around, you may be able to earn money making rooms available to people who work for the company.

I have a friend who always rents out at least one of the rooms in her house and it provides her with a continual revenue stream which pays many other bills.
Many people will rent one or more of the rooms in their home as a means to afford mortgage payments – but this method will depend more on your personal style than anything… many purchase their own home specifically for the privacy and security that it affords, and do not want to share their space with others.
A popular option I have seen much recently is the creation of a “separate space” of some kind so that your guests have their own entrance and everyone keeps their privacy! Some even convert the space into a duplex; utilize a cabin or convert a detached garage into an additional space. Planning permission may be required to create an additional dwelling space on your property so be sure to check and be legal.

RV:

Image – Pixabay (PD)

Many people spend large sums of money on an RV that they only use for a few weeks of the year – and then most of the rest of the year it just sits there gathering dust and gradually losing value.
In addition to AirBnB; there are now peer-to-peer RV sharing networks such as RVShare.com and Outdoorsy that enable you to rent out your recreational vehicle – potentially making thousands of dollars per year. Something to look into if you are an RV owner needing some extra cash.

Parking Space:

Parked Cars
Image – Pixabay (PD)

If you are not using the parking space allocated to you and you live in a busy part of town, then this could be an easy win for you. You could earn $200 per month or more in a major city! Websites that enable you to advertise your car parking space include Gumtree, Parklet (UK), YourParkingSpace.co.uk, Park On My Drive and Just Park. Note that if you are renting then this may be considered subletting so be sure of your legal status here. You will also likely need a contract so that your legal bases are covered in terms of liability etc. Read some tutorials before getting started with this one.

This typically works best in an urban area where parking is challenging or expensive. A car garage could be perfect, but in some areas parking is so tight that people will pay for the space in the front drive. This system might work especially well if of course you don’t own a car; also if you live in a quiet, safe neighborhood, in a dry climate and have some space around your house – so that it doesn’t matter too much if your own car is parked on the street while you rent the garage space.

Office / Workshop / Studio / Storage Space

People need spaces for all kinds of things. If you are in an urban area, you may be able to turn spare spaces (typically garages but possibly other rooms) into non-accomodation rentable spaces.

First things first – you’ll need to check regulations on building use in your area. In some countries it may be that there are regulations concerning what a building may be used for, and there may be taxes, insurance regulations or permits required for “change of use” or business use of a building. It pays to be sure and to play by the rules.

Assuming you are good to go on the legal front – the first step is of course to clear the space and set it up for its intended purpose. You’ll need to consolidate your junk or find a new home for it. You can give things away on freecycle.org, have a yard sale, get a good shelving system for the basement, move some stuff to the attic. You may even be able to sell some stuff on eBay and make some extra bucks.

The next step is to kit the space out as required. Depending on what’s there already, you may need to install things like lighting, air conditioning, an electric heater, good locks, windows, flooring. If creating an office, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to pick up a free used office desk, chair(s) and a filing cabinet on freecycle.org, or super-cheap from a thrift or used furniture store. You could even get stylish and get one of those office water-dispensers and a used computer system. Add a couple of houseplants for the final touch.

The next step is to make sure you have power sockets, phone points and internet service available. If you have broadband in the house and don’t mind sharing the bandwidth, you may be able to run an extra line out from the router or DSL modem to the new “office”. You should be able to run CAT-5 (ethernet) cable 100 feet or more without problems if required – although you’ll of course need to make sure the cable isn’t going to get damaged, or cause obstruction or hazard. Most people won’t mind sharing internet service – and would probably be very pleased to have DSL included in the rent and ready-to-roll. It’s either that or wireless of course. If you (or your renter) are concerned about network security, you may need to consult with an expert to make sure you are secure.

Another thing to consider – the person renting the space will need access to a bathroom. If you have a bathroom between the garage and the kitchen, as many households do, you may for example need to fit a door in the kitchen hallway for security purposes.

So there you go! A little work and investment setting this system up – but if you do it right, it could possibly make you some solid money for several years with minimal further effort.

If creating an office from garage space seems too complex, other options to investigate might be to rent the space out as storage space, an art or music studio, workshop space, rehearsal or meeting space… etc.

Luggage Storage

Luggage
Image – Pixabay (PD)

If you live close to an airport and have some space available, you can charge people to store their luggage for short periods of time. If for example they have a layover for 8 hours and want to explore without having to drag their bags around or book a hotel room, this gives the solution. One person living near a major airport charged $10 per bag per hour and listed his space on Airbnb – stating clearly that he was advertising luggage storage rather than a room to sleep in – and was making over $100 per day with almost no effort.

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5 Unusual Property Rental Income Streams You Might Not Have Considered
Graphic – Makingwealth.info. Image src – Pixabay (PD)