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Home Equity NO SALE REQUIRED
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BY MELANIE ROBITAILLE, SR. STAFF WRITER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER
When you think of making money off your home, does that conjure immediate thoughts of selling potential? If you love where you live, or can’t move, there are several ways to generate income off your home, no sale required.
The Landlord
Ever thought of an income property? Whether converting space already within your home, or by adding on be it attached or detached, this is a popular way people earn money according to Johnny Luis, a contractor turned property investor.
“The first and most important thing you should be starting with is running numbers to see if the project makes sense money wise," he said. And as with all of the ideas that follow in this article he suggests the next thing you research is zoning. "If you’ve decided to renovate the property, especially to a duplex or triplex, it’s good to know if bylaws will allow you to do so, then you can run the construction budget to see if your initial numbers will make sense.”
He also recommends thinking big picture as to what’s most efficient for your best ROI, improved curb appeal, but will also requires the least maintenance saying, “If you renovate a basement and turn it in to a two-bedroom home vs. adding a garage to a one bedroom; a second bedroom will typically garner a higher return rather than a garage. Also, to construct a garage with an apartment may cost a lot more than converting a basement to a legal unit. If you’re going down the rental path, a best practice is also to install materials that are durable against water and pets.”
You can use one of the many property maintenance apps available to screen tenants and handle all administrative landlord tasks in one place, or consider other family members looking to downsize or launch who can still contribute financially. If having a stranger living full-time in your space or on your property isn’t for you, you could also lease it out as an office space for a local business professional or use the new space for your personal creative studio or workshop for an income generating hobby.
The Host
Another part-time income generating use of your space is through Short Term Rentals (STRs). Whether you want to create a full fledge BnB, or simply offer occasional boarding for business travelers, new residents, or students, there are plenty of popular online platforms you can join to help promote and market your space. Understand that some of these options may require that you leave your home entirely, while others require your onsite participation for things like meal prep, serving, housekeeping, and any other services you wish to offer guests. You can set limits on when your property is available, the number of guests, even whether you’re pet-friendly.
The Forward Thinker
We’ve all heard of living off the grid, but when you’re already connected to it – as most homes are, it’s hard to disconnect. In the residential renewable energy world of solar and wind it also typically costs less to make power than it does to store it. These sectors are making greater gains, to the point where homeowners can retrofit properties, generate their own power, and often sell it back to utility companies across North America. With rooftop options, you don’t require a sprawling property, but the key is installing more than one renewable energy source to offset the “dark doldrums,” the times of year/day when, individually, these systems won’t generate enough power to last through cloudy North American winters, at which point you’d have to pay for power back from the utility company.
The Homesteader
If you do have a decent-sized land lot and you’re partial toward animals, many residents in suburban and rural areas are turning to farming animals like chickens, goats, and rabbits, even insects like bees as a way to earn supplemental income. Each provide a food you can sell, but there are also breeding, fertilizer, and craft business opportunities that come with some. Not looking to get hands on with care? Talk to local farms to see if they’re in need of more space or hive locations and set up an agreement or contract. Most animal care comes with high-level responsibility as you must tend to livestock daily. If you’re a jetsetter this might not be a good option.
The Green Thumb
A love of plants can rake in the dough all year round growing not just income produce but florals and houseplants alike. When it comes to outdoor growing, you’ll need a lot more real estate, although there are space-saving and vertical techniques with certain crops. You’ll also have to compete with natural predators, the elements (or lack thereof), and soil conditions. If you like the idea but don’t want to get your hands dirty, again, small local farms and growers are good to approach for an agreement that fits your space. The rise in countertop hydroponic and aeroponic growing kits is a technology many are scaling up for indoor operations to grow much larger yields in smaller spaces, all year round. The drawback here is you need to provide the light, power, water, and compounds to help with indoor growing. That leaves these systems vulnerable should you lose power. You also need a certain amount of climate control here, so it’s about figuring out the right space and setup.
