Make $$$s from the place where you live.
Thanks to the gig economy and the internet age there are more opportunities than ever now to make money from your home. Renting it out as a serviced apartment, a B&B or a location for a shoot could net thousands every year. Although it may only be a secondary income stream, it’s still important to do whatever you opt for professionally – popularity is often built on reviews so the experience enjoyed by whoever you’re dealing with is important.
This secondary income could help you avoid borrowing cashif, for instance, your car needs to be replaced saving you a stack of interest. It can be particularly useful if you have a bad credit record and would need a bad credit loan in order to borrow the money you need. Even if you have a good chance of getting a secured loan at a low interest rate you will still be better off using your own assets to raise cash in an emergency.
Using your home as a location
A home used as a film location could generate thousands. However, even if you don’t hit the big time as a location you can still make a healthy profit from smaller bookings for commercials or photo shoots.
Get started: register your home with a location agency
What you could earn: $700 – $3,000 a day
How to make it work: a good location, space, plenty of natural light and period features are all very attractive to potential bookers. If you’ve got parking nearby then you increase the appeal further. Keep your space uncluttered and tidy – many bookings come in at the last minute – and follow popular interior trends e.g. Scandi aesthetics and shabby chic to increase your appeal.
Using your home as a B&B
If you have a spare room and you don’t want a lodger, renting it out as a B&B makes a lot of sense.
Get started: create a profile on a site like AirBnB
What you could earn: anything upwards of $60 a night
How to make it work: be welcoming but not intrusive, make the best of the space that you’re offering and make sure that the room is super clean. Be prepared to do plenty of cleaning and hosting to earn those important positive reviews. Make sure that you’ve got some fire safety measures in place. Take the time to get some great photos taken of the space you’re offering – but make sure they’re accurate. There’s nothing more likely to earn a bad review than a room that is booked because it looks roomy that turns out to be shoebox size.
Using your home as serviced apartments
With a little more space and some conversion work you could create a serviced apartment that is entirely self-contained. This will enable you to charge more and attract a more professional calibre of guests.
Get started: look into the ways in which the space that you have could be converted into a self-contained apartment. This means it has a bed, its own toilet facilities and preferably a kitchen too.
What you could earn: upwards of $150 a night
How to make it work: be prepared for much more laundry, higher electricity bills and to stay on top of maintenance work in the rented space. As with a B&B this kind of use of your home means it needs to be scrupulously clean. Consider the best way to advertise your property, whether that’s via short let rentals sites or your own web pages.
