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It used to be common practice in the buy-to-let industry to simply rent out a home to a tenant, collect the money and use it to pay off the home loan and other expenses associated with maintaining a property. But these days there are so many ways to let out your home and even the space within your home. If you manage it correctly, you can make a handsome profit out of it all too.
Here are a few ways you can make money:
1. Storage solutions
You don’t have to have tenants living in your home to let it out. You could also offer your home up as a storage facility. Perhaps you have a spare room, garage or attic that you’re not using. People moving home or country are always on the hunt for cheap storage solutions. You can advertise your space on the likes of wahi.co.za and gumtree.co.za.
2. Renting out your garden
You may not have time to garden or perhaps you’re just not the green-fingered type. Either way, you could think about renting out a portion of your garden as an allotment to someone where they can grow fruits and vegetables. Advertise this on gumtree.co.za or advertise in community newspapers.
3. Let your home out to a film crew
Is your home unusual or in a unique location that a film crew may want to use to shoot a movie or television advert? It may involve allowing the company to take over your house, in which case you would need to vacate the premises for a bit. You could consider renting out your home to film crews during the peak summer seasons or alternatively when you know you’re about to go on holiday upcountry or abroad. Get the property registered with a location agency, such as Location Works, locationworks.com, which specialises in finding places where people can film, conduct a photo shoot or host events. The service is free to use.
READ: Is your money doing what you want it to do
4. Lodgers, renters and tourists
As mentioned above you can rent your home in a formal manner to a family, professional or student by setting up a lease agreement for a certain period of time that can be renewed. Your property can be advertised by an estate agency or on websites like property24.co.za.
However, you don’t have to go through this conventional route to make money. You can also appeal to budget travellers or tourists who just need a room for a night or a couple of days. You can advertise your rooms on Airbnb.com and Gumtree.co.za. There’s also The Room Link (theroomlink.co.za), which specialises in matching students, professionals, couples or seniors that are looking for rooms to rent with those that have rooms available. Also consider websites like couchsurfing.com, which connects hosts with travelers looking for bargain accommodation – even if it is your sofa.
5. Let out your parking bay
Finally, you don’t need to have a room to make money from your home. If you have a parking bay, some form of off-street parking or garage then you can lease those out too. If you live in the centre of town you’ll probably rent out your space more easily as parking spaces come at a premium in town and are becoming increasingly more expensive and for some, even unaffordable. Again, you can advertise your parking space or garage on wahi.co.za.
