Every square foot is precious. With the cost of living on the rise right along with mortgage rates, letting any space in your home go to waste isn't the best way to combat inflation.
From selling storage to renting green space, there are tons of ways to translate your home into an additional revenue stream.
Whether you start looking for roommates, finish an efficient apartment in the basement, or start a digital nomad lifestyle and rent out your home on short-term leases, there are ways to turn your house into a continuing income source to keep up with bills and repairs.
12 ideas on what to do with extra room in your house
Below, we've compiled a list of some of the more popular options. You can take a look and find the solutions that might work best for your lifestyle. Sometimes, a roommate is an absolute NO, while for others, hosting a pet might be a disaster. It all depends on your preferences and what works for you.
1. Get a roommate
Remember sharing space in college, all crammed into tiny dorm rooms? Or, maybe you moved out into a small apartment when you first started working. Either way, closing on a home and enjoying the privacy of solo living was a major accomplishment.
But, rising costs can make paying the bills alone a hefty commitment. While you might enjoy the quiet, the right roommate might let you pay half the bills while keeping your peace.
If you're interested in finding a roommate, start your search on websites dedicated to exactly that. Some examples include Roomster, Roomi, and Diggz. You can also use real estate listings and social media sites to help take applications.
Just remember, finding a roommate is a lot like hiring someone. You want lots of responses so that you can sort through and find the best possible person to share your space.
Ask prospective roommates to provide:
- References
- Credit check
- Proof of income
- Rental history
As with any real estate transaction, the amount you can expect to earn from a roommate often comes down to location, location, location! In housing markets like New York City, the average roommate rent share is $1,550+, while Fairfax, VA has an average room share of just $450 per month.
With the number of people searching for a sharehouse on the decline, it's important to respond promptly to inquiries and to make the process straightforward for possible roommates.
2. Finish a small apartment
If sharing your space doesn't sound appealing, you might have other options to still collect consistent rent, with a finished apartment either in your home or in a secondary building on the property.
For example, if you have a barn or two-story garage not in use, you have plenty of space that could turn into an apartment for rent. You might also consider finishing your basement or attic, or having a company walk you through the options for a different split to maximize the number of units you can create inside your home.
Turning your home into a multi-family dwelling could net you thousands per month while still giving you a private living space. Since the average rent for an apartment in the U.S. is $1,739, you could be sitting on a possible gold mine depending on how many units you can squeeze into your home.
The region, size, and finishing on each unit also play a role in determining how much rent you can collect, but this is a way to have your tenants pay the bulk of your mortgage in most rental markets.
3. Join Airbnb for short-term rentals
If major home renovations are out of reach or not something you're interested in, you can still rent out residential space in your home through sites like Airbnb.
These sites let you rent out a single room in your home, allowing you the continued use of the entire property. You only need to worry about a roommate when your spare room is booked, though you'll want to keep it rented as often as possible to maximize your returns.
Airbnb is a great option if you live in a city that gets a lot of bookings. With rental rates of 30% or more, you can easily take home more than $10,000 per year, making you a lot more recession-proof.
4. Become a one-unit storage company
With storage companies popping up everywhere, it's a good idea to think about ways to utilize your extra space in ways that don't inconvenience you or make areas of your living space unavailable. Sectioning off areas of your basement or garage for paid storage can be a great way to earn a little extra.
The average cost of a 10x10 storage unit is $128 per month, but with little to no disruption to your day, it's a great way to turn unused space into an income-generating asset.
5. Rent out your empty home
Planning an extended vacation or moving for a temporary job? If your home is about to be vacant but you plan to come back in the relatively near future, it might be a good idea to rent it out while you're away.
If you're moving permanently, renting can also be a great way to recover your initial down payment while waiting for the home to appreciate enough in value to deliver a tidy profit.
Either way, homes tend to rent for substantially more than apartments, and you can often find long-term tenants that can help minimize your original cost of finding a renter.
If you don't know much about being a landlord, you can always work with a rental management company. These companies do the work of finding tenants, arranging maintenance, and much more. You might be able to simply sit back and collect the profits. If you don't need your home as a living space, it's a good idea to offer it to someone who does.
6. Host a foreign exchange student
College students doing a semester at a sibling school or doing a study abroad program might need a home for months or years. Taking in a foreign exchange student can give you a tenant with plenty of reasons to follow your house rules and be a model guest.
However, there are usually no direct hosting fees or rent charged to a foreign exchange student. You may qualify for some tax breaks that could make the swap worthwhile, or find out about a possible stipend.
7. Offer your home as a filming location
If you live in an area where a movie or TV show is currently filming or you live in an area where lots of filming happens routinely (like L.A.), you can always list your home as a possible filming location.
If you do, your home could command fees anywhere from a few hundred dollars per day to upwards of $10,000. It all depends on the location, uniqueness of the property, and how central it will be to filming.
On the one hand, filming as the major backdrop for the production means a higher fee, but it also means your home is being used by the production for a lot longer, disrupting your daily life.
Also, while you get to set the rate, a higher rate is likely to mean fewer customers, so you'll want to do some homework about the average rental rates for film locations in your area.
8. Build and rent a content studio
A quiet and insulated place to record or take pictures can be worth a lot to a creative. If you have an extra room or finished space in your basement, it could be a good idea to add some soundproofing and get a sound engineer in to help you create a space that helps with crystal clear sound.
Studio time is always expensive, but if you have a studio to rent out, you can capture the lower end of the market that won't expect you to have top-end equipment. Just don't expect to get the $300+ per hour that some of the top studios capture. Instead, you'll be priced closer to $50 per hour, which can still be a healthy side income if you don't have a lot of vacancies.
To market your new creator space, list it on sites like Peerspace, Scouty, Storefront, or in local classifieds. You'll want to keep a careful eye on your marketing, as it's likely to be your largest ongoing expense for your new studio business.
Better yet, create the studio and start making money from content yourself.
9. Start a pet-sitting service
If you enjoy four-legged furry friends or have experience caring for cats or dogs, you could open your own pet-sitting service. Boarding animals is often expensive and rarely ideal for pets, so offering an in-home place for them to stay while their owners are out of town or unavailable is a big step up.
For dog sitting, you'll want to have strict limits in place regarding size and numbers, along with mandating current vet records. The last thing you'll want is to be faced with an illness that travels from one dog to every canine in the house. Plus, good temperament are a must. Dog fights can happen with little warning, and you don't want to get hurt or be the responsible party when the dog you're watching gets hurt.
If you want to focus on cats, you can often take in a larger number, but you'll need to give each cat more time to acclimate to their new location. Cats tend to struggle with any changes, even if their owners were along for the ride. Maybe schedule time with the owners before their trip to let the cat get to know their new pet sitter.
Getting any new business off the ground means advertising in places that are likely to reach your desired audience. As a pet-sitting service, you might want to advertise on sites like Rover, at local pet supply stores, and with vet offices. Expect to earn around $25-$45 per night per pet for this type of service.
10. Build a private office space
Private office space could let you rent out the area to anyone who only needs occasional access to an "official" address. You could host a therapist, lawyer, accountant, or anyone else offering services that can be primarily handled remotely with only occasional in-office meetings. Essentially, you'd be renting co-working space.
A private office space typically needs a small waiting area, a private area with a desk and guest seating, and plenty of storage space. You'll need to provide access to a phone system, computer, and internet if you're doing co-working.
However, you may only offer hookups for technology if you're looking for a single renter for a long-term arrangement. Talk with your prospective renters about what amenities they'd like to see and work out which offers the most return on investment.
In most areas of the country, renting out an office could net you at least $20 per square foot per month. That means your potential income is only limited by the space you have to devote to the office. Work with local leasing offices to help find reliable tenants once you have the space ready.
11. Sign up for special event rentals
If you have lots of space, indoors or outdoors, you might consider turning your home into a special event venue. From hosting team-building events for corporate retreats to setting up weddings or large parties, there are lots of ways to turn your home into a place that looks special and unique.
Special events need special locations to host them, but that means you'll need to have a lot of experience working with different vendors to create a welcoming ambiance. You might need to touch base with portable toilet or tent rental companies, so you can use both indoor and outdoor spaces.
If you have a ballroom-type space, great! But, it's not a necessity. As long as you have a nice, large, level yard, you can always create a ballroom on the go.
What you can earn with these spaces will depend on the type of events you can host. Hotels often charge a minimum of $1,000 per day for a ballroom, but you may be able to charge more or less depending on the additional amenities that come with the rental.
The amenities that are likely to sell the property as a special event site are also what help you command premium pricing. For example, your wedding venue could also offer room rentals for the bridal party or fun options like a hot tub or pool.
12. Rent out parking space
If you live in an area where parking is impossible to find, your 2-car garage or private parking space might be worth a lot more than you'd think. Whether you have a driveway that accommodates four or more cars or just want to rent out a single space in your detached garage, there are tenants out there looking for guaranteed parking.
Garage parking is particularly sought after for those with expensive or classic cars. If you have a temperature-controlled garage, that adds even more to your potential earnings.
Expect to earn at least $50 per month per parking space, but indoor spaces can command $300 per month or more. It all depends on where you live and how difficult it is to find and snag a parking space, particularly around rush hour times.
Sites like Neighbor make selling your parking spot easier than ever. You can sign up and start renting in minutes. The result is money in your pocket starting with your first parking tenant.
A parking space is the baseline product, but there are all sorts of ways to add amenities and fees that improve your bottom line. You can charge extra for the space and the energy used if you have an EV charger available for your tenants.
More ways to monetize your home with Whop
Renting out space in or around your home is an obvious way to monetize the space you own, but it also means opening your space up to strangers. Even if you stick to outdoor rentals for your pool through Swimply or your fenced-in yard through Sniffspot, that doesn't mean you should stop looking for other ways to earn.
Instead of renting out that office space or creative studio, why not put it to work for you? You can start a digital business on Whop and use that spare space for your own earning journey.
With Whop, it's easy to get set up and start earning with your posted content. Webinars, online courses, ebooks, and more all make money here. You could film tutorials if you have the skills or create digital downloads like coloring or recipe ebooks.
Plus, there are vibrant communities run by ecommerce experts, ready to share their money-making secrets. They can show you exactly how to turn unused space into earning opportunities. Join one (or a few) to access exclusive content and interact with like-minded members.
Let Whop help you turn your ideas into dollars in the bank today.
