Turn your home into a gold mine!

Adonis Adoni Adonis Adoni
homify Modern living room
Loading admin actions …

Whilst the economy continues to glue its pieces back together, keeping a healthy back account sometimes feels as difficult as finding gold. Consequently, a lot of people have tried to find resourceful ways to boost their income.

Given that the biggest asset most people have is their home, transforming it into an additional income steam seems a sensible move to make. In fact, it's a practice that many have indulged in the past by remortgaging their home in search of some liquid finance.

However, following a recession that resulted in the tightening up of the criteria for lending, coupled with falling prices on estates, this practise has been abandoned. This has, however, led people to find more resourceful solutions. There are quite a few ways to find gold in your home, from turning your spare room into a bed and breakfast to organising a garage sale.

Let's explore some options…

Get a lodger

With mortgage payments knocking on your door month after month, a lodger can help by sharing some of the household bills. There are a few differences between a lodger and a tenant. The lodger is a part of your household, living with your permission and cannot exclude you from his own room or any other part of the house.

If you are a homeowner under a mortgage contract you might need to get permission from you lender before sub-letting a part of your home. If you are allowed to take in a lodger, the government rent-a-room scheme allows you to earn up to £4, 250 per year tax free for renting furnished accommodation.

Turn your spare room into a boutique hotel

Perhaps, having a lodger living with you on a semi-permanent basis doesn't sound so appealing? Well, then you can let spare bedrooms in your house to travellers. By doing so you can charge more for short-term visits and rent the room out according to your schedule. In fact, it has become a common practice to rent out spare rooms to tourists.

Of course, you don’t need to include a luxury lounge in your improvised hotel but it would be nice to make your travellers stay as cosy as it can be. There are many websites that give you the option to transform you house into a boutique hotel and specify the type of tourists you wish to allow in your house, such as AirBnB and Wimdu.

You also have the option to run a bed and breakfast in your home. However, there are a significant amount of rules to be navigated before trying your hand at the B&B business.

Rent out your driveway or garage

One of the most precious commodities in a city is parking space. If you happen to have an unused garage, driveway or allocated parking space, you can turn it a goldmine by renting it out. Depending on its proximity to various facilities, such as a train station or football stadium, renting out a parking space can earn you to £500 per month.

Sounds like a pretty good exchange for an unexploited space, doesn't it? There are online websites where you can register your free parking space, such as YourParkingSpace or JustPark, and find people who are looking for a private parking space.

Turn your home into a set

If you don’t happen to have an unused parking space, don’t be dismayed. Take advantage of your good taste in interior design by  having your home featured as a background for magazine shoots or TV shows. While this is not a guaranteed way to inject your income stream with extra cash, why not give it a try?

Not only are unique houses in demand, as television companies are very keen on ordinary family homes as well. The only issue with turning your home into a set will be your willingness to allow a large crew messing up your décor. However, the longer they stay in your home the more money you will earn. If you don’t have a problem with your home being used as a set, you can expect to earn anywhere from £500 to thousands per day!

Have a garage sale

Have you ever considered a garage sale?In the digital era, sites like eBay or Amazon have become the platforms for off-loading unused clutter. A garage sale is more low-tech but gives you an immediacy with prospective buyers.

Whether you have a library of books that have been read or you have hoarded piles of clothes down the years, having a garage sale will be a great idea to earn some extra cash and free up some space!

For a successful garage sale you will need to advertise it and entice prospective buyers. So, prepare some flyers and make some brownies to welcome your buyers! If a garage sale sounds like a hassle, there is always the option to give your items to an auction house.

Host a foreign exchange student

Another way to tap into the potential of your home as a goldmine is by hosting foreign exchange students. For example, language schools are always on the lookout for families to host foreign exchange students during holidays. To host, a shared bedroom will be more than enough as what matters most is the hospitality on offer. 

Welcoming students into your home can offer more than a monetary income as you will be afforded the opportunity to experience a different culture and way of living, thus broadening your horizons and those of your young guest(s).

As far as money goes, the sum will depend on whether you will offer food and there is always extra money to be earned for qualified English tutors.

Did any of our suggestions sound interesting? We’d love to if you plan to implement any!

Need help with your home project?
Get in touch!

Highlights from our magazine