Buying a home is a costly endeavour, but the average person doesn’t take full advantage of their most expensive asset.  If you evaluate your house with a real estate investor’s mindset, you’ll be able to leverage its value for some cash returns.  The right approach can even bring in some serious profit.  Listed below are 8 ways you can leverage your own home to create additional revenue, or simply save more of your hard earned money:

 

Appreciation

This one is easy; you don’t even have to lift a finger.  If you bought a home in a desirable neighbourhood or growing city, chances are you’re probably making money as your read this.  When you examine average property values across North America with a general long term perspective, prices have steadily increased over time and that trend is projected to carry on well into the future.  This is especially true in larger urban centres as the world’s population continues to move from the country to the city and drives prices up even further.

 

Renovate & Refinance

This is another way to take advantage of your homes comparative market value, but requires some cost and effort up front.  By investing capital to renovate and upgrade your house, you’re increasing the property’s overall value.  If the renovation is done strategically, the total rise in value can be worth much more than total construction cost, netting you a juicy profit on paper.  Have your home reappraised once the renovation is completed and speak with your mortgage lender to refinance the house for the increased amount, allowing you to pull out the profits in cash.

 

Rental Income – Long Term

It’s no secret that you can generate large streams of revenue by renting out to stable tenants.  Perhaps you rent out the entire house ‘as is’, or invest some capital to convert the single family house into a legal duplex or triplex in order to maximize your monthly rental cash flow.  You can also get creative and rent out various smaller spaces while still living there, such as basement storage, parking spots or garages and sheds.

 

Rental Income – Short Term

Short term rentals are more work when compared to long term rentals, but they also offer more reward.  Listing your home on short-term rental sites like AirBnB can bring in thousands of dollars whenever you need it.  Whether you rent out regularly or only a few times per year when you’re out of town, this can be a great option.  Capitalize during popular local events when visitors are coming to your city or neighbourhood and the hotels are booked solid.

 

Film & Events

There are always film-makers looking for unique places to shoot movies and commercials, and your house might be the perfect location.  Websites such as this one allow you to list your home with photos for movie executives scouting set locations.  They’ll pay top dollar to use your property for a few days of shooting.  If your home is unique and has lots of space, you could go a step further and host weddings or special events and pocket thousands of dollars over a weekend.

 

Solar Power

The sun delivers free unlimited energy every single day, and you can turn that into cash.  By investing in some efficient solar panels and some basic batteries and equipment, you can easily cut down your monthly electrical bill or potentially power everything for free. Switch to an electric vehicle and driving becomes almost free as well.  Also, if you happen to collect more energy than you consume, you can sell the surplus back into the electrical grid for cash.