It’s not just important to save money. A critical part of financial healthiness is boosting income as well. There are many unconventional ways to make more money. One of them is take space you already have access to and rent it out. A garage is a perfect bit of space that many people might be able to quickly monetize. Doing this can give someone a new income source they can apply to savings or investing.
Americans Have Too Much Stuff. And They’re Paying More and More to Store Their Stuff Somewhere Else
More than half of America feels like they have too much stuff. Most of those Americans feel like they have no idea what to do with all that stuff. If they’re in houses, it fills up basements. It fills up attics. Americans pack up boxes and fill their garages. As things get cheaper and cheaper, as homes get larger and larger, Americans are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things that they have to store.
Throughout the US people struggle with stuff so much that an entire industry has blossomed around giving people more room to store things. Self Storage units grew from 6,600 units in 1984 to 46,500 by 2010 and it is still one of the fastest growing industries in the US. Despite the recession!
Help People Store Things. And Make Money Doing It
Do you have a garage that you barely use? Maybe you have a two car garage but only one car? Maybe you are okay with parking your car outside in order to gain another income stream. If so, an extra garage is a possible extra income stream. The closer to dense urban spaces, the more in demand space like this is.
People can be looking to store an antique car, their untouched sports car or even a boat that only gets used during the summer that they don’t want out in the elements. During the summer they may want a snowmobile stored away instead of baking in the sun and getting rained on. By offering a garage up for rent you’ll be helping someone protect their assets while also making money. It’s win-win!
What To Do To Rent a Garage
A garage up for rent needs cleaned thoroughly. No one wants to leave their possessions in a sketchy-looking or dirty place. Taking pictures once the garage is cleaned up and sparkling will come in handy when listing it.
Another thing to consider is that the renter will not want to see their area of the garage filled with projects or tools that might hurt their asset. These will need cleaned out and moved elsewhere.
Once the garage is cleaned up and ready to go, it is time to find places to list it. This can be as simple as posting to the neighborhood email list that the garage is available to rent. Some neighborhoods have Facebook pages for sales and community info. These more personal venues will often get the best results. Craigslist is another venue, naturally.
How much to charge will depend greatly on location. A garage near a city center will be in very high demand. One out in the countryside: less so. Looking up the price of monthly storage units in the area nearby can help calibrate a fair price and expectations.
Make sure you have insurance! And make sure the person storing their items in a garage have insurance as well. Having someone’s stuff harmed due to a natural disaster while its on your property could be messy. Making sure there is coverage is vital. A discussion with the insurance company is always a smart move.
Now sit back and enjoy your extra income stream!
Sources:
The stuff paradox: Dealing with clutter in the US – BBC News