Adulting is hard, isn’t it? You have to work, take care of the bills, mind family issues, and fix whatever it is that needs to be fixing. As much as you’re earning okay from your job, you know you have to bump up your monthly income for the future. Retirement age isn’t that far from where you are right now. You only have a decade or so to start panicking about your future as a senior citizen. But where are you going to get the money you need to boost your income?
Rent It Out
Look at your home. It’s a pretty big one. Why don’t you put up a lawn irrigation system and improve your backyard? Whether you’re living in the city or the suburbs, you can rent out a part of your lawn for small parties and gatherings. Plenty of people are looking for places they could rent that aren’t too expensive. With the basics in place, you can earn hundreds of dollars for renting out a piece of your garden or even the first floor of your house.
If you’re single and live alone, what use would a big home be for you? Scale it down. Rent out a part of the property or better yet, move to a smaller home and let people rent the bigger property as a whole.
How about your basement or garage? Do you really need it? Or even the attic? You can convert these into rooms that you can then rent out to people looking for a small place to stay. There are plenty of options available if you happen to own a big home. Though the maintenance can be a pain, you can turn this home into a money-making machine.
Remember, though, that there are laws governing renting out portions of your property. Make sure to check the local zoning rules regarding this. Also, pay the right taxes. If you are earning from your home, you have to declare that as part of your income.
Sell It
You don’t want the hassle of being a landlord. You can sell your home. But before doing that, look at the housing market. Do you think you are going to get a fair price for your home? Check out the property prices in your area right now. Is this the kind of market you want to sell to? You might have to defer selling your property for a while if you’re not going to get the right price for it.
Although renting out the property is challenging because you have to maintain it, this is the more practical choice. Unless you have a good plan for the money you are going to raise after selling it, rent it out first and see how much you can save monthly. Rent money is for life. You can even pass that on to your children.
Mortgage
The easiest way to get money from your home is through a mortgage. You can apply for a mortgage and see how much you can raise. You don’t even have to move if you take out a $50,000 mortgage, for example. Some lenders will allow an interest-only basis. They will allow the repayment of the loan only upon the sale of the property. You only have to pay the interest monthly.
However, this will only work if you’re younger. You might not qualify for this kind of mortgage if you have low income and are older. You need to show the lenders that can afford the interest payments now and during retirement.
Equity Release Lifetime Mortgage
There is also interest in this kind of mortgage, but it’ll be rolled up and added to the money borrowed when the property is sold upon your death. If you are young, this is not the kind of debt you want to get into. Your family will end up paying the bank more than what the property sold for. The interest can double or triple, depending on how many years you lived after taking out the loan.
Home Reversion Scheme
You can also get fast money from a home reversion scheme. This is when you sell a proportion of your house to a reversion company. When you die, the company gets that portion of the sale proceeds. You will not be required to leave the home, but the reversion company will pay a lot less than the property’s market value right now. This means that when the property is sold, they are going to get more than what they gave you because that amount is dependent on the percentage of the property that you sold to them.
You have a lot of options if you want to get money from a property. Owning real estate is always more advantageous than owning none. If worse comes to worst, you can always sell the property to get it off your hands and to get a small amount from the proceeds.
