At this time of year, it’s safe to say that most of us could use a little extra money, and f you’re lucky enough to own your own home, then you have endless opportunities to make money for the things you’re passionate about, whether that’s traveling, fashion, family or even your home itself. You see, when you have a home, you (hopefully) have an appreciating asset, but you also have something that you can leverage to bring in a little extra cash.

So, if you’re looking to boost your income potential right now, and you have your own property, here are a few things you can do to turn the lace into a money-spinner:

Become a Host on Airbnb

If you haven’t heard of it already (where have you been?), Airbnb is a fantastic website which enables property owners to rent out their space, whether it be a single room or the whole property, to individuals who are looking for a comfy place to stay while they’re traveling or spending a short time away from their home for whatever reason.

If your home is clean, attractive and in a good location, then you could make lots of money renting out a room. If you aren’t comfortable having people stay with you, then even if you just rent out the space while you yourself are away on vacation or whatever, you could make a decent amount of money, So sign up now!

Become a Filming Location

Another way to turn your home into an extra source of income is by registering with one of the many location agencies out there. What’s a location agency? It’s exactly what it sounds like - an agency for filming locations. Just like actors go through agencies to find work, property owners can go through agents to find ‘work’. If a production requires a home with a certain look or a photographer needs a particular place for a shoot, they will hit these agencies up, and they will pay hundreds, sometimes even thousands of dollars a day for the privilege. 

Obviously, you’re never guaranteed any income when you sign with a location agency, but if you’re willing to have a crew over and you'd like to potentially meet with celebrities, there’s nothing to lose by making your place available.

Rent a Room

Of course, one of the easiest and most consistent ways of making money from your home is by renting it out to a roommate. The obvious downside of this is that you will have to share your space with others, but since they could help you pay your mortgage off and have a lot more fun it’s worth considering, Just make sure that you take the time to really get to know and thoroughly vet anyone who’s interested in living with you before you let them in.

Mortgage Refinancing

This is something that you should never jump into without careful consideration, but if you need some ready cash to start a business or renovate your home, cash-out mortgage refinancing is a relatively fast and simple way of spinning money from your home. Of course, unlike many of the other examples in this post, it is money that you will need to pay back with interest, but the terms are often better than you’d get elsewhere and you’re more likely to have your application approved because you have an asset to secure your loan against.

Turn Your Drive Into Dollars

If you live in a prime location - a place where lots of people will visit often for either work or pleasure, then you could make thousands of dollars annually by renting out your driveway to people who are looking for a safe, affordable place to park. These kind of places are becoming increasingly difficult to find, so if you really do live in a place where parking is in high demand, you should have no trouble at all generating a regular source of revenue.

Turn Your Garage into Gold

Similarly, there are lots of people out there who need a safe place to keep their vehicle, perhaps because they have gone on vacation and they don’t have garage space of their own or because there has been a recent spate of car thefts in the area, for example.They may also want to stow away their goods safely when they run out of space at their own place. If you are lucky enough to have a garage space on your property, and you don’t need to use it yourself, or you have ample space for another vehicle, well you’ve just found another simple source of income right there.

Grow Your Own

If you have your own yard, then you can grow all manner of things from fruits and veggies to flowers and bonsai trees, which you can then sell at farmers markets, or in the case of the former, use to supplement your own diet, thus saving you money rather than making it - either way you’ll still have a bigger bank balance.

Clear Your Clutter

If you live in a pristine, minimalist apartment, then this is unlikely to apply to you, but if your place is stuffed to the rafters with stuff, most of which you never actively use or even want - stuff you’ve just been holding onto out of habit- you could give yourself a once-off windfall by organizing that clutter and then selling what you don’t want or need on Craigslist, eBay or Facebook, If you’ve got some more high-end stuff, then selling to specialist shops or private buyers might net you more money, especially if we’re talking designer clothing or vintage furniture. Just get that clutter out of your home, pocket the cash and then use it for a sunshine vacation, the renovation of your newly clutter-free home, or even just put it in the bank for a rainy day - you know it makes sense.

So, there you have it - some very simple ways to turn your home into a money spinner. Although they’re probably not all going to be for you, use as many of them as you can if you want to boost your bank balance without having to do very much work, other than a bit of spring cleaning and internet posting, in the coming year.