I've heard so many people say, you can make money on a rental home but raw land is an asset that doesn't make money. Well, a ton of people make money on raw land and they don't have the issues someone with a rental does. It takes some creativity and some decent land but you can turn your raw land into a cash cow. There are numerous ways to make money if you have a land. If your main goal is to have an income with the use of an existing asset, you could be surprised on how creative you could get, even with a small land you own.
10 Ways to Make Money on Raw Land
1. Selling Hunting Rights on Your Land
If you have wooded land suitable for hunting and the right size, you may rent your land out during the hunting season. You can charge a flat fee or by the person. You’re in control with this one, which makes it one of the ways to make extra cash while keeping full use of the land you own during the off-season.
2. Animal Grazing: Pasturing Rental
If you have land that includes fields, you might like to take a look through online as well as paper classified ads in your area. More than likely, you’ll be able to determine cow or horse owners who are searching for space to graze all of their animals. It’s a good way to make money, and if the land includes big pasture areas, animals would keep the grass down so you can save money.
3. Outdoor Camping Lot & HipCamp Rental
If you have open, level land ideal for camping, you can consider starting a campground. Turning your land into a camping site doesn’t need a huge investment. You can start with the basic things that campers need. For an easy way to get started with this, visit the Airbnb of camping "HipCamp". You can rent out just about any raw land you may have that's remote right away as-is. We have an article on this showing how to maximize profits.
4. RV Storage Solutions
Another way to earn extra cash from having raw land is by offering storage solutions. Many people nowadays need more storage space, and you can turn your land into a storage rental space. Just be sure to check with the local county to make sure it doesn't get a violation of some sort.
5. Let A Group Run a Flea Market
If you have land that is located in a high-traffic area, you can rent it out as a flea market. It’s a low-cost way to make use of your land while connecting consumers and local vendors in your community. If you get it popular you can charge these vendors a decent amount and add in utilities.
6. Unlocking Profit on Your Wooded Lot
If your land includes wooded areas, a smart way to earn extra money from it is getting some quotes from various logging companies to see how much you can earn from timber. To preserve the land’s value and to be a great environmental steward, it is not recommended to clear-cut your land. But, you can log part of it while preserving some wooded areas and re-plant if wanted. You can also clear it all, profit off the wood and sell the lot cleared for a higher price.
7. Agricultural Potential: Lease Land for Crops
There could be bigger companies or individuals searching to lease land long-term or short-term for farming purposes depending on the type of farming, which may exist in the area. A lot of people end up renting their land for nurseries as well. Actually this happens quite a bit with wineries, they will ask to lease your land in a good grape zone and do all the work. You then get monthly income and free wine. Not bad.
8. The World of Paint-balling
Offering space for a paintball war is still a huge industry. If you’re in doubt, check out paintball fields near you. Some of these have become a franchise. You can sell merchandise, rentals and tickets for this. People will actually drive to very remote areas if you build an awesome playing field. Some examples are a war zone like buildings, bunkers, old cars, desert area with ditches, and even a jungle-type zone or even just grassy fields. It doesn’t take much to make your land paintball-ready. If you know the basics, you can easily get started using junk yards stuff and getting some paintball guns users can rent for the day. It's actually a massive money maker with low start up and maintenance.
9. Christmas Tree Lot and Parking Lots
Parking lots are a money maker but you'd need the right lot in a busy city. However, the industry of Christmas tree farming is an age old tradition. If you have raw land, you can use it or rent it for a Christmas tree lot. A lot of people will use someone's land seasonally for the holidays, for which you can charge more than for an annual rental. Then consider other seasons like a pumpkin patch.
10. Power Leases, Cell Towers & Billboards
It’s now possible to make money leasing your land to some major companies. You can add your land on lists for power leases, cell tower zones and billboards if you're near the road. A lot of these are long term leases too, you will be locked in for monthly income for years to come.
Take a look at the land you own or maybe one you're thinking of buying. Making income off raw land has great potential, just envision the land as a blank canvas and get creative.
