Make Extra Money by Renting Your Stuff

Things to rent out for money:

1. Your car

If you have ever rented a car while on vacation, you know that rental companies can charge $100 or more per day. You can make money and undercut those rates by renting out your car to other drivers.

Turo is a service that connects you with people who need a rental. The app suggests how much you should charge customers, depending on the value and condition of your vehicle.

Most Turo rentals make around $30 a day for a modest model, up to considerably more for a luxury car. You might find the money earned from renting out your vehicle a few days each month is enough to cover your car payment.

A stock trader and entrepreneur named Ricky Gutierrez shares on his YouTube channel that he wanted to buy his dream car: a 2012 Nissan GT-R. But insurance would have cost $6,000 a year.

He already had a less expensive everyday car, so Gutierrez determined that he could justify buying the GT-R if he could rent it out on Turo for $400 per day. He was very picky when approving customers, and he still made $1,000 a month, on average.

Before you rent your car on Turo, be sure to ask prospective customers to meet over Skype or Facetime, so you can check them out. Attach a GPS tracker to your car, in case anything goes wrong. And upgrade your insurance coverage.

2. Your gear

Nearly everyone has sporting equipment or expensive tools or gardening equipment mostly gathering dust. Other people need that stuff, but maybe they’re not ready to buy their own just yet.

With Omni Rentals, you can lend out the gear in your garage and earn some money. Some sample rates: You could make $22 a day for renting out your bicycle, or get $35 a day for a DSLR camera.

Omni's app offers a $2,000 guarantee, just in case items are damaged, lost, or stolen. You may decide you can spring for a pricey item you've always wanted, and use the rental money from Omni to pay it off.

Ripple recently invested in Omni, which means that after a software integration, the Omni payment system will clear within a few seconds, no matter which bank you and the renter use. No word yet on whether Omni plans to accept Ripple’s cryptocurrency XRP as a payment option.

Note that Omni is so new that it’s available only in certain cities.

3. Your space

You've probably heard that a spare bedroom in your apartment or house can be turned into a source of rental income through Airbnb, but do you know how much money can be made?

James Hunt, who lives near the beach in St. Petersburg, Florida, shares on YouTube how he made one bedroom in his home available to Airbnb renters — and earned $10,459 a year. That allowed him to bring his mortgage payments and other housing costs down to just $407 a month, from about $1,280.

Homeowners make far more money in major cities and vacation destinations, or near tourist attractions, so it’s best to browse your local competition to get a good idea of the money you can expect to make.

AirBnB recently launched its Plus program. For a $149 fee, your home will be inspected by an AirBnB employee, who will check the Wi-Fi strength, comfort level and other things. If you meet the program's standards, you can charge more for your rental.