Different ideas for property income streams besides rent

[Dylan Bergum]

I live in Ontario (GTA region) and have been considering buying a single family home in a more country/rural area and making income through other avenues besides long-term tenants. 

So far, I have come up with the following ideas:

- airbnb

- bed and breakfast

- car storage

- boat storage

 - trailer/motor home storage

- shared workspace/office space rental

- general long-term storage

Does anyone have any other suggestions?  

I would also welcome input regarding using a property for renting out long-term storage, car storage etc., if anyone has an experience or comments regarding this (by-law/zoning issues).

Also, are there any resources that someone can direct me to regarding by-laws for storage facilities? I suppose I would have to research municipal by-laws dregarding this?

Thanks!

[Cameron Brown]

Hey Dylan - I'm in the GTA as well with a rural getaway property in PEC. Having mainly lived in new condos, having a rural property was a real eye opener. At least where I am, surrounded by forest, you're in a constant battle with nature to keep it from overtaking your property (that is, it takes straight up time and elbow grease. Yes you can hire some of this out, but in that case budget more than you'd expect on say an urban rental property). The house seems to take more of a beating than one would in the city, and there's more of a penchant for DIY repairs in some areas which can be more hassle/expense for you to ultimately unwind once you get under the hood. Contractors can be harder to find too, and even harder to schedule. Water management is another huge issue - wells, septics, sump pumps - didn't really know anything about these, but have gotten an expensive crash course! 

While this particular property isn't strictly an investment, it's definitely been worth it from a quality of life perspective. I would probably be reluctant to make any true investments out here, other than perhaps a full-on flip in somewhere like PEC that draws a big GTA crowd, and in that case I'd probably want to partner with a local GC. 

In terms of the car storage idea, as a mortgage broker I would raise at least one red flag to consider: if you ever want to refinance and you have a bunch of cars onsite, regardless of whatever the local zoning permits, that plus the somewhat obvious commercial operating business onsite will be a hard pass from most lenders. So you either won't have access to your accrued equity, or it'll be quite expensive to get access.

Best of luck!