7 Things To Do With Vacant Properties

Your property may fall vacant due to several reasons. You may have purchased land and you’re still waiting for its value to rise before selling it for a profit. Or you’re still undecided on what to do with your land. For example, do you build one large home or two modest properties?

Plus land may remain vacant due to a lack of funds to develop it or the owner’s personal plans have changed. It’s not just land either, property can also suffer long periods of vacancy especially if they are rentals.

Whatever the reason, a vacant property is usually not a good investment therefore you wouldn’t want your property to lie utterly idle. Create income with your vacant land or home. There are many feasible ideas to consider, as described below.

Sell It

Suppose you got a long-term job far away from your previous home. In such a case, it may be unrealistic to keep holding onto the property, yet you rarely visit the place. Moreover, in its vacant state, excessive vegetation growth may make it a conducive hideout for illegal activities.

Bad neighbors may also decide to dump trash there, endangering the safety and health of the rest. Therefore, it’s advisable to sell your property and use the cash to purchase another one elsewhere.

If you decide to go with the selling option, here are some tips you may consider to get the best deal:

• Know the detail – title, area, condition,
• What is the property worth? – get a registered valuation
• Clean and spruce up thoroughly – presentation is everything!
• Let your neighbors know – they may want your property and this saves you on realtor fees
• Take excellent photos, and maybe a video – then post them on various advertising channels
• Market directly to your friends, perhaps, those you hang out with at your favorite sports club – another way to save on agency fees
• List the property everywhere – on all viable listing and online sites

Can you think of more initiatives that can be added to the list? You can never know too much about selling property.

Consider reading authoritative online materials for more information on the exact steps to follow when selling your land. Ultimately, following experts’ suggestions will ensure you make your property more marketable and fetch decent prices from the sale. You’ll also make the selling process hassle-free, as it can sometimes be stressful.

Do Farming

Farming can be an excellent option for utilizing your empty land. However, not all lands can support agriculture.

Therefore, evaluate the feasibility of your land for farming by looking into factors such as your area’s climate, the topography of the ground, and the type of soil. If all are favorable, you’re good to go. The assessment also enables you to determine the kind of crops you’ll grow.

Here are some more factors to consider before settling on farming as a way to make use of your vacant property:

Zoning and limitations

You need to determine whether your land falls under a rural, urban, or suburban area.

Usually, agriculture is allowed in rural areas. But, for urban and suburban zones, it may be illegal to do farming. Populated areas may also add some restrictions to farming. For instance, noise restrictions may limit you from using farm equipment.

Environmental and health rules may also ban the use of chemicals and fertilizers.

Accessibility of utilities

If your land is in areas that receive little rain, you may have to do irrigation. If this is the case, you must have a well with sufficient water flow and sizable storage tanks.

Build A Warehouse

Another excellent idea is to set up a warehouse and rent it out to businesses or individuals with a need for huge storage spaces. The good thing is that warehouses don’t require a lot of attention and maintenance, especially if most of your clients store their items long term.

Here are factors you must consider before building a warehouse:

Your land should be centrally located, relative to clients and vendors.
The roads near your land should be broad for smooth turning of trucks and vans.
Your land should have a rectangular or square shape. This is the ideal layout for a warehouse.
Your land should have accessible water and electricity.
The land should be entirely flat to avoid costly landfilling.

Create An Event Center

Instead of leaving your land open, you may make some money by turning it into an event center. You can rent it out for weddings, anniversaries, birthday parties, conferences, memorials, and graduation ceremonies.

With proper planning and creativity, you can revamp the outdoor area and come up with a likable event venue, without necessarily investing heavily.

Keep Livestock

If livestock farming is allowed in your neighborhood, go for it. You can start with popular farm animals, like chickens, goats, sheep, cattle, pigs, and rabbits. You don’t have to be the one managing the animals directly.

Consider hiring a trustworthy farmhand to help you with the work while you’re away. Alternatively, you can lease out your land to people who want to rear livestock.

For diversification, you can invest in state-of-the-art farm machinery and charge visitors a small fee to demonstrate how they work.

Make It A Photo Spot

Photographs play an essential role in life. They link people to their previous experiences and bring fond memories of special events. That’s why people are always on the lookout for breathtaking photography spots. To this end, you’ll need to transform your property into a scenic one by planting trees and flowers, and, then, landscaping it.

You may need to enlist professional help to make the final outcome marketable to photo photography enthusiasts.

Rent It

Finally, consider leasing out the land for the whole period you won’t be putting it to any good use. If you’ve already built a house on your land, you can rent the entire property to a family working nearby or other tenants.

Make sure to write up and sign a comprehensive rental property agreement with tenants to avoid misunderstanding of obligations or disagreements once you decide to do something else with the property. Plus consider using a property manager if you’re not nearby and you don’t want to deal with tenants directly.

Conclusion

With the ideas above, you should now be confident enough to make use of your vacant property. It’s an asset that can generate you decent passive income. All it takes is creativity and a little more investment to spruce it up.

For anything too technical for you, don’t hesitate to ask for professional help. Ultimately, you’ll make good money from it and enjoy the fruits of your labor.