Happy Wednesday!
As always- I'm building a private community called TKOwners for people who want to turn all these insights into real businesses. We have a slack channel where we drop insane AI tools and possibilities everyday. If you're serious about staying ahead of this AI revolution, check it out at tkowners.com. It's where the hundreds of action-takers hang out.
Okay let’s get into it.. A few days ago I shared 40 ways to make money from unwanted/ unused land in a YouTube video that blew up, and I want to break down some of the best ideas with you here.
Here are 16 of the ways to monetize raw, unwanted, unloved land. Some require capital. Some require more sweat than others. All of them work. If you want all 40- the full list is on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
That random plot of land sitting on the market for $50,000? The one with the weird shape, no utilities, and overgrown weeds? That could be a cash machine if you do it right. A $200 per month land payment can turn into $10,000 per month in cash flow.
1. Tent Camping Rentals
Websites like Campspot, Harvest Host, and Tenter let you rent out literal plots of dirt to campers for $10 to $50 a night. No hookups required. No electricity. No plumbing. Just a quiet spot where families can pitch a tent. I use these sites myself because Texas doesn't have enough state parks. People will pay you to camp on your land.
2. Vehicle and Equipment Parking
Six different platforms let you rent parking space: Neighbor.com, Spacer, Stow It, Curb Flip, Pavement, and Truck Parking Club. Business owners need somewhere to park their trucks, boats, RVs, and trailers. You can charge $80 to $250 per spot per month. One acre is 43,000 square feet. Do the math on how many spots that is. So simple.
3. Portable Self Storage
A friend in Canada found a three-acre parcel on a busy road. He did a lease-purchase agreement, dropped portable storage containers on it, and became fully booked in six months. Now he's got a six-figure, largely passive business. The beauty? You can get loans on the equipment. And if it doesn't work, you pick up your containers and leave.
4. Pallet Reclamation
Tree trimming companies and warehouses will give you pallets for free because they don't want to pay dump fees. You take them, fix the broken boards, and resell them for $5 to $12 each. It's 100% gross margin. You just need somewhere to store them while you build your book of business. And if you’re handy you can build tables, bookshelves, bars, etc… to sell or rent out for weddings.
5. Firewood Sales
Firewood sells for $400 to $900 per cord depending on the time of year and where you live. Reach out to tree trimming companies, tell them to drop their logs on your property, and split the wood with a hydraulic splitter. I pay high schoolers to help stack it. Hardwoods like oak and pecan fetch even more when you sell them as barbecue smoking wood.
6. Shed-to-Tiny-Home Conversions
I paid $7,200 for a shed. Added another $1,000 for drywall, paint, fixtures, and furniture. Now it's a tiny home I can rent for $500 to $1,000 a month. Purpose-built tiny homes cost $50,000 to $100,000. A finished shed costs $20,000 all in. Same product, different framing.
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7. Metal Building Rentals
My 2,100 square foot metal building rents for $2,500 to $3,500 a month. Businesses need covered space for storage, auto repair, woodworking, and everything else. Even in rural areas, there's demand for a roof and four walls.
8. Sport Court Rentals
Youth sports coaches need somewhere to train kids. They can't use gyms. A lot of times they can't use schools. That leaves you. A concrete sport court costs about $32,000 to build yourself. You can charge tutors hourly fees and membership fees that add up to $8,000 to $20,000 a month. But you can't be too rural for this one. Run ads before you think about building this out.
9. Photography and Videography Locations
Five websites let you rent your property to photographers: Peerspace, Gigster, Homestudialist, Scouty, and AVVAY. If your land is even somewhat scenic, you can make it work. Add a wedding arch, clean up the area, and people will pay by the hour for photo sessions.
10. RV Pad Rentals
Install a 30-amp or 50-amp plug and list your space on Campspot, Boondockers Welcome, Harvest Host, and Campendium. One plug, one pad, and you've got yourself a mini RV park. Add more pads as demand grows.
11. Backyard Food Pop-Ups
Pizza ovens cost $500 to $1,200. Post to your local Facebook groups, take orders in advance, cook everything in one day, and make $1,000 in an afternoon. Same model works for barbecue and blackstone cooking. You could even do one of those self-service pop-up bakeries where you don’t even have to be there. Payment is all venmo, cash and honor code.
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12. Shed Flipping and Delivery
I have a friend in North Carolina running a $650,000 per year business doing this. Over half is profit. He set up a tracker that monitors Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for people giving away sheds. Usually they're free because the homeowner is selling and the buyer wants it gone. He shows up with a flatbed, lifts it with forks, and by the time it's on his truck, it's already sold. He lists it with free delivery included and sells for $400 to $2,000. He also gets paid $400 to $500 per delivery from shed companies who aren't in the logistics business. You need land to store inventory between pickups and sales.
13. Pool Rentals
Swimply and ResortPass let you rent out your pool by the hour. Some people in Phoenix rent houses just to monetize the pool in the backyard. And to go further on this idea: add a lifeguard, catering, and toys, and you can charge premium rates.
14. Culvert Sales
When municipalities widen roads, they throw away old culverts. You can often get them for free. I listed some on Facebook Marketplace and sold them for hundreds of dollars each. Search them out. store them on your land. sell them. There's a company doing seven figures a year just selling culverts.
15. Septic Tank Installation and Repair
You know how many people in high school said they wanted to grow up and own a septic tank business? Zero. That's exactly why net profit margins run 20- 40%. When I wanted to add a simple bathroom to my shop, I called around for quotes and every single company said I needed a brand new system. $15,000. Why? Because they can- because there's way more demand than supply. Nobody wants to get into this business. That's your opportunity. Start or buy a septic installation and repair company. Use your land to store equipment and materials.
16. High-Traffic Lot Monetization
I bought a narrow, awkward lot on a busy road for $160,000 when it was worth $300,000. Nobody wanted it because of the traffic and the weird shape. Today it's worth $750,000. I park wrapped trucks there for my tree trimming business. I sell cars there and get above market price because of the eyeballs. More traffic equals more demand. More demand equals higher prices.
None of these ideas require you to reinvent the wheel. They require you to see opportunity where others see problems. That weird-shaped lot? That's leverage. That busy road? That's distribution. The land is just sitting there. What are you going to do with it?
And again, if you want the list of all 40- the full list is on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
If you have any amount of unused land- go get after it.
Have a great week!
Chris
P.S. I share deep dives on business ideas and complete playbooks three times a week on YouTube and every podcast platform.
