If you’ve been in the real estate game for a while as a buyer, seller or an agent, then you’re probably familiar with the idea of purchasing vacant land with the intention of building a country home on it later on. Even if you never had plans of building, you may still feel like you should take advantage of your land and put it to good use.

Whether you currently own or are looking for vacant land, here are some useful and creative ways to leverage business opportunities with your property.

1. Holiday Events: You could set up an ice-skating rink during winter months, offer hayrides around Halloween, or even rent out your land to schools for an end of the year field day.
2. Storage: If your land is near an airport or harbor, you may have hit the jackpot! Reach out to business owners nearby and offer your space for a fee. Another great solution for storage is to offer spots to RV park owners. Typically, people can’t just park their RV in their driveway so they just need a good space to park.
3. Camping: First things first, you should look into what insurance would cost for this type of business, but if you have land in prime areas for birdwatching or hunting, you could consider charging $20-30 a night for camping spots and make quick, easy cash through this venture.
4. Community Gardening: Have a good size plot that’s a little too big for you to manage on your own? Speak to local government officials to get the OK and then contact friends, family, and neighbors about creating a community garden. You can always donate or sell the extra fruit and vegetables.
5. Tiny Houses: Join the tiny house movement by building one (or a couple) and renting them out on sites like Airbnb or simply use them for yourself or lend to loved ones for weekend getaways.
6. Recreational Land: If you have the means, building a racetrack or course for BMX, dirt bikes, and ATVs could be a fun way to generate some income. If you want a little less adrenaline, you could set up your own paintball course and host tournaments.
7. Live Off the Grid: Much like the tiny house movement, there are many people looking to move off the grid. They want a simpler way of life that doesn’t keep them tied to utilities or mortgages. See if there’s interest in your land and rent it out to those looking to disconnect.
8. Beekeeping: This is an industry that requires a lot of space for safe operation and function, but offers many sweet rewards.
9. Artisan Market: You could do weekly or monthly events where local artists set up a market and can sell their products. This is only feasible for land not too far from town.
10. Horse Stables: Many people own, or want to own, horses yet lack the proper land to house them. Building stables on your property and allowing horse owners to use your accommodation or build their own could earn you top dollar—especially if you live near metro areas. Additionally, you could just charge for people using the land to ride.

What do you think of our ideas? Would you add anything else to the list? If you found a few good ideas to start making money off your property, or you’re feeling inspired to buy land, take a look at all of the available properties for sale from United Country Real Estate at www.UnitedCountry.com where you can search properties by category, location, keyword and even price.

Contributing author: Michael Krieg, broker associate for United Country Real Estate | Real Colorado Properties. Michael specializes in ranch land, commercial properties, hunting land, luxury homes and resort properties. He is licensed in both Colorado and abroad in Costa Rica.