How To Make Extra Money In 2021 Using These Awesome Investment Ideas

From cryptocurrency to domain name squatting, there are many different investment ideas you likely haven’t explored. The investment paths you could potentially go down may seem overwhelming. However, knowing what options are available is the first step toward discovering what’s right for you. 

If you start small and put in the time on research, you might find that one of these suggestions is a great fit. Here are eight nontraditional investment ideas you probably haven’t tried yet.

1. Look into Wholesale Real Estate

Wholesaling is the process of finding motivated sellers who are offering homes at well below market value. Perhaps a property needs renovations and the seller can’t work on the home to bring it back up to market value. You purchase the rights to buy the property and then find a third party who wants to purchase the home for more than you paid. 

It’s a great short-term investment idea and a low-risk way to begin a career in real estate. You can get started by searching for wholesalers like New Western with homes for sale in your area. If you have a sales and marketing background and can network well, wholesale real estate could be the investing gig for you.

2. Trade Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular investment options. If you diversify your cryptocurrency portfolio, you can protect yourself against bad trades while reaping the rewards of good ones. 

There’s a lot of day-to-day variance in cryptocurrency values, so make sure you’ve done your research on long-term moving averages. It’s important to learn all you can before diving into the world of cryptocurrency. You can find instructional courses that can school you in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and other cryptocurrencies.

3. Invest in Commodities

Trading commodities such as precious metals, livestock, and agricultural products might be a good idea if you enjoy researching international economic trends. Instead of buying stocks, which are financial contracts, you’re purchasing futures contracts and attempting to predict (and profit from) global supply and demand trends. 

That means it’s important to stay up on what’s going on in the world. Supply chain disruptions, health scares, and natural disasters can have strong effects on the commodities markets. For example, the freezing weather in Texas caused oil refineries to go offline. The resulting production decline is expected to send gas prices soaring.

4. Buy Land and Vacant Lots

If you have the time to hold a relatively inexpensive investment, consider buying land and vacant lots. Most of these plots aren’t worth — and don’t cost — very much right now. But if you can identify an area with potential for high traffic in the future, your investment could yield a high return later. You’ll be sitting pretty when a company wants to develop the land that you now own. 

The search function on sites like Zillow and Trulia allows you to browse land all over the country. Further inquiry will help you determine whether the lots you find are a worthwhile investment option. When you calculate how much a vacant lot will cost, don’t forget to factor in recurring fees like annual property taxes. 

5. Hire a Robo-Advisor

If you’re a novice when it comes to stock market trading but want to learn more, hire a robo-advisor. Robo-advisors begin the process by asking you questions about your investment goals and how much risk you want to take on. 

Armed with this information, they invest your money, buying and selling stocks to diversify your portfolio as best they can. Most robo-advisors require a smaller amount of money up front to get started than brokerages do, so they’re perfect for beginning investors.

6. Rent Out Vacation Properties

No matter what happens in the country, people will always want to go on vacation. Naturally, those people will need places to stay. For your vacation rental to be a success, it’s more important to know about the local market than what’s going on nationwide. 

Is there a lot of activity in the area you’re considering? Are tourists coming back year after year? Or is outside development driving out restaurants and shops that are popular attractions? To profit from your investment, you’ll need to get the right answers to these questions.

If you can sacrifice a small percentage of your rental income, it can be helpful to hire a property manager. Property management companies have made owning vacation rental properties incredibly straightforward. No matter where you live, you’ll have peace of mind about your property’s maintenance, security, and ability to make you money.

7. Pounce on Domain Names

Have you ever thought of a really creative company name? Check and see whether it’s available on a domain name service like Squarespace or Namecheap. If it’s for sale, buy it. 

Someone else may think of that domain name in the future and need it for their business. That’s when you can sell them the name you’ve been sitting on for what you invested — plus some extra for your foresight.

8. Become a Peer-to-Peer Lender

Peer-to-peer loans are a relatively new method of financing, enabling individuals to apply for loans directly from other individuals. This removes financial institutions entirely from the equation. These types of loans are typically shorter than your average mortgage and carry less risk. They allow you to build an additional passive income stream without much work at all. 

As the financier, you collect interest payments each time the borrower pays down their loan. The only downside is that you can lose out on any remaining principal if the borrower defaults. That’s why it’s a good idea to conduct a thorough background check on anyone you’re loaning money to.

Trying alternative methods of investment can be a fun way to diversify your wealth building. Nontraditional investment ideas make you think differently and solve problems in a way you hadn’t before. That change in mindset can help inspire other ideas for investment projects. Just be sure to invest responsibly. 

If robo-advisors or vacant lots don’t spark your interest, then choose something else. Above all, consider each of these investment options as an opportunity to learn. Even if you don’t strike it rich, you’ll likely grow your knowledge of investments as a whole.