By connecting your real estate investing and other business activities, you get profit possibilities and ways to lower your costs that other investors don't have. Of course, you need to have other businesses to do this. If you don't already, that might be something worth pursuing, as you'll understand from the following examples.



I knew the owner of an asphalt company who also invested in small rental homes, primarily mobile homes that came with real estate. I often knew when he had bought another property in the area, because his crew would be out there laying an asphalt driveway where there had only been dirt or gravel. I later learned that it was often the leftover asphalt from some larger job.

These were the lowest-priced rental properties in the area, at the time (10 years ago) selling for as little as $16,000. However, this investor had found that he could always rent the places more easily - and probably for more - if they had a an asphalt driveway instead of dirt. He also raised the value of the property by at least $2,000.

His cost? Maybe a few hundred dollars. He was often using leftover asphalt and had only one primary expense, that of paying his employees for the few hours the job takes. This is a great example of how to tie two businesses together. Perhaps he even sought out properties with dirt driveways specifically, because he could predictably add a couple thousand dollars in value for the cost of a couple hundred dollars.

Other Real Estate Business Tie-Ins

There are many other businesses that you could tie into your real estate investing. I knew another landlord who had 50 low income rental units scattered throughout the area. Again, she was investing mostly in mobile homes on land. As I found out with my own rentals, it is amazing how much tenants leave behind when they move or are evicted. So much, in fact, that this woman started a used furniture store stocked primarily with the "leftovers" from her rental units.

She didn't stop there, however. She already had to manage 50 units, so she started a property management company to handle other investors rentals as well. She already had an office at this point, so there was little additional start-up cost for such a company. After having to move or remove a mobile home or two, she realized how much more cheaply it could be done if she owned the truck, so she bought one and started a mobile home moving business as well.

What other businesses can you tie into your real estate investing?

If you have a general construction contracting business you are in a perfect position to look at fixer-uppers. You will be able to more accurately estimate the costs. You will also be able to get the job done for less. This gives you a real advantage over other investors.

If you have a business in any of the building or related trades, you can tie that into your investing. If you have a landscape company, you can look for properties that would benefit greatly from new landscaping - making them more valuable while generating business for your company. If you have a roofing business, you can spot the cheaper solutions for properties which have roof problems that are scaring away other investors.

I get to write about any real estate investments I make on my web sites, and so generate extra income from them. Obviously there are a lot of ways to tie various businesses into real estate investing.