Most people don’t think of their house as a revenue source beyond the usual options. Renting a spare room, listing it on a short-term rental platform, maybe converting the garage into something usable. But there’s a less obvious way to make money from your home that a lot of homeowners don’t consider: renting it out to a film production. It’s more common than you’d expect, and the payouts are surprisingly good. Depending on where you live and the size of the production, homeowners in major metro areas can pull in anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000 a day, according to location marketplace data, sometimes more. That’s not a typo. Rates vary by market, production size, and property type, so smaller regional shoots may pay less.
And you don’t need a mansion in the hills to qualify. Location scouts are looking for all kinds of properties. A mid-century suburban bungalow might be exactly what a period drama needs. A modern apartment with clean lines could work for a commercial. Even a slightly worn farmhouse can be gold for the right indie project. FilmLA, the nonprofit film office for the greater Los Angeles area, notes that productions look for properties with spacious layouts, good natural light, and parking availability, but also point out that willing homeowners with realistic expectations are just as valuable as the property itself.
What Actually Happens When a Crew Shows Up
Here’s the part that surprises people the most: production crews don’t just walk in with a camera and start shooting. A film set requires truckloads of equipment, lighting rigs, props, wardrobe, catering setups, and sometimes entire pieces of furniture that get swapped in and out depending on the scene. The logistics of film crew moving are their own category of work. Professional movers who handle production equipment treat it very differently from a standard household move. Everything is time-sensitive, sometimes fragile, and often needs to be set up in a specific order so the crew can start working the moment they arrive. Productions often rely on professional moving teams experienced in time-sensitive equipment transport to coordinate load-in and load-out without disrupting tight shooting schedules. That kind of organized staging and breakdown is a skill set most standard movers don’t have.
For the homeowner, this means your house is going to look and feel like a construction site for a few hours before it starts looking like a movie set. Cables get taped along baseboards. Furniture gets shifted or removed entirely. Someone will probably put tape marks on your hardwood floors. It’s organized chaos, but it is organized. The crew has done this hundreds of times, even if you haven’t.
How to Prep Your Home Before the Scout Arrives
Before any filming happens, a location scout visits your home to take photos and measurements. They’re looking at room sizes, sight lines, electrical capacity, and how much natural light the space gets throughout the day. They’re also checking for potential problems: noisy neighbors, low ceilings that won’t accommodate lighting rigs, or driveways too small for equipment trucks.
You don’t need to renovate before a scout comes by. But some basic prep goes a long way. Declutter surfaces so the scout can see the bones of the space. Fix anything that’s obviously broken: a sagging shelf, a dented wall, a faucet that leaks. These things might not matter to you in daily life, but on camera they can be distracting, and a scout will notice.
Curb appeal matters too. Productions often need exterior shots, and a tidy yard with a clear walkway photographs better than an overgrown one. You’re not trying to stage the house like a real estate listing. You’re trying to show that the space is flexible and well-maintained.
Protecting Your Home During Production
This is the part most homeowners worry about, and it’s a fair concern. A crew of 20 to 50 people will be moving through your home for anywhere from one day to a couple of weeks. Things can get scuffed, scratched, or shifted. The good news is that professional productions carry liability insurance, and most contracts require the company to return your home to its original condition. Industry guides from Backstage note that standard union productions are required to abide by specific regulations regarding property care, which gives homeowners a baseline of protection.
Still, some practical steps are on you. Store anything irreplaceable, like family heirlooms, fragile artwork, or personal documents, before the crew arrives. Walk through every room with your phone and record a video of the condition of walls, floors, fixtures, and furniture. This gives you a clear before-and-after reference if something needs to be addressed once filming wraps. Most contracts give you a window, usually around five days, to report any damage and submit receipts for repairs.
The Money Side of It
A common rule of thumb in major production markets is that your daily rate roughly equals your monthly mortgage payment. So if your mortgage runs $2,500 a month, that’s roughly what you’d charge per filming day. Some homeowners negotiate higher depending on the production budget, the size of the crew, or the number of rooms being used. Multi-day shoots can add up fast.
Keep in mind that the rental fee gets taxed as income. If the production also covers your accommodation while they’re using the house, that portion is typically handled separately and may not count as taxable income the same way. Talk to an accountant before your first rental. It’s not complicated, but it’s worth doing right from the start so there aren’t surprises in April.
Not Every Home Gets Picked, and That’s Fine
Location scouts are picky. They have to be. A house might be beautiful but face the wrong direction for afternoon light. Or the street might be too noisy. Or the layout doesn’t match the script’s description. Getting passed over doesn’t mean your home isn’t attractive. It just means it wasn’t right for that particular project.
The homeowners who do well with this tend to list their properties on platforms that connect them with production teams, stay flexible with scheduling, and treat the whole thing like a business arrangement rather than a personal favor. One good experience with a professional crew often leads to referrals, and repeat bookings can turn a one-time experiment into a steady side income that your house earns while you’re out grabbing coffee.