So you’re driving down the road and you see an abandoned billboard – either some barren poles or some weathered plywood with no ad on it. Believe it or not, that rotting sign might pay your utilities for the rest of your life. What am I talking about?
How much money there is to be made with any old billboard
Let’s assume that you find an old, abandoned sign along a country highway. You can probably find an advertiser for that sign who will pay around $3,000 per year for the ad space. After subtracting ground rent, repair and maintenance and insurance – and assuming the advertiser pays for the vinyl and cost of installation – that’s a profit of around 70 cents on the dollar. You’re now making around $2,000 per year if it’s a one-sided sign, or twice that if it’s two-sided.
How it works
You will need to take control of the sign by either 1) buying it from the original owner who abandoned it 2) buying it from the property owner who claims ownership as abandoned property. You also need to make sure that the permit is intact. Then you have to sign up a new ground lease with the property owner. At that point, you’re pretty much ready to start renting the advertising space.
Bringing the old sign back to life
Most of these type of signs are of the wooden telephone pole variety. Thankfully these are among the easiest to bring back to life. All you have to do is to replace the wooden plywood “face” of the sign and you are typically ready to install the vinyl. Make sure you follow the rules on safety equipment. And if the sign has light fixtures, you’ll have to price in getting those up to speed, as well. In most cases, you can get these old signs back in usable condition for a couple thousand dollars or so.
Why these opportunities exist
Now you might ask, “why can you find these opportunities today?” The answer is simple: virtually nobody even knows what the “billboard business” even is. It’s easily the least-known sector of American real estate. And it’s been that way for almost a century. This lack of competition is what creates opportunity with billboards. As far as why someone would abandon a sign, it normally boils down to 1) the sign company went out of business years ago 2) the sign company got in a disagreement with the property owner back in the day 3) the business that advertised on the sign went broke.
Conclusion
Want to make some quick money? Build a lifetime of income? Replace your day job? Finance your kids’ college education? The answer to what you’re looking for may be that old abandoned sign you just drove by.
