Yahoo Finance Easy side hustle earning Zofia $1,992 per year: 'Free money'
Aussies are looking for new ways to make money as the cost of living bites.
Zofia Hilton has been renting out the carpark at her South Yarra apartment for the past three years and uses the extra cash to help cover her rent.
“I don’t have a car because I’m in a good location where I don’t need one and I’m close to trams. I thought the space is just sitting there and I could be making money out of it,” Zofia told Yahoo Finance.
The Melbourne local is currently making $166 per month - or $1,992 per year - renting out her parking space on Spacer and has been renting it to the same person since the pandemic.
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“The beauty of Spacer is they are a go-between. It’s all done through them and that takes all the worry off my hands,” she said.
Zofia said anyone could make money out of their unused space - whether that be their home, garage or parking space.
“It’s free money, literally. You are sitting on an unused asset and you can generate money from it - whether that’s pocket money or grocery money,” she said.
More Aussies renting out their space
More Aussies are looking to rent out their spare space as the cost of living soars. According to Spacer, there are more than 30,000 storage and parking spaces listed on its platform - up 30 per cent year-on-year.
The trend has also been seen by Spacer’s sister company Parkhound, which has reported a 44 per cent increase in listings - more than 50,000.
“It’s a good way to make a bit of extra income on the side if you’ve got a bit of space in the garage or you’ve got a lock-up unit that you are not using,” Spacer COO Simon Griffin told Yahoo Finance.
On the other side, there’s also been an uptick in people wanting to hire out spare spaces.
“That’s partly driven by people looking for a lower-cost alternative than using a mainstream carpark or mainstream storage operator,” Griffin said.
“Anecdotally, some of it is people moving into smaller apartments if they are renting to save money and they have extra stuff they need to store somewhere.”
Tips for renting out your space
For those thinking of renting out their space, Griffin offered the follow tips:
Take good-quality photos - take lots of photos with good lighting. It can also be helpful to put an object in the photo as reference for size
Give clear measurements - make sure to provide the space’s height and width. This is particularly important for parking
Add features - over-describe the space and its features, including security cameras, access and local transport
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