‘We wanted to find a way that average Aussies could assist flood, cyclone or fire victims in a non-financial but practical way’ says Nathon Irvin, cofounder of HelpOut.

HelpOut offers a unique online service aimed at making it easier for disaster affected communities to help themselves – in many simple but practical ways.

Through HelpOut, people wanting to help, have been making all sorts of practical offers of assistance during recent disasters.  Offers such as : pet minding, loan of a trailer, driving the kids to school, a home cooked meal for a family in need,  and even offers of temporary accommodation during the cleanup have been listed  recently. ‘We’ve been really touched by the response to the service, watching Australians opening up their hearts and their homes to people in need.’ Says Irvin.  Here are a few real life offers of assistance taken off  HelpOut:

I am 70 years of age so not able to do too much heavy physical work but happy to help in any other capacity needed – Vehicle for transportation, Washing, Making sandwiches, Buying groceries, Any computer work that needs doing, Take people out for morning tea/cuppa chat etc, Food hampers, weekend holiday service…

A place for small animals to stay while their owners get back on their feet but owners too. There is one spare room available right now for any flood business. (From a mother and daughter in Ipswich not affected by the floods.)

We are offering families who have been directly affected by the floods free child care for children aged two weeks to twelve years. We have a bus pick up service if you do not have your own transport. (from a registered Day Care Service)

On the other side of the equation, people needing help to rebuild after disaster damage can use HelpOut  to search on a map of their own local area for offers of assistance that most suit their needs. Here  are a couple of real life pleas for help :

I would like help to strip the inside plasterboard from my house. The house was inundated up to the ceiling, during the recent floods. The plasterboard needs to be taken off for the house to dry out before any work to fix can proceed

Land behind house has debris from flood inundation, too much for my father in law [nearly 80]to handle, and I am widowed and live in NSW. Council is providing a skip. Any help would be very much appreciated. Needs to be attended to asap as the grass is growing rapidly. Thankyou

‘At the end of the day, HelpOut brings disaster affected communities closer together by helping them to help themselves, and if we can assist in that process, I reckon we’ve done a good job’ says Irvin. ‘

In recognition of the value it provides, The Ipswich City Council recently linked to HelpOut through the flood assistance section of  their website. This raised the awareness of local residents and business owners about the HelpOut service, and as a result, many members of the Ipswich community have received the extra help that they needed

The HelpOut service is currently available Australia wide, but is of particular benefit to those living or working in or near disaster areas. Locals who aren’t directly affected, but who have the capacity, however small, to offer assistance are in the best position to help. HelpOut is completely free to use.

If you live near any areas that have been devastated by natural disasters, help is still needed and we invite people who can, to check the site for more ideas on how to HelpOut members of their local community who are still in need. HelpOut can be found via the SpaceOut website at: http://helpout.spaceout.com.au

So far towns on the New South Wales north coast have escaped flooding, but if rains that are currently battering SE QLD and Northern NSW continue, it seems likely that areas of northern NSW will also experience floods.

A practical way to support NSW Flood Victims

It is very encouraging to see the level of financial support being provided throughout Australia via the various Flood Relief Appeals. However, with expected  flooding in and around NSW, with many  residents and business owners facing weeks and possibly months of ongoing hardship, there are many members of the local communities who are willing to lend a helping hand, but are not quite sure how to go about it.

Financial donations are obviously best to be made to the Flood Appeal, however it is not usually possible to ensure that these types of donations make it back to the local communities.

Donations of goods and items raise logistical issues with collection and distribution, but there are still plenty of things  members of the NSW communities are able to offer on a more practical and hands on level.  The problem is really how to match up the people wanting to help, with those who need the help.

HelpOut offers a simple way for Local Communities to help themselves

With the goal of making it easier for flood affected communities to help themselves, we have created a Free online service called HelpOut.  This service is aimed primarily at people living and working in their local community.

The types of offers of help that we anticipate will be placed on HelpOut are not just items or goods, but also offers of other practical and “hands on” support such as :

• Looking after a pet until the owner gets settled
• Washing and drying a load of washing
• Popping round (or an invitation over) for a home cooked meal
• Hosting a DVD night with popcorn to help things get back to normal
• Lending a car or trailer for a day or two
• etc..

In a nutshell HelpOut works like this :

• People wanting to Help can easily create a Free listing on HelpOut which explains how (and where) they can help.

• People needing a hand simply search in their local area to see who might be able to assist them.  If there is nothing currently listed that matches their needs, they can create  a Help wanted listing (for Free) outlining what type of items or service they need.

• Listings can include contact details, or if people prefer to keep their contact details private they can use our internal (anonymous) message system until they are ready to exchange contact details.

HelpOut has only recently been launched and so far, has relatively few entries, but we expect this to grow quickly, and for HelpOut to be most effective,  the people living and working in or near flood affected areas need to be made aware of this service.  One of the best ways you can help  those people who have been directly affected by the floods and need a hand, and those who have not sufferer so badly, but are willing and able to offer assistance, is to let them know about this service.

We would appreciate if you could take a look at HelpOut at http://helpout.spaceout.com.au and if you think that it could be of benefit to your local community, please spread the word by telling people about it, and forwarding on post to your friends, colleagues and contacts in and around flood affected areas.

We’ve also created a Help for Flood Victims flyer which you may like to print off, and post up in your workplace or around your local community.

A natural first reaction for most people, is to think about the types of things that flood victims might need, then consider what things they themselves have (and could do without), and then wonder how they should go about getting their stuff to the places they are really needed.

Undoubtedly many of these donated items would be useful, but unfortunately, even though it may initially seem to be a great idea, the donation of  items or goods, is rarely a practical solution.  Unless you are located in or very near to the flood affected areas, the costs associated with receiving, storing, transporting and distributed donated items are very high, and typically it could end up costing significantly more to pass on donated items than it would to provide new items  purchased in the local community.

When to make Financial Donations

Unless you live in or near affected communities, the best way you can help is very likely going to be to make a financial donation to the Disaster Relief Appeal.  This fund is managed by the Red Cross and used to help fund the most appropriate support in the areas where it is needed most.

When to Offer Items / Services

Floods have an impact on entire communities, however , many people (living or working on higher ground) may not be directly affected, and would LOVE to be able to help, but are not sure how.

HelpOut is an online service aimed directly at people living or working in or near to flood affected  areas who are wanting to help, and also those needing help.  If you are part of a local community, and are living or working in or very near a flood affected area, then with HelpOut, the donation of items, goods or services could become a viable options.

HelpOut allows people to list the types of items or services that they can help out with, in the specific area or community that they are able to assist.

If you need help, or could do with a helping hand, you can also create a Help Wanted listing – which specific what you need, and where you are located.

Note: HelpOut is not able to coordinate or be involved directly with individual offers or requests for Help or assistance, the service simply allows people offering help to get in touch with those needing help  – and let them sort out the details between them.

What types of things could I offer?

There are many many thing that could be assistance to the Qld flood victims – many communities have been devastated and some have lost everything, so pretty much anything which might help them get started on the road back to a normal life could be of benefit.  It’s not only goods and items that are of help though.  offers of a helping hand, a bit of a break, or even a shoulder to cry on can help a lot.  Often very simple things can make a big difference as it reminds the flood victims that they are not alone, people really do care, and that their lives will return to normal even if it takes time.

Outline below are a few suggestions for simple, but practical, hands on thing that you may not have considered, but if you have any other ideas, please feel free to leave a comment below.

• looking after a pet or caring for livestock
• offering a home cooked meal
• washing and drying a load of laundry
• inviting them around for a DVD and popcorn (a taste of normality)
• and many more..

Help by Spreading the Word

Even if you live elsewhere in Australia, you can help spread the word about HelpOut – particularly if you know someone or have contacts in those parts of Queensland that are being affected by flood.   If you let people within these local communities know about the HelpOut service they may be able to create their own listings.

Also, clearly people who have been affected by the floods are likely to have little or no access to the internet.  If you have friends or family who are suffering form the flood, and have some specific needs, you could consider creating a listing on their behalf – outlining what they need a hand with (make sure that you specify their location though – not your own).

This Christmas, instead of traditional “Consumption”, why not have a think about sharing (and maybe even save money or make some extra cash in the process).

Australians, with their ingrained sense of mateship  have always been pretty good at sharing, but the internet is now making it much easier to share. Advances in technology mean trading, sharing, swapping and recycling is on the increase online and it is primarily the Gen Y’s and Millenniums driving this. Baby boomers are also increasingly seeing the environmental and financial benefits of sharing things as retirement looms.

It is estimated every year Aussies buy $10 billion worth or items they will never use. Those items waste money, take up space and destroy the environment.

‘Hyper-consumption’ is what has been driving world economies but the bubble is bursting. People are starting to review their values, and are ‘smarting up’ to the  unsustainable parts of modern life – enter ‘Collaborative Consumption’.

Collaborative Consumption is a term that we will be hearing a lot more about. There are a growing number of online services that allow Collaborative Consumption to thrive and for some amazing examples of how we can save money, space, the environment, and even make some cash on the side, take a look at :

• Freecycle – a worldwide  movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns.
• 99 Dressses – an infinite wardrobe of fashion
• Zopa – Where people meet to lend or borrow money
• Etsy – Buy and Sell handmade Products
• SpaceOut – Rent Out your Unused Space

A new book entitled “What is mine is yours” (Rachel Botsman – Author)  describes the rapid explosion in traditional sharing (see http://www.collaborativeconsumption.com). The book describes the  rapid explosion in swapping, sharing, bartering, trading and renting being reinvented through the latest technologies and peer-to-peer marketplaces in ways and on a scale never possible before.

But collaborative consumption is not limited to “stuff” there are plenty of other things that can be shared.

With  53,000 self storage units in the USA alone (more than McDonalds and Starbucks combined), and over 1,000 in Australia, the need  for storage space is an increasing. The concept of sharing space by renting out private spare or unused space is a relatively new concept.  Property owners are becoming aware that by renting out an unused garage or driveway for parking, or a spare garden shed or bedroom for storage, they can generate extra income.

Online services like SpaceOut (www.spaceout.com.au) (which caters for a variety of different types of space rentals, including parking, storage, office space and even rural spaces for rent,  make it easy for owners with spare or unused space, to advertise, and put them in touch with people in their own area wanting to rent a space.

Whilst modern societies attitude to “Consumerism” seems unlikely to change in a hurry, it is refreshing to see that alternatives such as Collaborative Consumption are increasingly being considered as serious options.

Australian house prices in capital cities fell 0.2 per cent in August, with analysts predicting a similar level of decline in the months to come. Taking into account the increase in official cash rates announced today, and a string of interest rate rises looming, this is bad news for Australian home owners.

House Prices Down

As reported by The Australian , the latest seasonally adjusted figures from the RP Data-Rismark Hedonic Home Value Index were released yesterday and showed capital city property prices fell 1.2 per cent for the three months to August 2010. This latest fall in Australian property values takes the country’s median home price in major cities to $457,000.

House prices in state capitals fell 0.5 per cent in August, with the hardest hit major city being Perth, where residential property prices lost 4.8 per cent to $460,000 in value for the quarter.

Interest Rates Up

Despite the Reserve Bank of Australia (so far) resisting the temptation to  increase the official cash rate,  they have again warned that rates will need to rise soon to keep inflation in check.  So it is only a matter of time before rates rise, and it is anticipated that this will have a direct and immediate impact on variable mortgage rates, with banks expected to announce increases to their mortgage rates. Analysts believe the banks are preparing to add a further 0.15 percentage points to their mortgage rates (even without an RBA increase).

Space Rental as an Alternative ?

Australian Home Owners and Investors, are looking for other, smarter ways to improve the return on their residential property investments.

For decades, in times of financial need, home owners have rented out a spare room or property to boarders or tenants.  However, the prospect of sharing the home with a “stranger” is daunting, and many who have tried it have had bad experiences that they are not keen to repeat.

Recently, another option for property owners to generate additional income from their investment has emerged.  Property owners with some spare or unused space (a spare room., and empty shed/garage, or even an unused driveway), are now able to rent out that space to earn 100s of extra dollars a month.

The idea of renting out spare or unused space for other purposes is a relatively new concept.  Property owners are becoming aware that by renting out an unused garage or driveway for parking, or a spare garden shed or bedroom for storage, they can still generate an extra income, without the hassles of someone living in their space.

Online services such as FindaCarpark (which specialises in Parking spaces) and SpaceOut (which caters for a variety of different space rentals, including parking, storage, and even rural spaces for rent) make it easy for owners with space for rent, to advertise, and put them in touch with people in their own area looking for space.

These types of web based services are not usually free and there is typically a small listing fee (Findacarpark costs $15 and SpaceOut is currently just $6 to get started), but surely the potential to earn hundreds of dollars extra a month, for a space you are not using is worth giving it a go.

To find out more about how you can capitalise on making an extra income from your spare space,  see www.findacarpark.com.au or www.spaceout.com.au – or do a Google search for “Rent Space Australia“

SpaceOut was featured in one of the cover articles from the September 2010 edition of Money Magazine  – An Extra $200 a month renting out spare space.

The Money Magazine “Smart Money” article outlines some of the many benefits of renting out your spare  space and Quotes our Technical Director (Andy Henderson) :

“Almost everyone has unused space around their home,apartment, or business – whether that’s your garage, your parking spot, your shed, a spare room or even your fridge – you’ll find there is someone out there willing to pay you to use it.”

Private rentals are increasingly becoming recognised as real alternatives to traditional self-storage facilities – and are often much more convenient, and significantly cheaper as well.  Using online services such as www. SpaceOut.com.au, ordinary Australians can lease out their excess or unused space privately and make a little extra cash on the side.

“Many of us have got a spare bedroom or shed. More often than not it’s half-filled with our own junk,  Why not do a reshuffle and rent it out?”

Private storage suits all types of people – particularly retirees and “empty nesters”,  who wouldn’t dream of  getting in a tenant (and sharing their house and lives with someone), but are very happy to store someones furniture in the spare room for a few months or more while the person is off travelling.

“Typically you are looking at between $100 and $200 a month for doing little more than putting stuff in a room and shutting the door”

If you’d like to read more about how you can make money from space, and turn your unused bedroom, shed or garage into an extra regular income, get out today and get your own copy of Money Magazine – September 2010.

The recently released Melbourne City Council budget has announced plans to extend the period of paid meter parking in the Melbourne CBD.  The council expects to raise additional revenue by extending the paid on-street parking hours in the city from the present 7.30am to 7.30pm to 7.30am to midnight.

Diners, revellers, shoppers and sports fans will will be asked to pay a flat rate of $4 from 7.30pm. The new charge, is expected to raise an extra $1.9 million, pushing the annual parking fee revenue to more than $38 million.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said that motorists should “factor in” the fee to their expenses, and also noted the $4 charge – applied to 3000 metered spots across the CBD – remained a much cheaper option than the city’s 30,000 private parking spaces.

Some CBD traders have expressed concerns that the increased parking fees will discourage people from travelling into the city.

SpaceOut provides a service for people looking for parking (or wanting to rent out their unused parking space) to find cheap and convenient Parking Spaces  for Rent in Melbourne.

• It’s great, good communications system protecting privacy
• great idea
• Need a place for person who is renting out the space to put their phone number, so someone can contact them!!!
  A phone number can be included in the description if you wish, but the message system allows people to contact you – and ensures your privacy until you are ready to exchange contact details
• What a great idea! Haven’t found what I need yet, but have more clues now.
• Excellent web site and the simplicity of working it.
• Great idea,maybe more car park owners+renters would respond.
• Would be nice if I could get a permalink to a listing to share outside the site.
  Permalinks have now been added to the popup listing details page
• This is an easy site to negotiate and set-out is clear and has the necessary info in a great format
  very easy to use
• pictures of the spaces could be useful as well as a little more info about the space for rent
  We encourage owners to provide detailed space descriptions (the better and clearer the information the easier it usually is to rent out the space).  We plan to allow owners to include photos  in their listings in a future upgrade
• Requires some more properties – Presumably project is in the early growth stages, so understandably not much to see at this stage. …Still good!
  Yup… the number of listings vary from time to time, but we are working hard at raising awareness of the  service
• Fantastic site, I would recommend this site to anyone who has spare space to let, couldn’t get any better!
• A handy site for me to do a quick search of parking stations in the inner city. Very useful.
• Easy to get location and phone number
• Why isn’t this so well known … Perhaps more advertising?
• very good idea!
• Site is great if you live in the cities. I’m in rural Qld and had to type in each place I could think of locally. Maybe a list of areas that have current “”space”" could be added.
  informative
  We do provide a list of  hot listings and also show the latest space listings (by state) and the most  popular suburbs, but listings tend to come and go, so at any one time there may not be any listings in a particular area – this is why we encourage people to create a Space Wanted Listing if they are looking for a particular type of space in a particular area.
• the concept is great . a good extra income in these hard times
• Very Much needed
• great idea only thing now is to see if it works if it does we might offer some space when we get our place

If you have any suggestions, comments, concerns, criticisms or compliments about SpaceOut please make sure that you contact us.

What is Co-working Space?

Co-working space, is essentially a shared office environment where professionals and freelancers (often, but not always, in related industries) work together in the same space, swap ideas and resources, enjoy social interaction, and all at a price that is generally much more affordable that the alternatives.

The co-working concept has proved to be particularly appealing for creative based professionals, such as web and graphic designers, PR consultants, copy writers, and marketing freelancers.

Co-working is ideal for freelancers and self-employed who have found that the realities of working from home aren’t quite what they had expected. Home based workers can face issues such as isolation, lack of networking and fewer opportunities for collaboration. It can also be very difficult for solo workers to find office space for just one person at a price they can afford, while traditional serviced office facilities may be too expensive and impersonal.

One significant advantage of co-working over traditional office space lease arrangements is that a long-term commercial lease or full-serviced office rental arrangements are not normally required, so the shared office space may be available for as long (or short) as you need.

Co-working in the USA

Co-working is alive and well in the US, with a variety of different shared spaces available – including the well known co-working spaces Citizen Space and the Hat Factory in San Francisco and various other shared office services in other US cities. Co-working in the US has been described as “offering a techie twist on the age-old practice of artists or writers teaming up to rent studio space“.

Co-working catches on in Australia

Co-working is now also catching on in Australia.  As a direct result of a growing demand from self-employed creatives and freelancers to have an affordable workspace away from home, spaces are opening in many capitals, including Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane.

Some shared office spaces, like Melbourne co-working space OpenHub (www.openhub.com.au), were started by companies looking to share the cost of office space.  OpenHub offers a variety of different services – from a one off use of a meeting room (@$120) to a Full-time dedicated desk space (@$600).  OpenHub even offer a Free service for Co-workers associated with charity based projects.

Water Street Studio (www.waterstreetstudio.com.au) in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, provides desk space in an airconditioned office, with internet, electricity and access to a meeting room / boardroom included. They offer shared office space from just $150 per week  for a minimum 3 month term, with no bond or formal lease required.

Shared Office Listings

Online services such as SpaceOut (www.spaceout.com.au) also provide information about office space for rent, and regularly have listings for shared office space in many areas throughout Australia.

Whether you are searching for shared office space or would like to make a little extra income by renting out your spare office space , the co-working concept seems destined to be a trend that will continue to grow.

Over the last few years Councils across Australia have been attempting to minimise traffic congestion by reducing the number of car parking spaces available in new developments.  As the number of parking spaces is dropping, the value of these spaces is soaring.  Car parking spaces in Sydney, once worth $5000 to $10,000, are now regularly selling for between $40,000 and $140,000 each.

Brisbane City Council has also tightened rules to reduce parking in buildings over recent years, and the number of available carpark spaces had been reduced by 50 per cent.

Business owners with spare parking spaces, and owners of inner city units without a car, have been using services like SpaceOut (www.spaceout.com.au) to rent out their unused parking spaces and cash in on council policy changes.

There is currently a proposal put forward by the City of Melbourne (which is yet to be approved), limiting a single car park space per dwelling for new developments at inner-suburban Carlton and Southbank, and in parts of the northwest and east of the city.

As inner city parking becomes increasingly scarce across CBDs throughout Australia, there will be more and more opportunities for the owners of Private and Business parking spaces to make some extra cash, by renting their unused space out.  Conversely, as the price of inner city parking fees increase there are fabulous opportunities for people looking for a parking space to make great savings by searching for cheap parking on SpaceOut.