Instead of buying a commercial property though, renting office space is increasingly becoming the solution of choice for many small businesses.  Leasing  office space can be great option for many different reasons.  We’ve collated a list of 5 advantages renting office space has over buying :

1. Flexible – Renting office space allows greater flexibility and doesn’t usually commit you to long term decisions. If you are uncertain of the future growth of your business choosing to buy office space can be a very scary prospect. Short to medium term leasing arrangements allow you to could choose a space that meets your current needs and provides greater flexibility to expand (or reduce) your space needs in the future.
2. Try it Out – choosing to rent office space – particularly for a new business, or in a new area – allows you to “test the water” and check to see how the business performs in that particular area or environment. If things don’t happen to work out as expected it’s generally a good deal easier to break a lease than it is to sell a property.
3. Mobility – Choosing to rent an office space means that you are more mobile. You will not be tied down to a particular location and will find it a good deal easier to move premises if and when you choose.
4. Cost – Renting Office space is almost certainly going to be significantly cheaper than buying it.  You will also not have the responsibilities of all the other expenses associated with owning a property.  Property maintenance can add a significant overheads for property owners, whereas if you are renting the space this will be the landlords responsibility.
5. Responsibility – Running a business is tough enough without having to worry about all the extra issues associated with property ownership.  Renting your space means you can focus on running your business.

The primary aim of any business is to get a reasonable return on their investment – with as little as possible cost, or effort.  Small business owners in particular often struggle with the logistics of the day to day management of their business. Renting office space instead of buying it is a cheaper, safer, simpler, and more flexible option for most businesses.

Whether  you are looking for office space to rent, or are interested in renting out surplus space in your commercial premises, SpaceOut can help you make the choice easier.

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.

Shed a nice little earner

Empty driveways, garages and sheds around Perth are being turned into cash cows.

Scores of people are pocketing up to $500 a month by renting out empty space they think could be useful to someone else.

SpaceOut.com.au is a website the matches “SpaceOwners” with “SpaceSeekers”.

Founder Damon Russell said. “When home and business owners realise that their unused space could be earning them a regular rental income with little or no effort, it is a real no-brainer”

Bayswater resident Carol Marshall is hoping to make some extra cash out of her back shed. She is asking #90 a week to rent it.

Mr Russell said the idea cam to him when he needed somewhere to store his belongings while he went overseas.

Data released yesterday by Commsec shows that over the last 20 years, the average size of a home in Australia has increased by more than 30%.

The houses are emptier too, with the number of people in each home gradually declining over the last 100 years because of a trend towards smaller families.  This trend has only just started to change, with the number of people to a dwelling rising slightly last year – the first time it has done so in over a century.

However, with the increase in house sizes, there appears to be a corresponding increase  in rental costs.  A report from BIS Shrapnel has  also forecast that rents are expected to spiral – with increased rents of 5% a year in most capital cities over the next few years.

So, if you (like many Aussies apparently) are living in a large home  and have more space than you know what to do with, now is a prime opportunity to cash in on it.  You can convert that empty,  unused, or spare  space into a regular extra income – simply advertise your space for rent, make some extra cash, and provide an opportunity for someone else in your community to save money on storage costs.

The new nation-wide survey reveals some shocking results, with the most expensive storage facilities (in Sydney) charging more than $800 a month for a single garage sized space.

The new survey data – just released on SpaceOut.com.au – shows not only a  huge price gap between city and country areas, but also massive variations between capital cities.  Even within the same city, storage prices in adjacent suburbs (and in some cases the same suburb) can also vary significantly.

More than 700 self storage facilities throughout Australia were surveyed, and asked to provide prices for some of the most popular storage sizes – small (3×3 m), medium (3×5 m) and large (3 x 8m) storage units as well as outside storage/parking for cars and boats.

The most expensive place to rent storage space in the nation is Sydney where you can pay over $800 a month for a regular single-car garage sized space!  This is followed by Melbourne at over $600, and Brisbane at $500 plus.

Not surprisingly, the survey also revealed a significant price discrepancy between city and country storage costs – with country storage units costing around 40-70% of their capital city counterparts.  The cheapest places to store your car or boat were Tasmania, and country regions of SA, WA and Victoria.

Another interesting statistic highlighted by the study, shows that independently owned self storage facilities tend to be priced around 25% lower than self storage facility chains.  The national average for large chains for a 3×7 metre storage unit is $389 a month and the same space from independent facilities averages  just $273 per month.

This survey was commissioned by SpaceOut on behalf of its members – to assist them in setting private storage prices.   Based on these survey results, it is no wonder that people looking for storage space are turning to alternate space rental services such as SpaceOut – which provides an online service where  home and business owners can rent out their unused space to those looking for storage at more affordable rates.

You can find a summary of the Australian Self Storage Price Survey (2009) along with a breakdown (state by state) of the survey results at www.spaceout.com.au

The story covered a range of opportunities to make money out of your home.

• House Swap – If you’re planning a holiday, you don’t have to necessarily pay out of your own  pockets for accommodation.  You could save money on accommodation and car hire as well by doing a house swap. For more information visit: www.aussiehouseswap.com.au or www.homelink.com.au

• Make Your House a Star – You could earn up to $5,000 a day by renting your house out for filming of television commercials, series or film production.

• Renovate and Reap the Rewards – Effie Zahos from Money Magazine says investing in some construction work on your house can make the value soar. “Dropping in $5,000 to tart up your place could actually get you around $25,000 return,” she says.

and of course

• Rent Out Your Space – Rent out unused space in your home or business (or even farm) and turn it into cash – making money from nothing has never been so easy.  You can Register for free and Create your own Listing right now.

And here is a copy of the clip so you can take a look yourself :

This is a question that we get asked a lot – many people just can’t believe that the service is Completely Free and seem to spend a good deal of time trying to work out what “the catch” is.

Well, Good News – the short answer is :  Yes,  SpaceOut IS Completely Free – There is no cost to join up as a member, no cost to create your Listing, no cost to send messages to/from members using the SpaceOut message system, and we don’t take any sort of commission whether or not you find or rent out a space via SpaceOut (we have nothing to do with the agreement or payments between Owners and Seekers).

And the Long Answer ? -  SpaceOut is free – at the moment.  Whilst we do not currently charge anything at all, this may change at some stage in the future – but if/when it does, it will not affect any existing listings, which will continue be free at least until they expire.

Although we have had lots of fun getting SpaceOut up and running, it is essentially a business, so we will need to ultimately generate some income to cover  costs (and perhaps even make a profit down the line).  We have a number of ideas about how this may be achieved – not all of which necessarily involve charging members for listings.

Currently we have no firm plans  if or when fees may be applied, but we expect to be able to give existing members plenty of notice if  this happens.  So if you’d like to take advantage of our completely free service – NOW is the best time for you to create your listing.

We sometimes get asked about how members can make their listings easier to find, or more visible in Search Engines.

We have put quite a bit of effort into optimising the site, so that ALL listings can easily be found and indexed by search engines.  We already achieve excellent rankings for specific (town/suburb) based search queries, but the more listings we have in an area, the more likely it is for those listings to be found via google searches.

In short, the more popular SpaceOut becomes, the more listings we get, and the easier it is for people who don’t already know about SpaceOut to find us (and your listing) on the search engines.

The best thing you could do to help your own listing be found, is to tell as many people as you can about SpaceOut and get them to create their own listings.  You could do this via our Tell a Friend page, or simply copy and paste the following text – and email it out to people you know (substituting in your own details for the ones highlighted in red below):

Hi,

This is just a quick email to let you know that I am currently looking for someone who may be interested in renting out a storage space in Brisbane.  I have recently created a listing on www.SpaceOut.com.au  – To find the details,  go to www.spaceout.com.au/search-for-space/Brisbane-QLD

I’d much rather deal with someone I know, so if you (or someone you know) might be interested, please pass on the link above and have them contact me directly or via the SpaceOut website.

We have found that this can be a VERY effective way for you to spread the word about your space, and you might even be able to help out one of your mates in the process.  If you’ve any other, hints, tips or suggestions about promoting your listing – please feel free to add a comment.

From time to time we include “Featured Space Listings” in this blog.  So if  there is something a little unusual or special about your space – or what you are wanting to use a space for, please let us know. Tell us your story, and maybe send us a photo or two, and we may even be able to do a feature on your own Space for Rent or Space Wanted listing.

Are you looking for a highly professional, well presented space that gives your creativity room to breathe?  Then welcome to 19 Eastment St, Northcote, Melbourne.

Mono Design is a Melbourne-based graphic design and copywriting studio that has been running since 1996, and have operated out of their Northcote studio since 2004.

Avalaible for Rent Now !!

The space for rent is  a shared creative office / studio space which is available  right now.   On a practical level this fully renovated, open plan studio in downtown Northcote will provide you with:

• a large desk to call your own
• fully networked environment including ADSL 2
• plenty of storage
• well appointed meeting room
• kitchen
• a large upstairs communal space
• price includes all bills except phone

On a personal level you will be sharing with a friendly bunch of people including a graphic designer, a web designer, an architect and a copywriter.  The upstairs space is also head office to Illustrators Australia. The space is doggy friendly – with guest appearances from Apache the dalmatian and Poppy the beagle from time to time.

Ruth from Mono Design had this to say about Spaceout : Wow! You are so responsive and have way exceeded any expectations I had . It really is rare to get such good customer service … Much appreciated.

Take a look at their listing and get in touch if you are interested in finding out more about renting their space.

If you would like your listing featured here, please contact us, and we will let you know how.

Owners of the 66 apartments in the Verve development will be offered an options of buying or renting on-site storage units – which will be located underground beneath the carpark.  The concept has drawn interest from baby boomers looking at downsizing their existing properties, but concerned about the more limited storage that is typically available in an apartment.

Owners may also be offered free storage for a period after their move – while they get settled and work out exactky what they need (and what they don’t).

Rental Prices for these storage lockers has not been determined, with work on the $40 Million development expected to start later this year.