Traditionally January is the busiest time of the year for Self Storage.  Many people tend to spend time over Christmas tidying, sorting and preparing for the year ahead – so if YOU have a spare room, garage, shed, parking spot, office, hall, backyard, or even a paddock or barn that you are not using – it may be of use to someone else – and NOW is a perfect opportunity to turn it into some extra ongoing income.

As a special Christmas/New Year offer to SpaceOut members and visitors, we are giving you the chance to try out SpaceOut for free.  So if you’ve wondered whether renting out some of your unused space might be a good way to earn some extra cash, but didn’t want to commit to an upfront listing fee, now is your opportunity to try it out for absolutely nothing.

Limited Time Only

For a limited time (until the end of February 2012) you can create your Space for Rent Listing and get the first two months for FREE.

You will need to sign up for future payments, but can cancel any time you wish, so you could advertise and rent out your space within the first two months and pay nothing at all to get an ongoing residual income.

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.

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

But a new online service has just added hundreds of new storage locations throughout Australia (maybe even in your suburb or street), and the number is rising every day!

Now, anyone with spare space in their  home, business, shed or garage can rent that space out to anyone who wants it! And the best part is that there’s a good chance there is someone in your neighbourhood who has space to rent out right now!!  Because this storage space is private, you can typically pick up some space for heavily discounted rates – often half the price that the big guys are asking!

“The idea came to me when I travelled overseas” says Damon Russell, founder of SpaceOut. “I was able to leave my stuff at a mate’s place and I thought it would be great if anyone needing  storage space could do the same”.

From a Space seeker’s point of view, this service really opens up the field. Regular self storage can cost an arm and a leg – in Brisbane and Melbourne for example, it costs between $350 and $750 per month for a space the size of a single car garage! Sydney costs are even higher. Private storage however, offers the chance to make significant savings.

The flip side to all this is that average Aussies who do have space, can now turn it into a regular cash income they would not otherwise have had access to. Roger H of Carseldine who rents half his garage out says “I think it’s a great opportunity for average people to save some serious cash. I personally like the fact that I can save someone $200 a month on their storage costs  – that’s over $1,000 a year for them – and the rental income for the space sure helps my family out too.”

“We get a lot of great feedback from people telling us how easy the site is to use” says Russell,  “You just locate the area where you’re looking for storage on the website’s map, send a message through the site message system (protecting both parties’ identities) saying you want to look at the space and the owner gets back to you. It’s simple, and many people are actually surprised that it is that easy to find cheap, local storage space.”

SpaceOut is turning heads overseas too. This Australia first concept has been attracting a lot of attention in many countries that could use the service including the US and Europe, and this Aussie innovation will be expanding overseas to give this opportunity to as many people as possible. The service is currently completely free, but is likely to start charging a nominal fee for listings in the near future. It seems like now is the time to get onboard if you’re looking for storage.

Feedback about the site shows that many users have been telling their friends and family about SpaceOut too, either to find or to provide space – this a sure sign that people see the benefits and potential for this type of service. To start searching for space, SpaceOut can be found at www.SpaceOut.com.au. You can search for space from the homepage, and SpaceOut also lists office and parking spaces.

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 :

SpaceOut was featured in today’s Sunday Newspapers (Australian Wide) in the highly regarded  Value Hunter section.  Value Hunter is a consumer advocacy column that has been appearing since the beginning of 2009 in all News Ltd Sunday newspapers. The Value Hunter Column provides useful, simple, and  practical information about how to make and save money.

Following is a transcript of of the Value Hunter Column – “Cash in your Spare Space” , by Jane Hansen – published Sunday 30 August, 2009.

Cash in your Spare Space

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.

Moving day!!

You will have quite a few choices when it comes to storing your things. If you’ve never used storage before, here is the list that will simplify the process and help you on your way:

1. Do you REALLY need to store your stuff? Is this stuff you will ever use again? You should establish that ‘Yes’ you do want to keep the stuff you are thinking of storing, and whether keeping it will be worth paying the storage rate.

2. Work out how much stuff you have to store. This is usually calculated in cubic metres. You can either stack all your stuff in a square pile and measure the height, width and depth and multiply these numbers. For example a pile 2 metres wide by 3 metres deep by 2 metres high (2x3x2) equals 12 cubic metres. The alternative is to work out the cubic metre size of each item and add it all together at the end. A free online space calculators are available here

3. Next, decide what kind of storage you are looking for. You have a choice of ‘Traditional Self Storage’ – this is typically the highest priced choice but offers the most features like high security and your own storage unit. You can search here

Then there’s ‘Warehouse Storage Space’ which means you rent a portion of big warehouse next to other people’s stuff. This is usually cheaper than a Self Storage Unit, but you usually have to pay to have your stuff stacked both in and out.

Lastly, you can now use new online Private Storage Services like the first and biggest SpaceOut.com.au. Sites like SpaceOut allow people with a spare room, shed or garage in their house or business to advertise it to people seeking space. This is typically the cheapest option and can be a great way to offset the costs associated with storage. Look carefully at the spaces on offer to make sure you get just what you want.

4. Once you’ve found an appropriate storage site, you’ll need to actually move your things. Depending on how much you have, you made be able to use your car which is probably the cheapest option. However, if you have a lot of stuff, you may need to rent a Ute, a small truck (you can drive up to a 3 ton truck on your regular car license), or you may even consider a removalist.

Look carefully at your budget for moving and consider if multiple small trips in a smaller vehicle may work out cheaper than one big trip in a larger option. You can find rental vehicles and removalists online for your area – go with a reputable company, and consider whether the value of your stuff is worth insurance for the move.

Insurance can usually be arranged through the removalists or rental vehicle company.

5. The moving day can take some coordinating, so particularly if you have opted for the cheapest option above – Private Storage, you will need to make sure the space owner has prepared for your move in. Stay in close contact with him/her until your move is complete, and we recommend some kind of binding agreement. The SpaceOut site provides a template for free.

It is better to allow more time than less to move, so start early in the day if possible.

6. Payment: the easiest way to pay ongoing for your storage is by automatic bank transfer – you can set this up through your bank, and most Self Storage facilities will set up a regular credit card payment for you.

And that’s about it! If I’ve missed any big points, let me know. And I’d love to hear of your storage story – good OR bad.

As the Government extends the city’s urban growth boundary by thousands of hectares, a Transport Department report showed there were already 1.3 million spare bedrooms in existing suburbs, enough to accommodate projected population growth during the next 20 years.
Almost 70 per cent of houses within current city limits had extra bedrooms, with the highest proportion in the wealthy eastern and bayside suburbs, and in outer growth suburbs where the blocks are comparatively larger.
The report showed increased wealth had led to homes being built larger than ever, with the number of households having two or more spare bedrooms in the decade to the 2006 census more than doubling. At the same time, the number of people per household had shrunk.
”We are being greedy with space,” said University of Melbourne’s planning expert Philip Goad.
Source: The Age August 11, 2009

A new, innovative online service called SpaceOut has the potential to help make use of these unused bedrooms, making money for the home owners, and at the same time, provide everyday Australians with a solution to their storage problems.

The concept was developed by 3 good mates who saw the need to create a service which caters for the supply and demand of useable ‘space’. The website, www.spaceout.com.au allows home and business owners to advertise their spare space as being available for rent. And now we know there are 1.3 million unused bedrooms in Melbourne – many of which could probably be rented out for storage.

Damon Russell, one of the co-founders says “SpaceOut provides a great platform for people wanting to make an extra income with very little effort. Storage in most cities is becoming very scarce- yet all these houses have spare rooms  If you had an empty room why wouldn’t you rent it out and make some cash?”

SpaceOut already has many spaces advertised across Sydney’s CBD, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide and the number of listings is growing fast.

Nathon Irvin, SpaceOut’s marketing coordinator can’t believe that Melbourne has that many spare rooms…”what a great opportunity for those households to earn money from people seeking cost effective storage”.

An article in today’s Melbourne Age Newspaper – Room to spare as city sprawls – draws attention to a Victorian Department of Transport report which claims that almost 70 per cent of houses within current Melbourne city limits had extra bedrooms that were not being used.

SpaceOut members are already making hundreds of dollars a month (that’s thousands of dollars a year) renting out spare space in their homes and businesses. This is space that would otherwise have sat there idle, or been used to accumulate their own junk.

If you have an unused bedroom in your house – you could convert it into a regular income by renting it out for storage – find out how to rent out your space now.