If you own any kind of property, you may be able to make extra money by renting out your space for storage. This could be indoor storage for items that need to stay dry and out of the elements, or it could also be parking for vehicles, RVs and boats. A website called Neighbor allows you to make a supplemental income by leasing out this space to others for a monthly fee. You can think of them as the Airbnb of storage.
Depending on where you live and what kind of space you have available to rent to others, this side hustle can potentially earn you a few hundred to thousands per month. Considering the relatively minor amount of time and effort it takes to run this kind of business, this can be really easy, passive income.
Why Use Neighbor?
Anyone trying to earn a full-time income running their own businesses or just trying to supplement income from their 9-to-5 job should always be looking for passive income opportunities. Almost all passive income except for hard money investments will require some amount of work to create and run the business. However, side hustles that offer passive income and very little work with no investment costs are extremely rare to find.
This is why the service offered by Neighbor can be so useful. You’re not likely to make a full-time living from this website unless you own a lot of property in prime locations. However, that’s not the idea here. Instead, you’re looking to earn some extra cash without really having to spend much time to earn it. Neighbor can deliver that.
All you need is property space that you can rent to others. If you’re not the property owner, there’s a good chance you won’t be allowed to do this side hustle though. You can offer services like self storage, vehicle parking, boat / trailer / RV storage, and even storage of other kinds of items like business inventory. If it’s valuable and takes up space, someone will likely be willing to pay to store it on your property.
Earnings & Fees
Fees on this site are actually pretty reasonable. You get to set your own prices for the space you’re renting out. Neighbor adds on a service fee to that price, so you actually get full credit for your asking price. This gives you almost full control over your earnings based on the space you want to lease.
Payouts to you are once a month from Neighbor for your earnings. These payouts are charged 4.9% plus 30 cents, so you can roughly expect to pocket 95% of your fees from rented space. This is the only expense you’re paying, so this website isn’t taking a huge cut of your earnings or leaving you with a lot of overhead expenses that eat into profits.
Before you set up your listings on this site, browse some of the other listings in your area for similar services. Note the amount of space they have to offer, their location and special conditions that could make one rental more valuable than another. Covered areas would be more valuable parking space than a driveway, but a garage would be even more valuable than both of those. By also examining their pricing, you can get an idea of how much you should charge for your services for the best results. Ultimately, pricing is completely up to you though.
Leasing Concerns
You get to have control over when renters can access their space as part of the terms of the lease. You also don’t have to worry about complicated paperwork, so it’s a fairly easy process for both you and renters. Prices, terms and availability are all up to you, so you can mold this business into nearly anything you want from it. Neighbor even guarantees your income if one of your customers fails to pay their charges.
There can also be some potential damage and liability concerns. The Neighbor.com website does offer some form of protection in this area, but it can also be a good idea to call your homeowners insurance carrier. Talk to your carrier to ensure that renting space as your intending is allowed under your current policy. If needed, you can make some adjustments to your policy at this time and even add additional protection for yourself.
Your Rental Side Hustle
The biggest advantage of this side hustle is that it’s basically passive income. You shouldn’t have to spend very much of your time each month with renters, except for possibly monitoring their access. This can allow you to earn extra money from this business while you continue to make money elsewhere with the majority of your time.
Make your terms and expectations to customers clear from the beginning to avoid any misunderstandings. If you run into any problems that you’re not sure how to handle, contact Neighbor’s support team for help.
Be sure to consider all of the available space that you may have available to offer. This could be obvious options like a driveway, garage or carport, but you can sometimes get more creative to offer space like street parking or more affordable parking in the grass. Item storage that needs to be kept out of the weather can be temperature controlled for a higher cost or spaces like attics, warehouses and storage sheds for cheaper prices. By really looking at your potential options and listing as many as you can, you’ll simply increase your earnings potential from your house and land.