One hugely positive outcome from the floods was the way so many people scrambled to lend a helping hand to those affected.   The QLD Premier’s appeal helped raise funds by accepting financial donations for distribution to the needy, and of course thousands chipped in with the massive cleanup effort, but there were  plenty of other, lower profile, but just as important ways that people could help. One quiet achiever during the QLD Flood crises, was  HelpOut – an online service designed specifically to put in touch those offering assistance with those who needed help.

How could SpaceOut Help ??

‘Following the Victorian Fires we wanted to use the technology of our space sharing site www.spaceout.com.au to design a way that average Aussies could assist flood, cyclone or fire victims in a non-financial way’ says Nathon Irvin, cofounder of HelpOut.   Through this online service, people are able to list the different ways they can offer help. Not everyone have money that they can donate, and many victims need kinds of help other than financial assistance.

HelpOut – Providing a Helping Hand

The HelpOut service works particularly well at a community level.  People within affected communities wanting to help, can offer donations, support or any other type of assistance, with the assurance that it will go directly to members of their own community

During the 2011 QLF Floods, people were using HelpOut to offer all kinds of practical help  - including offers as diverse as pet minding, the loan of a trailer, driving the kids to school, a hot meal for a family in need, manual labour to help shift or fix something, and even a place to stay during the cleanup. ‘We’ve been really touched by the response to the service, watching Australians opening up their hearts and their homes to people in need.’

On the other side of the equation, people needing help to rebuild after the disaster come to the HelpOut site and search on a map for offers of assistance in their own local area or community that most suit their specific needs. ‘At the end of the day, HelpOut brings our community closer together, and if we can make that happen, we reckon we’ve done a good job’ says Irvin. ‘

HelpOut sits idle (Yippee)

Fortunately, the HelpOut service currently sits idle, with no listings at all. There are no major disasters in Australia at the moment so the site sits waiting for the next time it is needed. The HelpOut Service is however set up,  ready to help, whenever a disaster strikes, and people are again in need of assistance.

The experience that we gained from the QLD floods ensures that we are ready to help many desperate people in the future.

HelpOut is a completely free service that anyone can use, particularly people in and around disaster areas who aren’t affected, and who have the capacity, however small, to offer assistance. HelpOut can be found via the SpaceOut website at: http://helpout.spaceout.com.au

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 January 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.

Time Magazine has called it one of the ten ideas that will change the world.

Social Innovator, Rachel Botsman says it will define the 21^st century.

“Collaborative Consumption” is very hot right now!

The term Collaborative Consumption refers to the age old behaviours of sharing, swapping, renting, bartering, which technology is now allowing to occur in other ways.

There are numerous reasons why we are starting to see a burgeoning Collaborative Consumption revolution.  Technology is providing the tools and there is a growing desire to disrupt outdated modes of doing business. From a consumer perspective, Collaborative Consumption is desirable because of the global economic situation, the renewed belief in the importance of community, and an increased awareness of the environmental pressures our planet is facing.

The Collaborative Consumption revolution is a worldwide movement, and while it may have been slow to gain traction in Australia (the Space Out guys were way ahead of the curve!), it is certainly is now taking hold as more and more businesses and initiatives pop up based on Collaborative Consumption principles. In October alone I am aware of three new Aussie businesses that launched:

1. MeeMeep (www.meemeep.com) connects people on the move to people with stuff to move. It’s a social network connected to a real world network. So if you’ve got stuff to move, you can save time and money. And if you’re on the move, you can earn a little extra money.

1. Locongo (www.locongo.com) is a community marketplace where people can buy & sell local experiences.  It creates opportunities for locals to rediscover their city, meet some amazing people and earn cash doing what they love.  And travellers can save time & money, venture off the beaten track and get to know the locals.

1. Open Shed (www.openshed.com.au) is a peer-to-peer rental site that I have developed with my partner Duncan Stewart. Our vision is to create a secure and reliable community marketplace that helps Australians live a more resourceful and sustainable life through the renting and sharing of their idle goods.

Think about all the things you have sitting in your shed – fishing rods, electrical goods, tools, camping and sports gear – how great it would be to rent them out to people around you. You make better use of what you already own and your neighbour has the option to rent, rather than buy.

I am in total agreement with Time Magazine and Rachel Botsman that Collaborative Consumption will change and define our future world. It is a powerful movement that empowers the individual and taps into our growing desires to be mindful and thrifty consumers; reduce our environmental footprint; and reconnect with the people around us. Let the era of collaborative consumption begin!

Paid parking was introduced this week at Chermside Shopping Center – with plans to implement it at Westfield Carindale in March next year.

The new parking charges at Westfield Chermside have had an immediate impact – leaving empty car parks and resulting in clogged local streets, increased traffic congestion, and the need for a local services club to employ security guards to monitor their own car park.

Parking Fees $20 per day

The new charges, which apply to vehicles parked for 3 hours or more, are designed to encourage commuters and long term parkers to look at alternatives.  Parking fees can be as much as $20 for the day.

Shopping Center staff have been allocated special parking areas, but have complained of half hour waits to get in, and are concerned that they will be forced to pay up to $20 a day if they miss out on one of the staff parking spaces.

Local Residents Cash In

Aside from the extra disruption and congestion being faced by local residents, some may actually be presented with an opportunity to earn some extra income.  Some residents with a spare parking spot have already been approached by car owners offering to pay to park there.  Home or business owners with an extra parking space in the driveway, garage, or yard may find that they are in demand, and can rent out their unused parking space on a casual, weekly or even monthly basis – with the potential to earn as much as $15 a day or $300 a month.

Students and ferry-riding professionals are renting out unneeded parking spots for up to $550 a month.

Money Out of Thin Air

Brisbane has long been a hot spot for SpaceOut members and ordinary Australians with unused space in their home or business are making good money by renting it out for storage, office use as well as parking – and are literally making money out of thin air.

In Brisbane (and many other Australian capital cities), demand for inner-city carpark in space has created a mini property boom as spare parking bays in city highrises and apartment blocks become prime rental spaces.

The average cost of renting a park in Brisbane now stands at $435 a month – or $43.50 a square metre – after growing 30 per cent a year since 2005.

One great advantage of renting your own parking space is that you get 24×7 access and can come and go as you please. Although more than $400 a month may seem light a lot to pay for parking, it is actually a bargain when compared to casual parking rates which are charged every time come or go.

Last year SpaceOut Highlighted in our City drive-in robbery – Brisbane carpark costs soar post that Brisbane drivers wishing to park in the city were  paying on average $45 a day (that’s over $200 a week), and the rates have continued to rise…. currently  Brisbane casual parking can cost up to $70 a day.

Collaborative Consumption

Renting out your unused parking space – or a spare bedroom for storage – or an unused corner or room at your workplace is a great example of the increasingly popular collaborative consumption movement, where people “share” resources.  For the space owner, it is a great way to earn some extra income, and for the space renter it is a great way to find a rental space that is cheap and convenient, and to save money on commercial rental rates.

SpaceOut provides a service which makes it easy for people with spare or unused space, to list and rent it out to those who need the space.

Over the last year or so we have also seen an increasing trend with Commercial Operators (e.g. Storage facilities, Parking stations and Serviced Offices) creating listings on SpaceOut. We have encouraged these types of listings because we feel that it provides a greater range of options for our users, after all both private and commercial spaces each have pros and cons and are each suitable for different circumstances.

Because they have fairly different listing needs, we wanted to provide commercial operators with some extra features, so we have extended the SpaceOut listing types to provide some additional functionality for commercial operators..

As a part of the listing process, Commercial Operators can now choose a Commercial Operator Listing type.  These listings cost a bit more  but are for longer periods (currently $55 for three months).   Operators can also include a logo and up to 10 photos, and once the listing is activated, we will manually update the description and add a link back to their website.

As a part of the new Commercial Operator Listings, we encourage operators to include their contact information and details of the spaces and  services that they provide, as a part of the description and owner details for their listing.

If you’ve any queries about the new Commercial Operator Listing, or any comments or suggestions, please feel free to contact SpaceOut.

Photos

Over the last few months, one of the most common requests we have received from our members, is to provide a photo feature – to allow them to include photos of the spaces they are offering for rent.

From today, new (and existing) subscription based Space for Rent listings will have the capability to include up to three photos.  When you create a New Listing, you will will be prompted to add photos as a part of the setup process.   Members with existing subscription listings can add or edit photos via the (Edit Photos) icon on the members home page.

Members with expired Space for rent listings, can either renew them, or create a new one, and will be given an opportunity to subscribe and add photos to these listings as well

A Picture tells a thousand words

Photos offer a great way to promote your listing and highlight its features and benefits.  You could also (if you wish) personalise your listing by including a photo of yourself, for many potential renters, this provides credibility an adds another level of trust.  Commercial operators can also include theor logo or a photo of theor premises (although we do have some extra features planned for commercial operators).

Currently you can include up to three photos for each Space for rent Listing, but we will be keeping an eye on how photos are being used, and may provide other options in the future.  So if you’ve got an opinion on the use of photos on SpaceOut, or any suggestions on how it could be improved, please let us know, we would love to hear it.

Report This Listing

We have also provided another feature which allows anyone to Report inapropriate Ads.  This could be a listing that is a blatant advertisement for a third party product or service, some content that is misleading or irrelevant, or an image which is not apropriate.  To Report a Listing, simply click on the  button which can be found on the bottom right of all listing details.  You can provide a brief description of the problem and (if you like) include your contact details.  we will investigate, and take apropriat action, and if you’ve left your details we will let you know the outcome.

We have a heap of other features and functionality planned over the coming months, so keep am eye on SpaceOut, and please let us know of any other features you would like us to offer, or any problems that you may experience woith the new photo or Reporting functionality.

Launched in April, the website invites homeowners to list their gardens as potential campsites for travelers passing through the local vicinity. Gardens are listed with a short description and details of facilities available such as showers, power points, wifi connectivity, barbecues and parking.

Garden owners are also able to :

• list what shops and public transport links there are nearby
• list the dates their gardens are available to camp in
• specify how much it will cost one person to stay on site per night.

Visitors searching for a campsite are able to browse for gardens by location, or select a specific event they are planning to attend and browse for gardens nearby.

If you are in Australia and have a garden that you think would be suitable for renting out for camping then you can create a space for rent listing right now.  Currently the “Other” Space type category is probably the most suitable one to choose for this type of a listing.

There seems to be no end in sight for the trend of sharing and renting out unused space, and we regularly get new (and sometimes unusual) listings added to SpaceOut.  As we get more of certain types of listings, we will consider adding new categories (as we have already done for Parking, Office and Rural Space).

After London, Oslo and Tokyo, Sydney was already the world’s fourth dearest city to park, but now the cost of meter parking in the city is set to rise even higher – to $7 an hour.

The NSW Government levy (which was doubled by the state labour government in 2009) forces hotels, councils and commercial carparks to pay up to $2040 a space every year.  The tax was supposed to discourage daily commuter traffic congestion in the Sydney CBD, however, because it is only imposed on offsite parking, it tends to encourage commuters to drive around until they find a kerbside park, which actually adds to the congestion.

Parking meter costs

At $7 per hour Sydney on street parking fees are the highest of all other major cities in Australia.  The next most expensive cities are Melbourne and Brisbane (at a maximum rate of $4 per hour), with Perth a little lower at $3.30 per hour, and Adelaide the cheapest at just 2.40 per hour for CBD parking.

So for on-street parking in Australian major city CBD’s (assuming you are actually allowed to park for more than an hour) you are looking at paying anywhere between $20 and $60 for the day.

Parking Station Fees

For off-street parking, or parking in commercial parking stations you can expect to pay significantly more (even in many cases at “early bird” rates), with Sydney CBD parking station rates costing up to $35 and hour or $142 per day. If you want the luxury of being able to come and go from, your parking spot as you please, you would normally expect to pay many hundreds of dollars a month.

The huge increase in costs associated with parking in Australian CBDs is fueling the demand for Private parking services like that being offered BY SpaceOut.  Spaecout provides a service that allows individuals and businesses with a spare parking space in areas of high demand, to rent it out to those desperately needing parking, but unable to justify the ever increasing costs of commercial parking services.  The parking space owner, turns their unused parking space into a regular income, and the commuter gets convenient and cheaper parking – often with 24×7 access.

See what’s currently available right now by clicking one of the links below :

• Sydney Parking Spaces for rent
• Melbourne Parking Spaces for Rent
• Brisbane Parking Spaces for rent
• Perth Parking Spaces for Rent

WHAT an office will look like and how it will be used in the next few decades has again been raised as companies review their rental agreements and prepare for an increase in expenses.

The two biggest costs for any organisation are payroll and rent. Gone are the days of companies owning their head offices. The money tied up in bricks and mortar years ago was deemed idle cash that could be better used growing the business.

As a result finance directors, who for many years had to double as property managers, decided to raise cash through the sale of the head office.

And for those that could drive a hard bargain, they negotiated long-term rents at reasonable levels to lower the costs.

But as available office space shrinks and those rent deals come up for renewal, the landlords are in a position to seek higher payments.

But is a large office needed?

Dr David Rees, the Australasian head of research and consulting at Jones Lang LaSalle, says that as technology improves, demand for office space is changing. Yes, we still need offices, but just how much?

In the Hot Property column in Commercial Real Estate today, Dr Rees asks: ”Do you think that your grandchildren will work in an office?”

”If the answer if ‘yes’, then you believe that the wave of demography and technology that propelled so many of us from farms, mines, factories and corner stores into offices in just three generations has suddenly skidded to a halt,” he says. ”The facts suggest otherwise. The pace of change seems to be speeding up, not slowing down.”