Good Nesting

Is Renting Out A Room Or Your Car A Smart Way To Make Money?

Two popular ways to boost income include renting out a spare room or even your car. Are these money-making methods worth your time? We’ll break it down for you.

If your current income isn’t cutting it and you can barely pay your bills, you’ll need to come up with ways to increase it. While making deliveries is a hot side gig right now, so are renting out space in your home or your car to other people.

Should you rent out a room or your car to give your income that much-needed boost? Or are these side gigs more trouble than they’re worth? Let’s take a look at that right now so you can see if they deserve a spot on your to-do list.

Renting One of Your Rooms Through Airbnb

A spare room in your home could be an easy avenue for extra cash if you rent it out on a site like Airbnb. You simply take some pictures of the room, list it for a price per night, and hope travelers or people needing a short-term rental take you up on your offer.

The main advantage of listing a room on Airbnb is that it can offer passive income. In other words, it’s not like a regular job where you’ll have to work every hour to make money. As long as you help the customer check-in and clean up after them before the next person comes in, you should be good to go.

If you’re worried about things like accidents, know that Airbnb covers your rental with $1 million in insurance to calm that fear.

What are the disadvantages of renting out a room on Airbnb? For one, the company will charge you a 3 percent fee per booking. Depending on where you live, there may be a lot of competition, which could cause you to rent out the room at a lower price than you’d like. Lastly, you may not like the fact that strangers are staying in the same house. And you may run into occasional troublemakers that don’t respect your property.

However, if you have trouble paying the rent, Airbnb can be a solid option as a second source of income. At the very worst, if you don’t like it, you can remove your listing and try something else to earn extra cash.

Rent Out Your Car Through Getaround or Turo

Airbnb became so popular that people decided to replicate the idea with cars via sites like Getaround and Turo. Like Airbnb, this is a passive income stream that works well if you have an extra car or barely drive. You can pick when you want to rent your car, and all you have to do is drop it off to the customer when they need it.

Both Getaround and Turo offer insurance on top of your car’s policy, so you’re covered there. As for the major disadvantages, they begin with commission fees.

Getaround charges a 40 percent commission on rentals. Turo can take up to 35 percent. That can seem like a lot, especially when it’s your car that’s getting mileage and wear and tear put on it. Speaking of, interior damage may not be covered when renting out your car. If this is an issue, you may want to stay away.

In the end, renting out your car may be a viable option for extra income if you’re really struggling right now. It won’t make you rich, but it could help you pay about $200 extra in monthly bills for very little work.