How To Rent Out Your Driveway?

Amy looks out her front window and notices all the cars coming from the suburbs, commuters driving through her neighborhood, on the way to their jobs nearby.  She knows there are far more cars than parking spaces available. Then she looks at her long driveway and realizes how valuable it would be to those drivers to find monthly parking. She decides to rent out her driveway.

Tom lives near a stadium and he notices thousands of cars driving by his house every game day looking for parking. He knows he can charge less than the parking lots and still make money, and not just a little money, but a lot every weekend for each event. He decides to rent out his driveway.

Jackie lives on a beautiful secluded beach with limited parking and she has plenty of room for parking spaces and includes beach access. She realizes drivers would pay for parking if it included beach access. She decides to rent out her driveway.

All three want to rent out their driveways, but their needs are very different.

Renting out a driveway to an employee for monthly parking is different than renting out space for an event like a football game or to the beach. Listing a parking space can be very personal to some people. Homeowners want to be selective especially if they are renting for weekly or monthly terms.

However, renting out a driveway to new people every day for concerts or ballgames can be all business. Being selective may not be an issue but scheduling and keeping up with payments are important.

So what is the best way to rent out your driveway? Depends on your needs, but to be more specific, you should use an online app that was designed for renting out residential parking spaces. There are several apps available but they are quite different and focus more on their needs rather than yours.

When you rent out your driveway, the following rules will apply to help you get what you want:

You want a simple sign up process:

You want to be able to sign up quickly using an email address or through a social network like Facebook. You should be able to sign in even if you are not ready to list your parking space.  Sign up for the top-rated apps should take less than one minute.

You want to be able to add terms:

Your app should come with basic rental terms that protect you and your space. But let’s face it, all parking spaces were not created equal. Your app should give you the option of adding additional terms to your rental agreement that will suit your specific parking situation. Additional terms can include instructions for beach access, noise levels, where, when, or how to park.

Privacy is very important:

You and each driver will be required to give personal financial information. Your web browser should transfer this data to an app equipped with SSL certificates (Secure Sockets Layer) for each domain and subdomain being used. The app you use should have an established privacy policy that will not sell your personal information.

You should be able to contact the driver about your parking space:

If you are renting out your spaces weekly or monthly, you want an app that has a messaging system. Messaging gives you the option to contact the driver before, during, or after the transaction. This gives you the opportunity to establish understanding and rapport.

You should be able to make your listing active or inactive:

You want to choose when to rent and when not to rent. Holidays are great times to rent your parking space but if you have family coming to town, you need your parking for family. You need an app that can make listings inactive (or active again) in real-time.

You don’t want to handle cash:

Your payment transactions should be cashless for your safety. The app you use should be able to process any type of payment. You want an app that handles the scheduling, billing, payments, and collections but you want the payments to come directly to you and not to some third party.

You want to be able to rate your drivers:

You want to use an app that has trust built-in by allowing you to rate your renting experience with a driver. You should use an app that allows you to view comments made by other owners about specific drivers looking to rent from you.

You may want to think about more than just cars:

If you have the space available, you should consider an app that rents out space to more than just cars. Bicycles, motorcycles, recreation vehicles, campers, and boats also need parking.

And finally,

You actually WANT to get your parking space rented:

You want to use an app with marketing features. For a personal touch, you should be able to add your own pictures of your driveway rather than rely on google streets. You also want an app that is integrated into mapping software and social media so your parking space can be marketed, tweeted, or displayed to drivers nearby.

Author – Rodney Young, CTO of CurbFlip.com