Review: Peerspace lets you put your house to work

What: Peerspace allows you to rent out your space (home or office) by the hour to people looking for wedding, photography and special-event locations

Commissions and fees: 15% of host’s gross, including cleaning fees

Husl$core: $$$$$ (scale of 5)

Expected pay: $50 + per hour

Requirements:

• A home or office/studio/warehouse/outdoor space that you’re willing to rent.
• Be able to sign a legal contract and maintain whatever licenses may be necessary in your area to rent your real estate as a venue.

Where: California, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Washington, D.C. (full list of locations here.)

If you have a home or work space that you’d like to list as a location for movie studios, photo shoots, weddings, baby showers, office parties and other special events, Peerspace will allow you to list on its site and rent by the hour.

The site allows you to specify what activities are acceptable in your space, the price and whether you impose a cleaning fee. You can also specify the number of hours the space is available and charge a penalty fee (1.5 times the hourly rental) for events that go overtime. Like Airbnb, you need to communicate with the renter; figure out how to get them in and out; and work out other details of the deal.

However, because you are usually not renting overnight, you don’t necessarily need to change the sheets or worry about finding another place to stay while your home is rented to strangers. With hourly rates ranging from around $50 to $500, this gig could return some serious change. And the site offers $1 million in liability insurance, which is important when you have strangers partying in your home. (But still check with your own insurer, to make sure your homeowner’s policy isn’t void when renting your home for commercial purposes.)

Peerspace collects payment from the renter and reimburses you, minus their fee, by direct deposit three days after the event is over.

If a guest cancels at the last minute, you earn a cancellation fee up to the full amount of the booking (depending on when the cancellation is made). But if you cancel, you could be penalized too.

There’s no host penalty for canceling within two days of the reservation being made, but if you cancel at the last minute more than once in six months (barring serious emergency), you get fined $100 or 15% of the booking amount. A third cancellation in six months will get you kicked off the platform.

Given that renters can’t easily move their events, these seem like reasonable terms. Don’t agree to rent out your space unless you’re serious.

Other Recommendations: Four other platforms — Giggster, Avvay, Splacer and ThisOpenSpace — also allow you to rent your house as a venue. If you’re in their geographic footprint, we suggest signing up with all four.

Kristof is the editor of SideHusl.com, an independent website that reviews money-making opportunities in the gig economy.