This Former Amazon Employee Makes $1,000 a Month on His Parking Spot Side Hustle, and It Takes Him 15 Minutes Justin Cambra has figured out a painless way to make passive income.
By Frances Dodds Edited by Mark Klekas
Since Justin Cambra quit his job in the real estate department at Amazon a little over a year ago, he's been a man of many pursuits. The way he sees it, "In today's world, stability is from multiple sources of income. I'm trying to generate as many revenue streams as possible."
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That's why, when he was at a conference in Detroit this past January and a friend told him about his latest side hustle, Cambra said, "Oh my God, this is a no-brainer. I'm doing this ASAP. I downloaded the app on my way to the airport, and two weeks later, I got my first booking."
Cambra lives in Seattle, and as with many cities, there's a shortage of free and accessible parking. This is especially true if you need a longer term spot, for a couple weeks or months. That scarcity was the impetus for Neighbor, a company that lets people rent out available spaces on their properties — basements, attics, garages, parking spots — to store personal items or vehicles.
So when Cambra heard that his friend was renting out parking spots on Neighbor, "There was a trigger in my head like, oh my goodness," he says. "I have a ton of parking space at my house because I bought a duplex from the neighbor, who had a 12-plex. And when he subdivided the lot, I got all their parking. So I've got at least a third of an acre that's already paved, just sitting there. It was actually grown over because I hadn't used it for like six years."
Cambra created his account in January 2023, got his first booking in February, and started getting paid in March, since Neighbor works on a monthly payout schedule. Early on, he was making a couple hundred bucks a month, but now he says he's up to $1,000 or more a month, with 20 spots. And it only takes him 15 to 30 minutes a month to manage.
His customers need the parking for a variety of reasons. He says one of his first renters was a guy who owned some homes in the Philippines and was going there for eight or nine months. "Airport parking is about $10 a day, so that's $300 a month, and I was half that at $150 a month," Cambra says. "It's only a $20 Uber to the airport from my place, which saves you a lot of money. So I get people like him who are long-termers, and then I get people who are taking an extended trip, and need parking for two to four weeks at a time."
Another category of customers are businesses. "I've got a small business called Swoop Patrol that rents two stalls," he says. "They go to large Seattle high rises that allow pets and pick up dog poop. But they drive around the city in these branded cars, so before going into work, their employees come here to swap out their cars for the branded ones."
Neighbor lets you know the price rate range for your area, and Cambra says the peak rate for Seattle is $200 a month per spot (the monthly rates are prorated for shorter rentals). But he's been experimenting with his rates to hit the sweet spot. "I've been doing revenue optimizing," he says, "So you know with Airbnb, if you raise the price you get the higher rental rate, but then you have a higher vacancy. I'm doing that in the inverse. I went from $200 to $175 to $150, and now I'm at $125, and I'm getting more traction. So I may even drop it to $100, and as the lot fills, I'll start raising it back up. That's where my head is right now."
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Perhaps one of Cambra's favorite things about his side hustle with Neighbor is the company's support team. "They've also just been super helpful," he says. "They have a referral program, and I've probably made up to $1,500 in referrals. There are two people there I connect with regularly, which is not normal. I have four tiny homes on Airbnb, and I don't interact with anybody there. It's extremely painful when I have to go through Airbnb support. Connecting with people — that just speeds up the cash flow cycle."
