Stress-free parking a click away

THERE is nothing more infuriating than driving around and around searching for a carpark at Mooloolaba, Hastings Street or Nambour hospital.

Or having to shell out hundreds of dollars a week for the privilege of parking at a commercial carpark.

Francis Armstrong, founder of findacarpark.com, knows these frustrations only too well.

His answer is to look in cyberspace.

Created five years ago, the carparking website aims to link workers with empty driveways and carparks in busy areas where parking space is lacking.

Not only are parking woes solved, the concept is a financial boost for those renting out their driveways or garages.

Mr Armstrong said the company, which grows by about 25% a year, was created almost accidentally.

“In a nutshell, we had a parking problem where we were in South Melbourne,” he said.

“We had 12 staff and only two carparks for the whole building.

“There were two residential streets nearby and since we were a media company, we knocked up a couple of flyers with a big dollar sign and said cash for your carpark or driveway.”

The flyers were distributed and, in 48 hours, they had secured 10 carparks.

“We started thinking if we could get this many so quick in just our area, imagine what we could do with the whole country,” Mr Armstrong said.

The website now has thousands of listings in all the capital cities.

While no parking spaces have yet been listed for rent on the Sunshine Coast, Mr Armstrong says Queensland is the company's biggest expanding market.

“Parking will always be an issue and in 2009, Queensland basically leapfrogged the southern states in terms of pricing and demand for parking,” he said.

He said that while there was plenty of space in Queensland, there was a distinct lack of parking in comparison to space.

Findacarpark is based on a simple idea where property owners with vacant car spaces or driveways can advertise them for rent during the day and those looking for cheap parking can use the site to find a vacant space.

It's free to look but there's a small fee to list a space.

Mr Armstrong said the site offered a great way for people to make extra cash for nothing.

“With interest rates increasing and if you have a driveway or garage that's empty during the day, you can make an extra $200-300 a month which is a big help for the mortgage,” he said.

“If it's empty anyway, then you are basically making money without having to do anything.”

The individual prices and rules for each car space are set by the owner and in September this year, the average price for a carpark in Queensland was $373.94 a month.

“And that's compared to $60-70 a day you would pay at a commercial car park,” Mr Armstrong said.

“And it's yours.

“You can go out at lunch and still have a car spot to return to.

“It's a win-win situation.”