Property Investment
7 min read
A “side hustle” is a flexible way to earn extra income without taking on a part-time job.
It’s just something you do in your spare time, on top of your day job. It can be things like freelancing, buying and selling goods online, or driving for Uber.
With the cost of living soaring in New Zealand, it’s no surprise side hustles are becoming more popular. It’s also the easiest it’s ever been to earn money at home.
For property investors, a side hustle can help find the money to top-up your investment properties, and it can help you secure your next mortgage.
In this article, you’ll learn the most popular side hustles in NZ and what you can earn. You’ll also learn whether your new income stream will help you get your mortgage approved (or not).
Driving for Uber Eats is easy to start. That’s why it’s one of the most popular side hustles. Most people already have everything they need to get started:
Earnings: $18–$25/hour. This depends on what days you drive and which city you live in.
While it might not make you rich, it’s a straightforward way to earn a few extra bucks.
But ongoing expenses like fuel will reduce your earnings and don’t forget you’ll depreciate your vehicle - the more you drive, the less it’s worth.
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If you own a property you might consider listing it on Airbnb. Even if you rent a property, renting out a spare room can bring in extra income.
Earnings: $50 – $1000+/night. The sky’s the limit, depending on your property.
In Auckland, the average daily rate for renting a spare bedroom was $50 - $60 a night. That’s according to AirDNA, a data firm. Just keep in mind it does cost you money to set up your Airbnb.
It might be $500 – $2,000 to furnish a spare room; that’s for the furniture and professional photography. For a whole house, the costs are more like $20,000 - $30,000.
But ongoing costs are more substantial. You must cover all the electricity and water bills, cleaning services and maintenance.
Becoming a content creator is a trendy side hustle with low initial costs. And it’s not just the mummy bloggers and people selling make-up who are successful in this space.
Another option is to draw on your expertise and start there. I follow lawyers, an astronaut, and psychologists on Instagram and Tik Tok. They all share nuggets of wisdom, and they are making money from it.
It’s hard to put a figure on how much you can earn, because it depends on your audience size, engagement, and platform.
Inland Revenue reported that full time influencers had an average income of $46k in New Zealand. While these figures are good, building and maintaining an audience takes time and effort. It’s not an income stream you can build overnight.
Tutoring is an affordable option for those with expertise in a specific subject. So, if you’re a high school teacher, you can offer exam tutoring for students.
The cool thing is, it can be done in person or online, making it flexible for busy schedules.
Earnings: $20–$40 an hour for beginners or student-to-student tutors. You’ll pay $40-$150 an hour for more experienced tutors, according to KipMcGrath.
Tutoring offers a low-risk, high-reward opportunity, but you’ve got to market yourself properly and tap into your networks.
Freelancing allows you to use the skills you already have. Think of careers like graphic design, writing, or web development. This means it costs almost nothing to get set up ... considering you have all the skills and tools required.
That said, you might need a personal website to showcase your work. This can cost $50-$200 a year.
Earnings: Mid-level professionals are commonly between $50–$100 an hour. Beginners are a bit less, according to Hnry.
Most people start freelancing as a side hustle to test the waters, and then wait for it to ramp up before quitting their day job.
Side hustles are different from a part-time job. Here are the main differences –
Generally, a part-time job comes with fixed hours, a consistent salary, and you’re working for someone else. A side hustle is all on you. You can start whenever, work whenever, and will be as successful as you make it.
It does put more responsibility on your shoulders because its success lives and dies with you. If you want to earn good money, you need to work at it.
Having more income will help you pay your mortgage off faster.
But, your side hustle won’t automatically mean your mortgage gets approved. That’s because when you include side hustle income in a mortgage application you need to provide ‘evidence’ around that income.
To do that you need 12-14 months of trading history. The bank will want to know how much money you make, how regular the income is, and any debt your side hustle has.
For instance, I once worked with a first home buyer who imported racing car seats and sold them online to car groups and petrolheads. He bought them for $800 and sold for $1500.
He had legitimised the business; it was all GST registered; he paid tax on all profit, and claimed expenses – and he still took home about $400 per car seat. He sold about 6 a month.
Because he had been doing it for a few years, he could use it in his mortgage application. The bank could see a track record of the business.
But, if he had just started the bank would not have included this income. That’s because they think: “What if it doesn’t work out? Or what if you stop doing it?”
If you’re not leaning on your side hustle to pay your mortgage, it’s extra income, but it will turn up in a credit check, so always disclose it.
I recently had a young couple buying their first home. The wife had a side hustle as a consultant. She provided immigration advice to Filipinos coming to NZ (the couple themselves were Filipino).
She did it after work hours and didn’t charge much (about $25k a year).
The bank only wanted to know there wasn’t debt or liabilities tied to her business. There wasn’t, but they didn’t use that income for the mortgage application.
But they can always use that income to reduce debt, which will indirectly make their mortgage application stronger.
Another client I have is a stay-at-home mum. She doesn’t have a day job, but has a little side hustle buying stuff online and selling it. We didn’t need her income to get the mortgage application approved, so we didn’t have to provide any proof around it to the bank.
Her husband’s six-figure salary was more than enough to service the loan, so the bank didn’t care about her side hustle.
Starting a side hustle can be a smart way to boost your income and ease the cost of living pressure.
The key is finding something that fits your skills, schedule and goals. Ideally, if you’re applying for a mortgage you don’t want to be leaning on your side hustle to get the deal across. But if you do want to use that income for a mortgage, be prepared to show a solid track record.
