Seen At 11: Property Profit – Make Your Home Start Working For You

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Like most people, your home probably sits empty for hours every day, but what if you put that space to work for you, making money for rent or mortgage, and even a hefty property profit?

"My kids complain, 'there's people here again, when do we get to have the house?' Well, you weren't complaining when we went on vacation last year," Alex Story said.

Story rents her East Village town home for events like parties, meetings and film shoots. No one sleeps in her bed, and the place is all hers again by 11 p.m. at the latest.

"I have a roof leak right now, so right now the house is paying for itself," she said.

She charges about $175 an hour.

"I probably would have sold my house by now to be honest, that's the sad truth," she said.

On websites like Splacer, Peerspace, and 'This Open Space' there are a vast offering of locations listed for rent by the hour or day for private luncheons, corporate gatherings, or other functions.

"The idea is to drive more revenue to your space because we all know how expensive it is to maintain these residential spaces," Splacer, Director of Business Development, Yael Raviv said.

Raviv said renting through the sites provides a secure platform for everyone because of the strict vetting process. Still, it might not be for everybody.

"You have a certain level of comfort with strangers in your home looking at and touching your stuff," she said.

Hila Raz Harris rents out her Brooklyn home for meetings and other occasions and has also hosted her own events.

"We feel like people have been really respectful of our space. We often find it left in better shape than we left it," she said.

"You can rent your place out for four to six hours, maybe a little longer, and you can make double what you would renting it for residential use," This Open Space, CEO Yahsar Nejati said.

Nejati said not every home is right to rent.

"We reject about 15 to 20 percent that come through us, but we always give them feedback of here's what it takes to be a host," he said.

There are other considerations too.

"In many of these cases you're imposing something on your neighbors and impacting their quality of life," Montgomery McCraken, managing partner, Phyllis Weisberg said.

Weisberg said co-ops and condos may have strict regulations about commercial use, and there could be zoning and insurance issues too.

"If it's more than a one-time use, it's probably going to be deemed as commercial, and it could be subject to violations for other issues," she said.

Hourly prices for spaces range from $50 an hour to $500, and even into the thousands.