One Packhood listing earns most Irish hosts €1,000–€2,000 a year. That's a nice cheque but it's not life-changing. The hosts who build storage into a meaningful side income — €5,000+ a year — almost always have three or four listings, not one. They're not necessarily wealthy and they don't necessarily own multiple properties. They've just learned to see space they already had access to that nobody was using.
This post is the playbook for going from one listing to four, the order that works, the typical timeline, and the one mistake that cuts the income in half before you notice.
Listing #1 — your primary residence space
Almost everyone starts here. The garage. The spare room. The shed. The attic if it has floor and a hatch. Your first listing is the one you walk past every day; it's the cheapest to test the concept on because the discovery cost was zero (you already knew the space existed).
Annual gross: €1,000–€2,000 depending on city. Time invested: 90 minutes on photos + listing form, then minimal until first move-in. Test-the-platform listing. If this works for you (the booking lands, the renter is fine, the cheque arrives) you're ready to think about #2.
Listing #2 — the second space inside the same property
Most homeowners have more than one storage-able space and don't realise it. Once #1 is booked and running smoothly, walk around your house with fresh eyes. Spare room AND garage? List both. Single-car garage that could be split with a stud wall? Two listings, €70/mo each, pay back the wall in two months. Shed in the back garden? List separately as outdoor-covered storage at €40/mo. Attic with permanent ladder + a board floor? List as climate-stable indoor storage at €60–€90/mo.
Annual gross from #1 + #2 typically: €2,500–€3,500. Time invested for #2: 30 minutes (you've already done #1, you know the form).
Listing #3 — the secondary property
This is where the income compounds materially. If you (or someone in your household) have access to a second property — a parents' empty house, an investment property between tenants, a holiday cottage in Mayo, a sibling's overflow garage they're not using — that property is candidate #3.
The economics are radically better than the primary residence because there's no opportunity cost; the space was earning zero anyway. A garage at a parents' empty house in Wexford that previously held cobwebs can earn €70/mo for years. The parent doesn't care. The host doesn't even visit unless there's a problem.
Annual gross from #1 + #2 + #3: €4,000–€5,500.
Listing #4 — the dedicated investment
By the time you have three listings live and running, you understand the platform. You know what books in your area, what doesn't, what photos work, what description works. You have the unfair advantage of being a known operator on the platform.
Listing #4 is often the one where the host explicitly buys a small lockable shed (€800–€1,400 from a builders' merchant), installs it on a corner of their garden or driveway, and lists it as outdoor-covered storage. Payback period at €60/mo: 14–24 months. After that it's pure cashflow.
Annual gross from #1 + #2 + #3 + #4: €5,500–€7,500.
The mistake that cuts the income in half
The single most common mistake among multi-listing hosts: treating all four listings the same. Same description template, same photos, same price band. The renter doesn't see "you", they see four indistinguishable listings competing with each other in the same Packhood search results.
Each listing should have its own personality: a name in the title (the suburb + a feature), distinct photos, a specific description angle. "Garage in Phibsboro — alarmed, ground floor" and "Garage in Phibsboro — split-area, 2.5m wide, suits stacked boxes" book different renters even if they're 200 metres apart. Treat each listing as a separate product.
The realistic timeline
Year 1: list #1, learn the platform, earn ~€1,500. Year 2: add #2 (same property), bump to €3,000. Year 3: add #3 (secondary property), reach €4,500–€5,500. Year 4: add #4 (built shed or partition), settle around €6,000–€7,500.
The patient version takes 4 years. The aggressive version (someone with multiple properties they can move on quickly) can do all four within 6 months. Either path works — but doing all four in one weekend, before any of them have proven the playbook works for you, is the most common reason hosts abandon their listings.
When to stop
For most Irish hosts, four listings is the practical ceiling. Past that, the management layer (responding to messages, coordinating four move-ins, handling four renewals) starts to feel like a job rather than a side income. There are hosts on Packhood with 7+ listings; they're typically people who own multiple buy-to-let properties or run a small property portfolio that already had a back office.
If you're not already running a property business, four is a clean stopping point. €5,000–€7,500 of net side income is a substantial real outcome — equivalent to a 1% raise on a €500,000 investment without owning the investment.
Start with #1
List your first space. The portfolio plays only work if the first listing is live and earning. Most hosts who eventually build to four listings have their first one running within an hour of deciding to try.