Whether you just passed your real estate exam or you’re a seasoned real estate agent, it’s smart to have multiple streams of income while working to build your real estate business! The truth is that no matter how many years you have been a real estate agent, you can’t completely predict the market. I’ve personally gone through a few market shifts, and it is a huge stress reliever to have another source of income when my real estate business isn’t as busy as I need it to be.
I’ve compiled a list of some of the best real estate side hustles that will not only bring in extra income but also make you a more well-rounded business owner and help grow your real estate business.
1. Freelance Real Estate Writer
Starting this freelance contributor position for The Close has been the best decision, and I wish I had started it sooner! If you enjoy educating other realtors about the ins and outs of the job and you enjoy writing articles, I’d recommend looking into a position like this. Freelance writing is also a fantastic tool to grow your real estate business and credibility. Potential clients want to see that you are knowledgeable in your profession. Post your articles on your social media platforms and send them as part of your email campaigns.
Each online publication may have its own interview or application process, so contact them directly to see if they are hiring freelancers and be ready to submit your resume and application. Some publications also want writing samples. A huge plus about this side gig is that it’s free to start!
2. Real Estate Investor
Real estate investing can come in different forms, like wholesaling, rental properties, flipping homes, or other investment opportunities. This past year, I signed up to take an eight-day online investment course, and I’m so thankful that I did. I learned so much and have been able to start working toward building my investment portfolio as another real estate side hustle.
It’s beneficial to start investing in real estate because, as realtors, we don’t have 401(k)s or retirement plans offered by our employers, so having an investment portfolio will secure savings. It also creates consistent monthly income from rental properties and generational wealth for your family.
I recommend taking a course from the Women’s Real Estate Investors Network (WREN) (plus, it only cost me $17!). If you don’t want to sign up for the masterclass training, they also offer other resources, tools, and a podcast. Another great online course that teaches you the fundamentals of analyzing suitable real estate investments is the Udemy Real Estate Investing Course. They are currently offering this course for just $13.99.
If you are interested in the opportunity to flip homes, I recommend visiting Kiavi. It is currently offering an excellent e-book all about flipping. Plus, many of its resources cover other types of investments and financing resources.
3. Property Manager
A property manager’s duties can vary drastically according to your business plan. Still, the most common responsibilities are marketing and renting vacancies, managing maintenance requests, and collecting rent.
If you have a lot of investor clients who purchase rental properties and need help with management, this may be the perfect side hustle for you!
Before starting this side hustle, you must check the rules and guidelines about performing property management duties according to the state where you are licensed. There may be fees associated with taking a course or getting a certification if required.
If you are considering property management as a side hustle, I recommend looking into a company called TenantCloud. They are a cloud-based property management software company that helps collect payments online and screens potential clients. Plus, they provide fantastic educational resources about holding a landlord role.
How to Become a Property Manager in 6 Easy Steps
4. Home Staging
I know quite a few real estate agents who make extra income by staging homes. This is a smart side hustle if staging interests or comes naturally to you (check with your state licensing board to ensure this isn’t a conflict of interest since this could vary by location). As a listing agent, offer this service to your clients as part of your selling services! When you don’t have a lot of listings of your own, you can make extra money by providing your services to other agents for their listings.
The startup cost for this will be determined by whether you want to purchase the furniture you want to use, how much furniture you want to keep in stock, and the quality of the pieces you buy. If you don’t want to utilize your own furniture, you could also work part time for an existing staging company.
📌 Pro Tip
If you want to add home staging to your resume, I recommend checking out The Ultimate Guide to Home Staging for some excellent tips and a do-it-yourself shopping guide!
5. Photography or Videography
If you already own a professional camera and photography is your hobby, then this real estate side hustle is definitely for you. Easily start making money by offering to take listing and marketing photos for other agents. Or, if videos and editing are more your thing, help other real estate agents create videos for their YouTube channels or Instagram pages. You also can offer services outside of real estate.
Here are some ideas for real estate-related and non-related photography and videography:
- Listing photos
- Headshots
- Various social media posts
- Lifestyle pictures
- Pregnancy or newborn announcements
- Graduation celebration
- Proposals/engagement
- Birthdays
- Holiday events
Plus, this is a way to meet new people outside your client database and potentially grow your real estate business. I recommend marketing your services on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to get started.
6. Teaching or Coaching
One of my favorite side hustles for real estate agents is teaching different real estate courses or coaching agents and brokers. Apply and start doing this part time for a company like Champions School of Real Estate (in Texas) or either doing online or in-person classes. This side hustle can also grow your real estate business in many ways. If you offer courses that teach the buying or selling process, it could directly enable you to meet new potential clients. If you want to have a real estate team, offering other real estate agents coaching and knowledge helps you meet agents looking to join a team.
Another option is to launch online courses or a coaching program on your own and charge a fee. If you want to launch an online educational course, I recommend checking out Kajabi. They offer a free 14-day trial, and the basic plan starts at $149 monthly after the trial.
7. Selling Digital Products
This is a popular one right now and can be quite profitable. Once you create the digital product of your choice, you can sell it while you sleep! Deciding what type of product you’d like to create is important. Would you like to provide more value to sellers, buyers, or other realtors? Then, decide if an e-book, seller’s guide, buyer’s guide, social media template, or something else fits your style and promotes your business. You could also write an e-book on any non-real estate-related topic you want and sell it—the possibilities are endless.
Most real estate agents I follow on Instagram have a digital product for sale. A lot of real estate agents use a platform called Canva to create their digital products. Canva’s free subscription allows you to create custom graphics and PDFs using their drag-and-drop tools. Once your product is created, there are many different platforms you can use to sell these products, like Stan Store or Etsy.
8. Virtual Assistant
There are limitless options for the tasks you could perform as a virtual assistant (VA), for example, making calls to leads, creating lists of new leads, creating and managing email campaigns, sending monthly newsletters, or creating mailers. I personally love that this side hustle is remote, freeing up time for you to travel or to continue building your real estate business. Some individuals will want to hire a VA on a contract for a specific project, whether one week or a year. It could also be a month-to-month setup.
Your VA position can be real estate-related or something entirely different, like managing someone’s social media marketing or doing admin work for any business. I recommend joining Facebook groups such as “Virtual Assistant Savvies” to get started for free. Here, you can post on the page if you are looking for a virtual assistant position. Others will also post if they are hiring!
9. Transaction Coordinator
If you love the transaction side of the buying or selling process, this may be a good option for you. To begin a role as a transaction coordinator, you will usually need experience working on transactions and handling the paperwork from consultation to closing. This experience makes it a perfect side hustle for those already in the real estate biz.
There should not be any extra cost for you to begin. This role could be a salaried position as part of a real estate team, or you could get paid per transaction and have a working contract with multiple real estate agents. When I started real estate, I was on a team, and my transaction coordinator was paid an annual salary. Plus, she was an active real estate agent who closed several deals yearly. She had created a pretty sweet setup, which you can do too!
10. Showing Assistant
A common real estate agent side hustle is to be a showing assistant for other agents. It’s a quick way to make extra money when you’re not busy but know other agents who are. Connect with other agents in your office and let them know you are available to show homes to their buyers if they are too busy, sick, or out of town.
How it works:
- The buyer’s agent will coordinate the day and time of the showing with their client
- The buyer’s agent will confirm that you’re available to show the property for them
- The agent or their assistant will provide you with home addresses
- You’ll show the home to their clients
It’s a good idea to look at the MLS for information about the home before you go. Then, you and the other agent can decide if you need to relay or respond to any follow-up questions or if they will speak with their clients after the showing. You will also discuss your pay with the other agent ahead of time, and they should pay you soon after the showing for the amount you agreed upon.
11. Inside Sales Agent or Receptionist
As I mentioned, I wish I had an extra income stream when I started in real estate five years ago. Another option is getting paid to be an inside sales agent (ISA). This person makes calls, sends emails and texts, and reaches out to potential buyers and sellers. They set listing appointments and buyer consultations for other agents but do not attend these appointments.
Another similar side gig is to work part time, answering calls and doing administrative work at the front desk of your real estate brokerage’s office. When building up your client database, getting used to speaking with and meeting as many people as possible is beneficial. The good news is neither of these would be an extra cost to begin as a real estate agent!
12. Monetize Your Lifestyle
I want to mention a few ideas that aren’t directly related to real estate, yet I believe they are fantastic ways to grow your real estate business and make money by doing more things that bring you joy. I am a brand partner for an online athleisure wear and lifestyle company. There are many different types of companies that you can partner with and make extra income. Plus, these companies allow you to meet and connect with other people from all over the world.
I’m also working toward starting a “mommy and me” style workout class. I have a two-year-old little girl who loves to dance and work out with me, so this is a perfect way for me to spend quality time with her, inspire other mothers, and make a little extra income. If you have children, think about how you could offer some type of extracurricular activity, lesson, class, or event for other families too.
Consider starting an Etsy shop if your hobbies are more of a crafting style. You can sell whatever it is that you make! Soaps, stationery, woodwork art, monogrammed items—the list goes on. These are also items you could use in a closing gift basket for your real estate clients and sell to other agents for their clients too.
How to Choose the Best Real Estate Side Hustles for You
There are so many options out there, and choosing which side hustle makes the most sense for you can be overwhelming. I would advise you to list a few real estate side hustles that interest you and then create a pros and cons list about each option. The one with the most pros wins!
Before you choose your top options, here is a list of questions to consider and ask yourself. These questions will guide you in choosing between the many possible real estate side jobs and finding the one that perfectly complements your growing real estate business.
- How can you leverage your current skills? Think of things that will not take you a lot of time and energy to learn.
- What are your hobbies? Think about things you already do and enjoy doing and can also get paid to do!
- How big of a commitment would you like to make? Think about how many hours and days of the week you’d like to spend on your side hustle. Consider if you’d like it to be remote work or in-person.
- Would you like this side gig to be long term, short term, or seasonal? Think about how you want it to fit into and grow with your real estate business.
- How much money would you like to spend on it? Consider the startup, monthly, or ongoing fees needed to keep your real estate side hustle going.
What to Do When Your Real Estate Business Picks Up
Your real estate business will pick up, and you will experience busy seasons, so be prepared for that! Decide how much time and energy you give to each part of your business and your new side hustle. Think about what areas of your business you enjoy the most and where your strongest skill sets are. I recommend hiring an assistant to help you with the other parts! You could also hire an assistant or intern to step in and help with your side hustle. You may need to hire an assistant for both if you get busy enough!
When more clients are reaching out to you for help than you can manage, consider bringing on another agent as a partner or building a team of agents. If you prefer to stay as an individual agent, you can hire an assistant or transaction coordinator to help manage the paperwork and help keep you on track with deadlines. A showing assistant can save time driving around to show homes.
Hiring an inside sales agent can be great if you enjoy being out in the field showing your clients’ homes. They will continue making calls and setting new appointments while you handle current business. I have hired a few virtual assistants in the past, and I used the Facebook page I mentioned in the list above to meet them (Virtual Assistant Savvies).
I love how these positions are also potential side hustles for other real estate agents who may just be starting or going through a slower production season. It all comes full circle!
Now Let’s Get Hustlin’
The beauty of side jobs for realtors is that we can try multiple things until we find what works best for us! You don’t have to wait for a “perfect opportunity.” The idea is to create your dream scenario, which sometimes takes trial and error. So get started, get hustlin’, and build a life you love!
Please share if you have personal experience in a successful real estate side hustle that I haven’t mentioned above. Or, if you already have one of the jobs I have listed above and are interested in real estate as a side hustle, let’s get you started. Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
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