5+ Side Hustles for Real Estate Agents

Many people may get into the real estate business, at first, as a way to make money on the side. Perhaps they’re working a full-time, 9-5 job, and they want to save up a little more money while simultaneously transitioning into a second career that has a lot more flexibility. 

But, the truth is, unless you’re doing a kick-a$$ job, or you’re working in a multi-million dollar market, the average real estate agent only closes on about 12 properties a year.  So, once a month if you’re lucky, and even at that rate, you’re not doing too bad. 

However, making money in this industry is not always consistent. Depending on the health of the housing market and the economy (especially in your given area), there will be good months and bad months, and there could be stretches without a whole lot going on and money being made or not being made. And, when unpredictable circumstances take place – for instance, a global pandemic – it may motivate you to get a side-hustle for your initial side-hustle. 

Whether you’re suffering because of what’s going on right now, or you simply want to have a back-up plan for the future, here are some ways to make some extra cash.

1) Take Advantage of Investment Opportunities

What does a real estate agent have that others don’t? Well, a lot of things, but for the sake of this piece – access to the MLS. You also, of course, have a plethora of knowledge about the housing market, the process of buying and selling a home, etc., etc. Although you may not have direct investment experience or background, there’s definitely a way to use your experience as an agent to get into investing as a side-hustle, even if it means partnering up with an investor who needs your help as much as you need theirs. 

Remember, there are certain ethics involved in this so that you don’t violate your code as an agent when, for instance, convincing a desperate seller of the true value of their home. But, as you know, as long as you disclose your own personal involvement/interest, you’re allowed to buy homes, flip homes, rent-out homes…whatever you want! 

2) Sell Your Knowledge

Speaking of all that knowledge you have, a great side-hustle for real estate agents is to make some money off that knowledge! We get it – you don’t often have the energy to write content for your own real estate website, so why would you go out of the way to do it as a side-hustle? 

Well, there are two answers to this. One is that you should absolutely spend the time ramping up content for your business, whether it’s your listing descriptions, your ads, your social media, etc. Statistics show that this will only work in your favor and essentially, bring you more money. In addition to this, though, you can also sell your knowledge by offering to consult on websites like Cambly, or creating a real estate course on a website like Udemy or Coursera, or a podcast. It may take some time before things like this start generating streams of income, but if you have the time, it’s good to get it set-up. 

3) Get a Skill to Work Online

It’s very easy to make money online these days if you know how to go about it. The first thing to do is to think about a skill that you already have or that you’re willing to learn. For instance, it could be something like writing, editing, translating or even coding. Take a look at websites like Fiverr and Upwork to see what type of jobs are out there that interest, and what skill-set/qualifications they’re looking for. Online work can be very niche-y, so even if you specialize in one skill, you can often find work. Here are some ideas:

• Teach English online – If you have a TESOL certification, there are many websites where you can teach English to students around the world. It may not make you a ton of money, but you can expect to earn between $10 and $30 an hour, depending on your experience and qualifications!
• Content Writing/Editing (for real estate) – If you like writing and you’re good at it, there are many places to write content for websites, and writing for real estate can be an excellent place to start! Set your own prices – some work hourly or some work by the project. The same goes for editing, copywriting, etc. And, if you don’t necessarily want to write for real estate, you can find writing jobs on freelancing websites like Problogger, Fiverr, Upwork, and also sites like Craigslist!
• Translating – Do you speak and/or write in another language? Then, you can find translating gigs on almost all of the sites we mentioned above.
• Transcribing – There are many jobs where you can create transcriptions of an interview or podcast. There’s also a site called Rev where it’s solely for transcribers.
• Digital Marketing – If you’re a good real estate agent, chances are you’ve already done a ton of digital marketing, and maybe without even realizing it. There are many different subsets of work beneath digital marketing, like Facebook marketing, social media marketing, Google Ads, etc. 
• Coding/Analytics/IT – There’s a lot of debate about whether or not coding boot camps or other similar courses in IT are actually worth it, but if this is something that interests you, there’s quite a lot of money that can be made.

These are just a few ideas on how to make money online. But, if you’re not seeing anything that particularly interests you or that you feel you’d be able to do, then visit a freelance website like Fiverr, Upwork, Remote.co, Guru, Flexjobs, or even AngelList to see what types of opportunities exist. 

4) Start a Service Related to Real Estate

You know the real estate business in and out, and if you really think about it, there are many different ways to branch out and make money, even if you’re not closing on homes as much as you usually do. For example, if you notice that a lot of the sellers you’re working with could really benefit (and, benefit all parties involved) from decent staging, then why not start a little staging business on the side? Know a lot of real estate agents in your area who could use some swag? Then start to do some casual t-shirt designs. You can decide how much you want to invest in this side business, but it may be worth it to have it already going if things don’t come back to normal for a while (and, for other slow months in the future).

5) Look for Roles in Your Community

A job is a job, and there’s nothing wrong with honest work. Once you start working as a real estate agent, it can be hard to think about going back to an “ordinary” job. What did you do before you became a real estate agent? If you had another role that you feel comfortable doing and getting back into easily, then go for it! (Of course, we understand that unemployment is high across the board right now.) 

But, if you like doing something, you know how to do it, and the money is okay, who cares if you have to take it up part-time for a while until things get back to normal. In any job with flexibility like real estate, it’s important that you never put all your eggs in one basket, anyway. 

Don’t quit, and don’t give up. Being a real estate agent means a lot of ups and downs, anyway, even when there isn’t a global pandemic. Having some side hustles or another job can help take some of the stress away and ensure you’ll always have income even when times are tough. 

Do you have any side hustles? Let us know in the comments below!