Top 15 Side Hustle Ideas for Real Estate Professionals to Survive a Market Shift and Recession

American households are headed for a rough time. Consumer prices are climbing at the fastest rate since 1981, and given today’s rapid inflation, it is unlikely to fade away anytime soon.

The main tool our country uses to fight price increases is the Federal Reserve which is trying to bring inflation under control by raising interest rates. The problem with that is it can set off an economic cool down resulting in slower business growth, less hiring, and higher cost of mortgages. If all you do is chase after the next commission check, there is a good chance you are going to struggle financially.

Today we are going to cover some additional income streams that real estate agents and self-employed individuals in the industry should consider as we return to a more stable and slower market. Before we dive in it’s important to understand that your side hustle should complement your career as a real estate professional and before you launch that side hustle, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself.

What Makes a Good Side Hustle for Real Estate Professionals?

• A good side hustle is one that truly serves your clients and prospects.

• Diversifies your income so you have some leverage against changes in the real estate market.

• Doesn’t take an unreasonable amount of time to start and is inexpensive to implement.

• Can be managed with minimal time and effort

• Offers a lead magnet so your side hustle clients become your real estate clients and vice versa.

Before You Launch that Side Hustle, Ask Yourself the Following Questions

• Does it cause a conflict of interest and are you LEGALLY allowed to work in this side hustle in your state?

• Will your broker or current contracts allow you to do it and do you need to pay a percentage to them?

• Will your side hustle detract from your real estate business?

Assuming you get the green light after you ask yourself these questions, here are our top side hustles for real estate professionals:

1. Rental Property Investing

We’re big fans of buy and hold investment properties. Purchasing your own properties keeps you grounded to the emotional process your clients go through when they buy their own homes – this experience allows you to better serve them!

More importantly, you get cash flow, appreciation, tenants paying your mortgage and tax benefits like depreciation to boot! And they act as an inflation hedge because property values and rents tend to rise with inflation.

2. Airbnb Co-Hosting/Rental Arbitrage

You can use your reputation as a real estate professional to work with investors that don’t want to deal with the hassles that come with short term rentals but like the increased cash flow. You help property owners with the day-to-day management for a fee.

3. Notary

Providing notary services is a great side hustle because it takes very little time or money to get started and minimal effort to keep going. Remote Online Notary (RON) services have exploded since the pandemic. More states allow RON than ever before which means you can provide notary services from the comfort of your own home – check out sites like Notarize.com to get started.

4. Property Tax Appeals

If you know how to do a CMA, you can handle property tax appeals! Show the tax assessor’s office that they are over-valuing your client’s home for tax purposes (which happens more than you would think). Give them the correct value through a CMA and negotiate a lower taxable value. Your client gets reduced property taxes, and you earn a fee from that savings!

5. Referrals To Out of State Agents

You can build up a great source of passive income by acting as a referral source for home sellers in your area that are looking to move away. It works like this – you advertise on social median and to people in your local market that are looking to move long distance and state that you have connections with local agents everywhere.

Most people don’t know where to start when trying to find an agent in an unfamiliar area and greatly appreciate recommendations. When they reach out for an agent in a certain area, you can then negotiate a commission split with the agent you refer them to!

6. Fix-and-Flips

You are in the business of real estate which gives you incredibly valuable information and tools that the rest of the population does not have. MLS data, understanding of the market, strong referral networks, and contacts with good contractors are just the start. You can use this and other knowledge to enjoy a sizeable advantage when compared to the rest of the population if you want to invest in fix and flip properties.

7. Start a Real Estate Blog

If you have a penchant for writing, you should go all in on creating a blog. Every article you write is a potential to earn passive income in the future. If it starts to rank on Google or other sources, then you can start monetizing on it through ads or affiliate links that you promote.

8. YouTube

Like blogging, once you create content you can start to earn passive income as more and more traffic views your videos. With that said, creating a high-quality video takes time and getting traffic to the video can be difficult. If you enjoy making videos, starting your own YouTube channel can help you generate passive income and future leads for your real estate business.

9. Affiliate Relationships/Links

Another great way to earn passive income is by building relationships with other businesses in the industry and work out an arrangement where they will pay you for clients that you send their way. Think Title Companies, Lenders, House Inspectors, Landscapers, etc. Self-promotion here – we offer a referral program where we offer anywhere from $200 - $600 for each referral that successfully signs up for a ZanderFi account. You can implement the same type of program in your business!

You can also place affiliate links on your blog for products or services that you recommend. If your viewer clicks on a link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission on that purchase.

WORD OF CAUTION – you will need to disclose this relationship with your clients and make sure you comply with RESPA requirements, or you could land in hot water.

10. Courses and eBooks

As a real estate expert, you have knowledge and experience that most people don’t. Courses and eBooks are a great way to share that knowledge. You can sell the courses and books, or you can provide them for free to earn the trust of a potential client.

11. Real Estate Investment Trust or Crowdfunding

REITs and Real Estate Crowdfunding can be a great way of dipping your toe into real estate investing without too much time and effort. The downside to this strategy is that many real estate crowdfunding, and REITs have steep minimum investment amounts and often they require you to be an accredited investor.

If you are looking to get started in real estate crowdfunding, consider DiversyFund. They are well-known platform with a minimum investment of $500 and you do not have to be an accredited investor.

12. Real Estate Coaching

Real estate coaching can be a great side hustle for those that are moving towards retirement or maybe they moved out of state or country and are unable to sell real estate for whatever reason. If you have industry experience and an analytical mind, coaching others to grow their business can be a great side hustle.

13. Guiding Local Experiences

Providing personalized experiences is a great way to make some side hustle income in today’s gig economy. It’s not that crazy to think tourists might have such a great time visiting that they decide to buy a vacation home in your city!

We have a member in Colorado that takes tourists on guided ski trips and uses that experience to establish a relationship with potential future clients. And he gets to write-off his expensive equipment and ski pass to boot!

14. Rent You Rooms, Cars, and Equipment

Most everyone knowns you can earn some extra income by renting out an extra room in your house on Airbnb. But did you know that you can also rent out your car and your tools and equipment?

We have a member that utilizes bonus depreciation to write-off 100% of the purchase price of an SUV every year. She then rents out her prior vehicle on Turo and earns more than enough to cover the car payments and operating expenses on the new vehicle while also pocketing a little extra cash for herself!

15. Index Funds

This income stream is not as glamorous or as fun as the others we have mentioned but its as easy as it gets. While investing comes with risk, index funds are relatively safe investments compared to others. When you invest in an index fund, you’re investing in a bunch of different companies and industries instead of putting all your eggs in one basket. And it’s about as passive of an income stream as it gets.

Bonus – Residual Income

It would be a bit ludicrous if we didn’t talk about the elephant in the room… eXp has revolutionized the real estate sales industry by having agents recruit other agents for a share of the incoming agent’s future sales. While there is a lot of opinions out there on this model, the bottom line is that it provides a path to ongoing, passive income and we are seeing other brokerages start to offer similar incentives for their agents.

BOTTOM LINE

We have already seen how the rate hikes have impacted housing demand as we have seen layoffs in the mortgage industry and a shift in the real estate market. While it’s difficult to predict exactly how this all plays out, its important for real estate agents and others working in the industry to brace for a period of slower home sells.

Did you know that the average millionaire has 7 different streams of income and that more millionaires are made during a recession?

With that in mind, now is a great opportunity for those that are willing to put in the extra work. This recession will separate the elite from the average. Those that put in the extra hours, the creative ideas, the new strategies are going to be the ones that come out of this in a better position.

If you really plan to get rich as an agent, you are going to have to do more than just chase after the next commission check.