21 Best Side Hustles for Real Estate Agents

There are many creative ways for realtors and other real estate professionals to make extra money on the side. Whether you’re looking for a way to earn cash on top of a full-time job or ideas to replace your income and build a business, there are plenty of real estate side hustles.

Of course, working as a real estate agent could be a side gig or a full-time job. If it’s your primary source of income, many other side hustles use your expertise and experience.

Here are the best side hustles for real estate agents to pursue extra income.

Looking for even more options? See our list of 150+ side hustle ideas.

Side Hustles for Real Estate Agents

1. Property Management

Rental property management is an excellent side hustle for a real estate professional. You can use your knowledge of the industry and local market to find good tenants, negotiate leases, and take care of repairs and maintenance. This can be a great way to earn extra income, and it’s a perfect fit if you’re already working as a real estate broker or realtor.

You could take on a few clients and run a small side business or scale up and turn it into a full-time business. If you represent investors as a buyer’s agent, offering property management services could be a natural extension of your services. You could also start a separate property management company and hire others to do the work rather than doing it all yourself.

If you own investment properties, acting as your own property manager could be an ideal way to break into this business.

Please see How to Start a Profitable Property Management Company to learn more.

2. Rental Properties

Investing in rental properties is another excellent way to use your knowledge and earn supplemental income as a real estate investor. You can purchase properties, renovate them (if needed), and rent them out to tenants.

This can be a great passive income stream, and it’s an ideal side hustle if you’re already working as a licensed real estate agent. You’ll likely come across new listings faster than the average person, so you’ll have an advantage. You’ll also save money by acting as your buyer’s agent when you purchase the property.

There are many ways to invest in rental properties, and you can tailor your strategy to fit your goals and budget. You could buy fixer-uppers and renovate them yourself, or partner with other investors and split the profits. You could also purchase turnkey rental properties that are already generating income.

No matter which strategy you choose, investing in rental properties is a great way to earn extra income as a real estate agent and build long-term wealth.

And going back to the previous point, owning rental properties also makes it easier for you to enter the market as a property manager, so these two side hustles can be combined.

3. Flipping Houses

Flipping houses is another popular side hustle for real estate agents. This involves buying, renovating, and selling properties for a profit. It’s a great way to earn extra income and can be a lot of fun.

Flipping houses is a bit more hands-on than some other side hustles on this list, but it’s still a great option if you’re looking for something to do in your spare time. And if you’re already working as a real estate agent, you will likely have an advantage when finding good deals on properties.

Of course, it’s also possible to lose money when flipping houses. So it’s essential to research and understand the risks before you start. But if you’re comfortable with the risks, flipping houses is a great way to earn extra cash.

4. Investing

Perhaps you’re not looking to do much active work in real estate outside your full-time job. If so, you could consider investing instead of the other side hustles.

There are several different ways to invest. Since you have plenty of real estate expertise, one option is passively investing in real estate.

Several real estate crowdfunding platforms make it easy for anyone to generate passive income from commercial real estate investments. Fundrise is the most popular real estate investing platform, and you can get started with as little as $10. Historically, Fundrise returns have been excellent.

Accredited investors can also invest through platforms like CrowdStreet, Equity Multiple, and Cadre.

Aside from real estate investing, you can also invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and cryptocurrency through platforms like Public.com and Webull. Dividend stocks and index funds are two popular options for passive investors.

5. Become a Notary

Another side job for realtors is to become a notary and offer services to clients and others. You can work as a mobile notary, which means you’ll travel to meet with clients, or you can work at a physical location, like out of your real estate office.

Notaries typically charge by the document, so this is an excellent real estate side hustle if you’re looking for something flexible and easy to do.

6. Property Tax Appeals

If you’re familiar with the property tax appeals process, you could offer your services to help people save money on their property taxes. This is a great side hustle for real estate agents because it’s an area where you can use your expertise to help people.

Property tax appeals can be a bit complex, so it’s essential to understand the process before you start. But if you’re comfortable with it, this is an excellent real estate business to earn extra income.

Many homeowners don’t feel comfortable appealing their property taxes on their own, and they’d be willing to pay for some professional assistance. If you get results for a few clients, you’ll benefit from word-of-mouth advertising that will help to grow your business.

7. Start a Blog or Niche Website

Another way to use your experience and expertise is to start a blog or content-based website that covers topics related to some aspect of real estate. You could write for buyers, sellers, renters, investors, other real estate agents, or all of the above.

Starting a blog is relatively easy and can be done for less than $100. Despite the low startup costs, the income potential is virtually unlimited. Your site can be monetized through display advertising, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, or other methods.

As a real estate professional, you’ll have an advantage over other bloggers and site owners that don’t have the same experience or expertise.

The downside of this side hustle is that it requires time and patience before you’ll start making money. Most blogs and content-based sites make very little for the first six months or so. You’ll need to be willing to put in a lot of work before seeing the payoff. But once your site turns the corner, your income can grow quickly.

Please see my Guide to Building a Profitable Niche Website to learn more.

8. Start a YouTube Channel

Video is one of the most popular types of content on the internet, and YouTube is the largest video platform. If you’re not camera-shy and have some interesting things to say about real estate, you could start a YouTube channel.

There are plenty of possible topics you can cover related to real estate. You could start a general real estate channel or focus on a specific aspect, like training for real estate agents.

Like a blog or niche website, a YouTube channel can be monetized in several ways. You could sell advertising, sponsorships, or promote affiliate products. You could also sell products or courses that you create yourself.

The key to success with this side hustle is to produce quality content that people will want to watch. You’ll also need to be willing to invest time and effort to grow your channel. It takes a lot of work to get a new channel off the ground, but it can be a great way to earn passive income in the long run.

9. Start a Podcast

Podcasts are another popular type of content, and they offer an excellent way for real estate professionals to share their expertise with a broader audience. A podcast can be a great complement to a blog or YouTube channel, or it can be a stand-alone side hustle.

The key to success with this side hustle is finding a niche you can fill and regularly producing quality content. Once you’ve built up a following, you can monetize your podcast through advertising, sponsorships, or products and services that you promote.

Starting a podcast is also relatively easy and inexpensive. Although it’s helpful, you don’t even need a website or domain name at first. You can use services like iTunes and Stitcher to host your podcast for free.

Regarding equipment, a basic laptop has everything you need (including a microphone). Audacity is free software you can download for editing your audio files to improve the quality of your episodes.

10. Freelance Writing

Working as a freelance writer is an excellent option if you like writing but aren’t interested in starting a blog or niche website. There are plenty of real estate-related topics that you could write about, including tips for buyers and sellers, the state of the housing market, or advice for other real estate professionals.

You can find writing work in several ways. You can look for job postings online, contact companies and businesses directly, or work with a content marketing agency specializing in the real estate industry.

Rates for freelance writing vary widely, but your credentials in the industry can help you to attract the types of clients that pay above-average rates. If you land a few clients who need ongoing work, like many blogs and websites, you can make a great side income as a freelance writer. Overall, it’s one of our favorite side gigs for realtors.

Compared to starting a website, one of the advantages of freelance writing is that you can begin making money right away. You won’t need to wait six months or more for your site to grow before seeing any income.

11. Write a Book or Ebook

If you have a lot of knowledge and expertise to share about real estate, writing a book or ebook can be a great way to make money on the side. You could write about investing in real estate, becoming a successful landlord, or fixing and flipping properties.

Once you’ve finished your book, there are several ways to sell it. You could sell it on your own website, through Amazon, or other online retailers. You could also give it away for free to attract more attention and build up a following.

It’s possible to start this side hustle without spending any money, thanks to print-on-demand services like Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. You won’t need to spend the money to buy hundreds or thousands of copies of your book, which you may or may not be able to sell. Instead, the books will be printed as they are sold.

Writing a book or ebook can also be extremely beneficial to your career because it helps to position yourself as an expert in your field. This could lead to many other opportunities along your career path in the future. For this reason, it stands out as one of the best real estate side hustles.

12. Create an Online Course

Creating an online course is an excellent option to make passive income from your real estate knowledge. You could create a course on just about any topic related to real estate, including investing, financing, marketing, or property management.

The best way to do this is by finding a niche you can fill and providing value that other courses don’t offer. You’ll need to research to see what other courses already exist, but the effort will be worth it.

Once you’ve created your course, you can sell it using a platform like Teachable or Podia. Both platforms make it easy to set up your website to promote your course, accept orders, process payments, and provide students with access to the course materials.

Creating a quality course takes a considerable amount of time, but you’ll only need to create it once. After that, the course may generate passive income for years to come.

13. Referrals and Leads

If you’re already working with clients in the real estate industry, you can make extra money by referring them to other businesses or services they may need. For example, you could refer them to a photographer, a home inspector, or a moving company.

You could also generate leads for other real estate professionals, like agents or investors. These leads can be extremely valuable because they result in sales or commissions.

There are many ways to generate referral business or leads. You can work with a lead generation company specializing in the real estate industry or develop relationships with others who pay for leads.

14. Real Estate Wholesaling

Real estate wholesaling involves finding deeply discounted properties, assigning the contract to another buyer, and making a quick profit. It’s one of the most popular side hustles for real estate agents because it requires very little money to get started.

To find these deeply discounted properties, you must search for motivated sellers willing to sell their homes at a significant discount. You can find these sellers by searching online, driving around neighborhoods, or attending foreclosure auctions.

Once you’ve found a motivated seller, you’ll need to make an offer on the property. If the seller accepts your offer, you’ll then assign the contract to another buyer who will purchase the property from the seller at a higher price.

15. Become a Home Organizer

If you’re good at organizing and decluttering, you could start a business as a home organizer. This side hustle involves helping people to declutter and organize their homes, which can be an extremely daunting task for many people.

Home organizing can be a great real estate side hustle because you can do it on your schedule. You can also decide how much or how little you want to work.

To start, you’ll need to create a portfolio of your work to show potential clients. You can also join professional organizations like the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO) to network with other professionals in the industry.

16. Become a Home Stager

Home staging is another service real estate agents can offer to their clients. If you have an eye for design, this could be a great way to make some extra cash. You can help your clients prepare their homes for sale by using staging to make them more appealing to buyers. This can involve arranging furniture, selecting paint colors, and making other cosmetic changes.

This is an excellent side hustle for real estate agents because it’s relatively easy to get started, and there’s a high demand for the service. You can start small by offering home staging services to your clients, or you could build a business and hire other stagers to work for you.

For a more detailed guide, please see How to Become a Home Stager.

17. Real Estate Photography & Videography

If you’re a good photographer, you could make money by selling your services to real estate agents and homeowners. There are several ways to do this, such as creating a website or portfolio, joining a real estate photography network, or listing your services online.

This is an ideal real estate side hustle because it’s relatively easy to get started, and there’s a high demand for the service. You can start small by offering your services to your clients, or you could build a business and hire other photographers to work for you.

With the help of a drone, you can create beautiful aerial photos and videos that will help listings stand out.

18. Consulting or Coaching

If you have a lot of experience in the real estate industry, you could use that experience to provide consulting services to clients. You can work with individuals seeking a real estate license, small businesses, or large corporations.

This is a great option if you’re looking for a more flexible side hustle that allows you to work from home. And since you’re already an expert in real estate, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find your first few clients.

To get started, you’ll need to create a website or portfolio that showcases your experience and services.

19. Create Websites for Real Estate Agents

If you’re good at web design, you could create websites for real estate agents. This is a great way to make some extra money, and it’s something that you can do on your own time.

Thanks to platforms like WordPress, you don’t need to be a professional designer or coder to create an excellent website. Several high-quality real estate WordPress themes (templates) make it easy to create a beautiful website for yourself or your clients.

The need for an effective website is not going away, so this opportunity provides plenty of long-term income potential.

We recommend the drag-and-drop Divi Builder for creating beautiful websites with no coding.

20. Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant (VA) provides administrative, secretarial, or other support services to clients remotely. This is a great option for real estate agents who have some extra time on their hands and want to work from home.

There are many ways to get started as a virtual assistant, such as joining an online marketplace or listing your services on a freelance platform. You could also find your clients directly. It’s possible that other realtors, especially those in your local area, would be interested in hiring you to work as a VA.

21. Online Surveys

While it doesn’t require any real estate experience or expertise, taking online surveys is one of the most popular side hustles.

Several websites and apps allow you to take online surveys for cash or other rewards. Some of the most popular platforms are:

• Swagbucks
• InboxDollars
• Rakuten Insight
• Survey Junkie

Online surveys won’t make you rich, but it’s a very flexible way to make up to a few hundred dollars of extra cash per month. To maximize the amount you can make with surveys, sign up for several different survey websites to increase the number of available opportunities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts on Side Hustles for Real Estate Agents

Trying out different second jobs for real estate agents is a great way to find one that suits your skills and interests. And with so many options available, there’s sure to be something for everyone.

The best side hustles for real estate agents allow you to use your knowledge and experience to make extra money through multiple streams of income. From home staging to real estate photography, there are plenty of ways to make some extra cash on the side.