People with no imagination like to say you need money to make money, if that is true explain to me how a plumber makes $50-150 an hour.
You don't need money to make money, all you need is initiative, hard work, and sometimes a little creativity.
That's not to say that having money isn't useful, it certainly helps, and as a real estate investor, you need plenty of cash.
But you don't have to be born into a wealthy family and have a trust fund to become rich — all you need is a high savings rate and a real estate side hustle or two to earn investment money.
Why start a real estate side business?
Besides making some extra cash, there are plenty of other benefits to having a real estate side hustle. Here are some of them:
Reason Description Additional Income A real estate side hustle can bring in significant supplemental income through rental income, commissions, or resale profits. Financial Independence A real estate side hustle can contribute to financial independence and stability by diversifying your income sources and building wealth through real estate appreciation and investments. Skill Development Working in real estate allows you to develop a variety of skills, including negotiation, market analysis, property management, and financial planning. Flexibility Many real estate side hustles offer flexible schedules, allowing individuals to work part-time and manage their responsibilities alongside a full-time job. Expanding Your Network Working in real estate expands your professional network by connecting you with other investors, agents, and industry professionals. Leveraging Existing Assets Leveraging current assets, such as vacant rooms or real estate, can provide additional income with minimal additional investment. Market Opportunities The real estate market often has numerous opportunities to profit, especially in growing or undervalued areas. Tax Benefits Real estate investment offers tax benefits, including deductions for mortgage interest, property taxes, and depreciation. Passive Income Potential Certain real estate activities, such as rental properties and REITs, can generate passive income with relatively little ongoing effort. Personal Growth and Satisfaction The process of managing a property, closing a deal, or improving a home can be personally rewarding and fulfilling.
19 Real Estate Side Hustle Ideas
When researching ways to make money with a real estate side hustle, consider these gig ideas: From working part-time as a real estate agent to becoming a landlord or Airbnb arbitrage, there are many options for real estate side hustles.
1. Become a real estate agent
Required skills: Communication skills, negotiation skills, market knowledge
Take the course, pass the test, join a real estate agency and start earning money as a part-time real estate agent right away.
Keep in mind that the vast majority of a real estate agent's job is marketing, not showing homes.
Given the saturation of real estate agents in most markets, getting your name out there and finding clients is hard work. Part-time agents can earn high commissions by doing just a few hours of listing-related work, but that ignores the hundreds of hours spent on marketing.
So going back to the course you are taking, it will not teach you anything about marketing or the skills you need to be a real estate agent. It will teach you the laws you need to follow, but that will not actually help you in your day to day job. Plan to learn the skills you need to be a successful real estate agent from an agent.
Working as a part-time real estate agent may or may not make you a lot of money, but if you like the work, you can always quit your day job and become a full-time agent.
2. Becoming a Notary Public
Required skills: Attention to detail, legal knowledge, communication skills
Becoming a notary public does not require a lot of skill or education.
Notaries perform a variety of duties, but as a side job in real estate, they primarily consider being a closing agent. They present real estate transaction documents to buyers and sellers, verify identities, and notarize documents. Mortgage lenders also require a notary to conduct refinance closings.
Some settlements take place at a registered office, but many take place off-site, meaning you'll be driving out to wherever the parties decide to settle – whether that's appealing or not depends on how much you like driving and getting out of the house.
However, lenders and registration companies are increasingly accepting virtual notarized documents. If you'd prefer to work from home, consider earning extra income as a virtual notary public, one of the many disruptive changes technology is bringing to the real estate industry.
Ultimately, your workload (and income) will depend on you being able to network with settlement agents and get hired to do settlements, so if you go this route, network early and often to build your client list.
3. Add an ADU to your home
Required Skills: Project management, construction knowledge, budgeting skills.
One of the many ways to house hack is by adding an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) to your home.
This separate living space has a full bathroom, a kitchen (or kitchenette), and a private entrance. ADUs can be rented out to long-term tenants or short-term renters on Airbnb or VRBO.
Ideally, your rent will cover most or all of your housing costs and you will earn free housing.
You don't have to worry about networking, a list of potential clients, or building a real estate business from scratch – just add a steady stream of income from your home.
4. Rent your home on Airbnb
Required Skills: Hospitality Management, Marketing Skills, Customer Service Skills
We all know about real estate side hustles, and while we won’t go into detail here, here are some ideas you might not have thought of.
You can rent out a room, part of a room, or your entire home when you're not using it. For example, if you travel a lot or often stay with a significant other or your parents, you could rent out your home on Airbnb. Or, if you're a snowbird or someone who spends a lot of time elsewhere, you could rent out your home when you're not using it.
No property construction or renovation is required, just extra income for a home that sits empty.
By the way, you don't have to own a home to do this. A friend of mine rented out a spare bedroom and bathroom in the apartment she rented, and she found that renting it out for two long weekends each month covered most of the rent.
You also need to figure out how Airbnb hosting works in light of local regulations and whether it's a sustainable business model based on what you're getting into.
What’s more, you don’t even have to live in a property to rent it on Airbnb.
Read related article: The best way to find pre-foreclosure property listings.
Related Read: What Moves the Dollar?
5. Rental Arbitrage
Required skills: Negotiation skills, market analysis, financial management
Rental arbitrage is when you sign a long-term lease, furnish it, and rent it out on Airbnb or VRBO, or even better, rent it out to long-term tenants like traveling nurses or business travelers who need a furnished home for a few months.
You can leverage the difference between the cost of long-term rentals and the premium you would pay for Airbnb or long-term accommodations. You can earn rental income every month without actually buying a rental property.
It’s a great way to get started in real estate investing with little cash.
6. Buy a rental property
Required skills: Digital marketing, communication skills, creativity
Or, of course, you could buy your first rental property. Or your second, or your tenth, and continue to grow your real estate portfolio and passive income stream.
Of course, not everyone wants to be a landlord, but for those looking to take a more hands-on approach to investing, rental properties offer great benefits.
Of course, there's also rental cash flow. With our rental cash flow calculator, you can predict your average monthly income in advance. That means you'll never make a bad investment again. Plus, because your mortgage payments stay constant even as rents go up, your cash flow will only get better over time.
Property values also (usually) increase over time, and your renter will pay off the mortgage on your behalf even as property values rise.
Landlords also get tax deductions for their rental properties. You can deduct every expense you can think of, from transportation to your home office to property management fees and repairs. Plus, you can deduct paper expenses like depreciation, so you can write off a loss on your taxes even though you're actually earning cash flow.
Want all these benefits without the hassle of being a landlord? Invest in a passive real estate syndicate. If you don't want to invest alone, we pool your money together to invest in new syndicates each month in our Real Estate Investment Club.