Real estate agents have been on a wild ride over the past year. Since COVID, many new agents have come into the industry and initially weren’t having trouble finding clients. Most of the country had a housing boom, and buyers offered well over ask, with agents guiding them along the way.
Then, interest rates started rising, the COVID housing rush died down, and things started to change.
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With that has come more bumps in the road for real estate agents, with some newer agents leaving the industry altogether.
The problem is that home prices aren’t really coming down, interest rates continue to go up, and inventory is minimal. Even though there are interested buyers, there aren’t a lot of homes available to them, and the Fed is signaling more rate increases are possible, so the freeze might not let up any time soon.
Real estate professionals can, however, integrate multiple income streams into their business that will be of value no matter the ups and downs of the crazy current or future market, which some describe as unprecedented.
Ideas for multiple revenue streams if you’re a real estate professional include:
Rental Properties
If you’re in a current financial position where you can, consider purchasing a rental property. You know the market well and how to find hidden gems. You can continue to rely on that income for the foreseeable future. If you don’t have a rental property as an agent, you overlook the importance of your skills as a negotiator and market expert.
You do need to make an upfront financial investment. Still, after that, you’ll be getting a monthly rent check that will, at minimum, cover your ownership expenses and potentially provide you with profit as well.
Along with the traditional landlord setting, you can also consider ownership in a property that would have value as a short-term rental.
Coaching
One of the fastest-growing ways to add another income stream for real estate professionals is to offer coaching services. Younger or less experienced real estate agents often seek valuable insight and information from people with more experience.
Along with in-person coaching within your personal network, you can also offer virtual coaching sessions.
Digital Products
You can share your expertise as a professional in real estate by creating digital products in so many ways. The great thing about digital products is that they truly are passive sources of income. You can create a single product and continue to earn money continuously over time with minimal ongoing effort.
Examples of viable digital products include eBooks, video courses, and slideshow-based courses.
When you’re creating a digital product, your biggest focus is on creating true value for customers, which will allow you to continue earning revenue.
Digital products have low overhead, and you can start with essentially nothing but your own time. They’re also incredibly scalable.
As a realtor, you don’t have to think about just offering digital products geared toward an audience of others who work in a similar profession. That’s great about real estate—you can create value for diverse audiences, including home buyers and sellers, home stagers, photographers, landlords, and more.
Once you’ve identified your first targeted audience, you want to consider what your digital product can do for them and how you can solve particular pain points they might have.
Building a Team
Building a team is a bit more traditional way for real estate agents to build out their income streams, but it can lead to high revenue. When you build a team, you’re allowing yourself to earn on top of your own sales. In theory, you’re getting so many leads that you can then give them to other agents for a commission split once a deal closes.
Add-On Client Services
There are a slew of ancillary client services you could excel at offering existing clients as part of growing your revenue streams. For example, you could offer staging services for sellers or design services for new homeowners. Home organization services are another option, or you could offer services helping sellers, even if they aren’t your clients, prepare their homes for sale in a more hands-on way rather than just offering advice.
Monetize Your Online Content
If you’re a real estate agent, you have valuable information you can share with audiences outside your clients or local network. Going online to monetize your content is the perfect scalable way to do that.
Examples of monetizing online content include creating a blog, adding advertising or affiliate links to relevant products or services, or doing something similar with a YouTube channel. On YouTube, once you reach a certain number of subscribers, you can start having ads included in your videos, and you earn a share of the revenue.
Real estate as a career can be dynamic and ever-changing, and integrating multiple revenue flows into your business is a good way to increase your earnings and stay ahead of any downtimes in the market.
