2018 was a great inaugural year for the Real Estate Side Hustles Blog and Recession-Proof Realtor®!

Thanks to everyone who joined our growing community this year! We’re reaching more and more real estate professionals every day to show them how to add new income streams and recession-proof their real estate businesses!

If you’ve been following along this year, you’ve learned how to:

• Add new services to your business to make more money and recession-proof your business
• Increase passive income to give yourself more freedom to focus on serving your clients
• Earn passive leads through a professional website with an effective real estate blog

To close out the year so we can start looking forward to 2019, we’re going to count down our Top 10 posts from 2018.

Here we go!

2018 Top 10 Real Estate Side Hustles Blog Posts

10. Introduction to SEO for Realtors

SEO (search engine optimization) is a critical component of your online presence. SEO is what helps search engines like Google find your site and recommend your site in Googlers’ search results.

With so many buyers and sellers looking for real estate agents online, you’re missing a HUGE chunk of leads if these searchers can’t find you online.

The problem is, you’re probably not an SEO expert. So how can you make sure your SEO is up-to-par? Easy. You read Introduction to SEO for Realtors, you learn the basics of SEO, and you implement those basics asap!

9. How to Make Money with Property Tax Appeals

I can’t believe more agents don’t offer property tax appeal services! You’re leaving money on the table and missing the opportunity to recession-proof your business.

I know property tax appeals sound about as fun as waiting in an empty house for buyers who are running late. But it’s actually mostly about valuing real estate and negotiating (which you already know how to do and probably enjoy!).

Here’s how this works:

• County Assessors often over-value property for tax purposes. Not intentionally. They just use formulas to calculate increases for the whole county each year, so their calculations typically don’t reflect the real market value of each property.
• Homeowners, or their representatives (you!), just need to show the county the correct value for the home.
• The county will adjust the value and reduce your clients’ tax bill. And you get a percentage of that tax savings.

To learn more about how you can add property tax appeal services to your real estate business, check out How to Make Money with Property Tax Appeals.

8. 20 Affordable Closing Gifts Guaranteed to Impress Your Clients

Are you looking for the perfect closing gift for your buyers, sellers, or investors?

You want the gift to be impressive. You want the gift to gently remind your clients of you to help keep you top-of-mind. And you also want the cost of the gift to fit into your budget.

That’s exactly what you’ll find in 20 Affordable Closing Gifts Guaranteed to Impress Your Clients.

Give the list a browse and be ready to wow your clients at closing.

7. How to Crush Your First Real Estate Blog Post

Some agents have a hard time coming up with blog content. So in How to Crush Your First Real Estate Blog Post, we basically tell you exactly what to write to knock that first post out of the park. We give you the headline, the keywords to maximize SEO), and a complete outline for that first blog post.

But we don’t stop there. We also offer up a list of over 100 blog post topics to keep you posting all year long.

6. Top 10 Real Estate Investing Tips for New Investors

As a real estate pro, you know real estate is a great investment. Maybe the best investment.

If you’re not already investing in rental properties, you should join the game! And Top 10 Real Estate Investing Tips for New Investors will help you get started.

I wrote the post based on my personal experience as a real estate investor with a small SoCal residential portfolio. I know what it takes to get started and what it takes to find success in real estate investing. And I’m happy to share my tips with you.

5. 10 Books to Teach You How to Be a Successful Real Estate Agent

Who wants a shortcut to real estate success?

These 10 books will let you build your real estate business on the shoulders of real estate giants. Whether you’re a new agent or an industry veteran, you’ll find books on our list to help you take your career to the next level.

4. 5 Ways to Make Money When Real Estate Sales are Slow

Some real estate markets grind to a halt during the winter months.

The bad news is: this makes it more difficult to close transactions and earn a commission.

The good news is: this slow period gives you the opportunity to add a new income stream to your real estate business.

You don’t need to run out and get a part-time job when sales slow. You can add services (like those property tax appeals we mentioned earlier!) to your business that will increase your income while giving more value to your clients.

Check out 5 Ways to Make Money When Real Estate Sales are Slow for more money-making ideas!

3. The Best Passive Income Ideas for Realtors®

Speaking of increasing income…

How much passive income are you currently making each month? Do you have investments like rental properties or dividend-generating stocks to supplement your income?

How about digital assets like eBooks and Courses that make you money while you sleep? And have you monetized your real estate blog yet?

In The Best Passive Income Ideas for Realtors®, we show you several ways to make money passively. Because that’s the best way to financial independence.

2. The New Agent’s Guide to Launching a Real Estate Website

If you don’t already have a website of your own (and no, that page on your Broker’s site doesn’t count), 2019 is the year you need to get one!

The benefits of owning your own website are too many and too substantial to ignore. And it doesn’t have to cost much money!

In The New Agent’s Guide to Launching a Real Estate Website, we’ll show you your different options for getting your own website.

And for anyone looking for the most cost-effective route, we’ll even show you how to DIY your site! No programming, coding, or website management experience required.

1. 25+ Ways to Make Money as a Real Estate Agent

Our #1 Best post for 2018 has to be our most popular post: 25+ Ways to Make Money as a Real Estate Agent.

Just like the title implies, this post gives you over 25 ways you can supplement your real estate income with real- estate related side hustles.

We believe in diversifying income streams to make more money, serve more people, and truly recession-proof your real estate business. And each item on this 25+ list does exactly that.

Pick any of these ways to make money to make 2019 your best year yet!

BONUS: 5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Real Estate Business

5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Real Estate Business was just published last week, so this post is just starting to get some love. We have a feeling it’s going to be a favorite among our community as more agents embrace the market correction beginning across most of the US. There’s no doom-and-gloom in this post. It just provides actionable advice for savvy agents to thrive in any market.

Thanks again to everyone for making 2018 a success! Here’s to a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2019!