Real Estate

Real estate investing comes in many different flavors, including:

wholesaling (often no money down)
traditional buy-and-hold rental properties
fix-and-flips
vacation rentals
raw land investing

I’m even experimenting with Fundrise (affiliate link), a crowdsourced commercial real estate investing platform.

Which one is best depends on your goals, available time and money to invest, and risk tolerance.

For example, while I LOVE the idea of building a mini real estate empire and having tenants pay off my mortgages, the direct cash returns and the risks involved don’t get me that excited. At least for the moment, I’ve steered toward some more passive real estate investing options.

Check out these real estate-themed posts and podcast episodes and choose which strategy makes the most sense for you.

Passive Real Estate Investing: Build Cash Flow and Equity – without the Sweat!

December 3, 2019December 3, 2019

Real estate investing is perhaps one of the oldest side hustles in existence.

Buy a house, rent it out, and build wealth. It’s a tried and true formula, and certainly a way to stop trading time for money.

This idea was popularized by books like Rich Dad Poor Dad, explaining (often with real estate as an example) how you can “escape the rat race” when income from assets you control exceeds your monthly expenses.

But real estate investing comes in many different “flavors” — and some take more time and money than others to get started with.

358: House Hacking 101: Live Free and Turn Your Biggest Expense into a Profit Center

December 3, 2019October 24, 2019

What if you could make your rent or mortgage payment go away?

Or, what if instead of paying that expense every month, your living situation actually paid you?

It’s not as far-fetched as it may sound.

In fact, that’s exactly what today’s guest, Craig Curelop, has done by intentionally “house hacking” over the past few years.

350: Is Real Estate Your Next Income Stream? Rental Property Q & A

December 3, 2019August 29, 2019

Buy a house.

Rent it out.

Tenants pay it off for you.

It’s possibly one of the oldest side hustles in the books, right?

Done right, owning rental properties can be an attractive long-term income and wealth-building strategy. But done wrong, it can be a recipe for headaches and a mountain of debt.

330: Land Flipping Revisited: From Zero to $10,000 a Month on the Side

March 16, 2020April 11, 2019

Roberto Chavez started his raw land flipping side hustle a little over a year ago, and with persistence, has already built it into 5-figures of monthly revenue.

This is a business model that was first introduced to me by Mark Podolsky, from TheLandGeek.com, in episode 108 of The Side Hustle Show.

He called it “the best passive income model” because it avoids “the 3 T’s” of traditional real estate investing: tenants, toilets, and termites.

292: Free Houses: How to Build a $1 Million Real Estate Portfolio on the Side

December 10, 2019July 19, 2018

Austin Miller built a $1.2 million real estate portfolio at 31 years old — for free.

He’s a side hustling real estate investor specializing in “creative” financing deals — houses he can buy without using his own money.

280: How to Start a Bounce House Rental Business (Investing in “Inflatable” Real Estate)

November 6, 2018April 26, 2018

Corey Jeffreys turned an $800 investment into $3k in the first year and has been growing his business and adding more automated processes each year.

His entrepreneurial adventure began by exploring the world of real estate investing, when he happened upon a slightly different rental business model: inflatable bounce houses.

258: 20% Cash on Cash in Mobile Home Park Investing? The Real Estate Side Hustle You Probably Hadn’t Considered

October 10, 2018November 23, 2017

It’s like owning a parking lot, Jefferson Lilly explained. And you can earn 20% cash on cash returns too.

That got my attention, though those returns are coming from a surprising real estate niche: mobile home parks.

247: How To Shortcut Your Financial Freedom with Short-Term Rentals ($15k a Month, Part-Time)

January 31, 2019September 14, 2017

Zeona McIntyre is earning $12-18k a month through her portfolio of vacation rental properties and her “co-hosting” service for other property owners.

All this has afforded Zeona financial independence at a very young age, as she built her operation largely by piggybacking on the growing popularity of Airbnb.

222: 5 Real Estate Side Hustles You Can Start on the Cheap

December 3, 2019March 23, 2017

Chad Carson is a 30-something semi-retired real estate mogul, who together with his business partner, oversees a portfolio of 90+ rental units.

In fact, he and his wife are in the middle of an exciting adventure — a year abroad in Ecuador with their two daughters.

But of course he didn’t start there. Fresh off the football field at Clemson, Chad’s real estate career started more modestly by “bird dogging” and house hacking — two of the tactics he shares in this week’s show.

169: The Best Passive Income Model: Raw Land Investing Update (Part 2)

December 10, 2019April 15, 2016

This is the second in what will (at least) be a 2-part series on side hustlers earning income from their land investment endeavors.

In this special Friday edition of the show, I’m joined by Chris Pritchard. Chris is a software developer by day, but has built his land investing business up to $1500/mo in recurring revenue.

In addition, Chris does the occasional cash flip and also has more than $70,000 worth of land payments under contract. Not bad for a year of dedicated focus and effort!

Usually Hustling, Occasionally Social