Who says business and pleasure have to be separate? These days, it’s common to have a “side hustle,” especially if you’re not in a salaried position. What these often boil down to is a person monetizing their hobbies. That said, your real estate career probably keeps you too busy—and hopefully too successful—to consider dividing your attention like this. That means if you want to monetize your hobbies, you should make them contribute to your real estate career, thereby maximizing efficiency in how you use your team. Here are five hobbies that hold particular potential—see if yours is on the list.
Sports
It has been said that real estate is foremost a people-focused business. Therefore, the most obvious hobbies that can help your career are group-based ones, like team sports, because you’ll be around other people. The networking chances are two-fold; you can run into potential clients or fellow real estate professionals. The typical “business sport” is of course golf—since it leaves a lot of room open for discussion—but don’t think you have to stop there. See if your town has a local baseball team, or just start shooting hoops at the gym’s basketball court, and see if you run into familiar faces.
Reading
With your nose to the grindstone selling real estate, sitting still to read a good book can seem like the greatest challenge of all. So, don’t treat the two as separate tasks. Reading doesn’t end with the latest page-turner; there are plenty of business books out there for you to sharpen your real estate knowledge. Even if you wind up not taking specific strategies from a book, it’s useful to know what others in your field are reading.
Writing
Here’s the flip side of reading published real estate professionals—if you have a passion for writing, put something out there yourself. Start a real-estate-focused blog or a Substack; find your niche and make that your hook. Attracting readers is another way of networking, one can pay dividends if they share your writing with their own circle.
Travel
Location is everything in real estate, so why shouldn’t you want to experience new locations yourself? Check to see if there are industry conferences happening nationwide—if you choose to go, take the chance to explore the host city too. If you’re in need of a new office, make a day trip of scouting out nearby locales to see if they’re places you would want to work from.
Photography
You can’t get clients if you don’t have listings, or if you don’t present your listings in the right way. In this digital age with real estate sites and virtual open houses, pictures of a listing are more vital than ever. If you’re knowledgeable in photography, you can try taking listing photos yourself. If photography is your hobby, odds are you’ve got a pretty good camera on hand and a better grasp of framing/lighting principles, which are so critical to presenting homes in the best light.
