Many of us got into real estate by working as a real estate agent or broker. Or a traditional dealmaker and reseller who may rehab or wholesale property. Some make money and some do not, but many always seem to need a little more cash flow at times. Consider the skills you’ve picked up, but tend to hire out day to day. Or maybe a real estate related service that you’ve needed, but couldn’t find anyone offering locally. Why not offer it yourself during the slow periods of your main real estate business? Or perhaps you are new to the property investment game and want a low cost way to participate in the real estate industry to get the capital you need to begin. Many real estate services like ad syndication organization, cleaning services, errand running, house sitting and landscaping services don’t cost a lot to set into motion. As always, the value of the exposure for your company is an additional boost in your wages over and beyond the charges the happy clients are willing to pay.
Folks are so rushed now they really appreciate a one stop shopping experience. Anticipate what your clients will need while buying and selling real property and offer it to them in a prominent way. Sell it baby! Many savvy realtors have jumped on this bandwagon by offering free use of their moving trucks. With their big old ads on the sides of course. Brilliant stuff, huh? Perks of cleaning or landscaping services, local coupons and gift baskets are commonly seen. A clever real estate cash raiser will get other companies to participate and defray the cost of advertising and good will for the ones who organize the services and advertising campaigns. A big time saver is a collection of everything a new resident might need to find their way around. Help them register their kids for school with an info packet. Include emergency and human services contact information. Of course with discount coupons and ads for the offerings of your “service syndicate” members. This is the time to gain customers for life. Give good value and honest service to keep them coming back. Get creative and you can get a lot of good business exposure and word of mouth recommendations to get your cash flow going quickly. And if done right, without spending much money out of your own pocket.
If your time is limited as it is, you can always hire the labor using whatever legal arrangement makes sense for the projects. Stay flexible and keep a stable of reliable people who also need extra income from time to time. Few areas don’t have people looking for some part time work. You may be able to arrange lower wage internships with local students so they can gain skills and valuable work experience. Spend a little time thinking of new angles, a spin if you will, that you can put on your “regular” business activities to make them unique to your area, or more desirable to your customers. Add more value and you can often bump your revenue upwards without expending any more effort or time. Get a bit bold, if you haven’t tried something before, how do you know it won’t work for you? And if you are around children, you may be surprised at what suggestions they throw out that may be business genius from the mouths of babes. Ask their advice. You never know. Sometimes their fresh and innocent thinking will bring new successes your way.
