Anyone do real estate agent? That seems like a great side gig and possible backup plan if you ever were furloughed lost medical.

If you are buying or selling a house, are you going to be happy when your agent can’t take you out or do an open house, or show it bc they are on a 3x day trip? No.

I worked as a realtor as a pilot and the only way you can truly service your clients to the level they deserve is full time.

Doing rentals is much more realistic than sales. I did rentals in NYC. You could rent an apartment typically in one afternoon so it was much easier to do a deal like that. But, you kind of need to be in a big city to have volume.

In the end I never felt I could adequately provide a level of service worthy of a 4-6% commission. I did help a handful of friends that new my deal but it only made me learn that working with friends isn’t ideal anyway when dealing with money and the largest purchase of their lives.

Some big agents have a team and if you could get on a team where you all service the client but you aren’t necessarily the point man would work too but then you may be sacrificing part of your commission.

In the end it is super easy and cheap to get the license so why not give it a shot?

Good luck.

Thanks for the feedback. I figure if one can hold a line with 17-18 days off, it should enough time to get some deals done? Also, the rental market affords some opportunities like you said. Perhaps the key is to have a partner that can service clients while you are on a trip.

I've run into more mortgage brokers than I have real estate agents in the cockpit. As previously mentioned, being available only 18 out of 30 days per month makes real estate agent a difficult mesh with Delta. Being a regular "employer" of real estate professionals, the agents/brokers I work with are always available. The loan officers are less inclined to be immediately available or work on weekends. One of the residential agents I work with has a couple showing agents who will show houses when she is not available. Being part of a team, where you work part time as a showing agent may be an option for part time work as you get started.

Real world example...

I called my agent two days ago (Thursday), he made a few calls and arranged for a showing yesterday morning (Friday). Last night, he drew up a contract with my offer. We made a couple minor changes and he sent it over to the sellers today (Saturday). I called two of my lenders and emailed a third on Thursday. I'll hear back next week.

A better fit with your Delta schedule may be coordinating a team of agents, loan officers and general contractors by rehabbing, then renting houses. Having people working for you while on a trip is much better than having work stack up while you are gone. Just a thought...

^^^All of this

You’ll drive yourself crazy and end up not enjoying either, and likely doing a sub optimal job at both...if you try to find a second J-O-B.

The main aim of an (ideal) side hustle should be passivity and scaleability. If you just want more $ pick up a trip or two. Much easier than spinning your wheels at a lower hourly rate.

That is not to say the right side hustle isn’t worth it. Gunfighter and others like RE. I go at it with software and some limited consulting. There are also traditional pyramid schemes if you can find something that isn’t too skeezy.

The whole goal (should be at least) to leverage technology or other people’s time/capital. We already burn up enough human capital here, and there are only 168 hours in a week.

Smarter not harder.

This should be posted to the top of every Side Hustle page.

OUTSTANDING POST.

Agreed that this should be a pinned post about Side Hustles.

Also agree that being a real estate agent would be a poor allocation of a Delta pilot's time unless you have a passion for being a Real Estate agent more than being an Airline Pilot. Better use of your time would be to GS on your days off then allocate that extra money into Investments.

Efficient Allocation of your Time and Capital is the key to happiness and wealth building.

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EXACTLY.

A side hustle isn't about getting a second job - our current job income well exceeds most part-time job pay rates - and of course double that at greenslip pay. It's about something that works for you, day in, day out while you're flying the plane, hanging at home or whatever. Passive income is the goal.

...and will still be a nice income stream should you no longer be able to pick up a an extra trip, or fly at all.

This is the key. For many of us not making Captain pay, we can’t just live off our investments if something were to happen with flying. That is why there needs to be a real second job. The rehab, refinance, rent idea seems to be popular but also sounds like a headache and a lot of risk, especially in this sellers market.