Can You Be a Real Estate Agent Part-Time? (+ Tips!)

Considering becoming a real estate agent? You’re not the only one. The number of agents in the U.S. has increased every year since 2012—and with it, competition for clients.

Here’s the good news: You can still build a lucrative career as a part-time real estate agent. However, this career path takes hard work, time management skills, and strategic marketing. So, before you start ordering business cards and for sale signs, let’s explore the challenges you may encounter and strategies to succeed as a part-time agent.

Key Takeaways:

🔑 Becoming a part-time real estate agent offers flexibility and potential supplemental income but comes with its own set of unique challenges compared to full-time work.

🔑 To succeed as a part-time real estate agent, treat it as a business, not just a side gig (e.g., obtain your real estate license, join a brokerage, and focus on building your brand).

🔑 Effective time management is crucial for part-time agents, as they have less time to work with clients and perform routine marketing tasks as full-time agents. Prioritize tasks and seek accountability through mentors or peers to help stay on track.

🔑 A real estate data platform like PropStream can help you find the most leads with the highest conversion potential in the least time, making it a crucial tool for part-time agents.

The Challenges of Working Part-Time in Real Estate

There are several advantages to being a part-time real estate agent. If you have another full-time job, your agent work can help you earn additional cash on top of your regular income. It’s also a strategic way to get experience if your goal is to become a full-time agent or investor eventually.

That said, being a part-time agent comes with specific challenges.

For example, it can be hard to predict when clients will be available to view homes or meet with you, and closings often need to take place during office hours. This may be challenging if you have a full-time job with rigid office hours.

You’ll also need to fit the tasks of a full-time agent into a part-time schedule. Finding time to market your services, network, follow up with leads, show homes, meet with clients, make bids, answer client questions, negotiate contracts, and attend closings may take some creativity.

Lastly, your part-time real estate agent income may fluctuate depending on how many hours you can commit. Research shows that the average annual salary is $24,566 for agents working less than 20 hours per week and $46,458 for agents working between 21 and 40 hours. Your real estate income will also depend on your skills in marketing, landing clients, and closing sales.

How to Become a Part-Time Real Estate Agent

To make your real estate side hustle successful, you must treat it as a business, not merely a hobby. That means you must get your real estate license and join a brokerage. (If you want to operate as an independent real estate agent, you need a broker license.)

Research your state's laws to learn what exams or courses you need to pass to determine how you can start practicing as a real estate agent in your region.

Next, work on building your brand. This will set you apart from other real estate agents in your area. A brokerage can help you with marketing and lead generation to a degree, but only you can take your career as an agent to the next level with excellent branding.

Use the steps below to start establishing your brand as an agent.

Determine your niche

Will you specialize in serving first-time homebuyers, investors, or luxury homebuyers? Highlight your area of expertise when reaching out to leads and on your marketing materials, social media, and website.

Related: Finding Your Niche: 10 Profitable Markets for Real Estate Agents

Create your branded materials

Hire a photographer (or ask a talented friend) to take high-quality headshots and branded photos. You can use a free design tool or hire a designer to create printed marketing materials, for-sale signs, social media images, and your website.

Start networking and marketing

Look for in-person and virtual networking opportunities like business meet-and-greets, small business openings, community events, webinars, workshops, and conferences. Keep several business cards on you in case you meet someone who’s looking to buy or sell a home.

Referrals are one of the most vital marketing tactics—so make sure to provide clients with excellent customer service each time you interact with them and make follow-up a priority.

How to Increase Your Real Estate Knowledge

Your learning shouldn’t stop once you’ve established your business.

Your clients expect you to always know what’s happening in your niche and the local market. Set aside regular time to read up on industry trends. You can also set Google alerts for real estate terms, subscribe to industry newsletters, and follow other agents on social media.

Another way to strengthen your niche expertise is to take a credible online course or get a certification. Real estate conferences, workshops, and webinars can also help you stay relevant and sharpen your skills.

6 Tips for Managing Time and Clients as a Part-Time Agent

Balancing your schedule and avoiding burnout is critical to make it as an agent. The following strategies can help you manage time and communicate effectively with clients.

1. Set clear expectations with clients

When working part-time hours, you must be transparent regarding when you’re available and how much time you can commit—not responding when a client needs you can quickly erode their trust.

2. Batch your digital marketing work

Marketing is one of the most important—and time-consuming—aspects of growing your real estate business. Get caught up on marketing materials by completing a week’s or month’s worth of one task at a time, a strategy known as “batching.”

For example, you might set aside two hours on one day to write all your social media posts for the month. The next day, you might focus on compiling a list of leads and, the following day, sending them cold emails.

3. Use a calendar and digital reminders

Are you worried you’ll forget to respond to a client’s question or, worse, not show up to a meeting? Avoid these mishaps by scheduling tasks, meetings, and admin work on your calendar or setting up reminders on your phone.

4. Leverage automated tools and platforms

Many routine tasks can be automated with modern technology. Look online for platforms that can help you with tasks such as:

• Lead generation
• Marketing emails
• Cold calling
• SMS or email lead follow-up
• Contract creation
• Social media posting
• Appointment scheduling

5. Prioritize your tasks

No matter how hard you try, there may be weeks when you can’t complete everything on a part-time schedule. Prioritize your to-do list daily to ensure the most important tasks get done first.

6. Find someone to hold you accountable

Find a mentor, friend, or fellow agent who can keep you accountable and remind you of your goals when work gets hard. This could be as simple as an occasional text asking how your marketing is going this week or as formal as a one-on-one meeting with a business coach.

Pros and Cons of Being a Part-Time Real Estate Agent

Not sure if going part-time is for you? Here’s a quick breakdown of the pros and cons.

Ready to Level Up Your Marketing?

If you’re pursuing a part-time real estate career, your time is even more valuable than somebody who has an unlimited amount of time to dedicate to their business.

So, you need to work smarter when generating leads, not harder. This is where PropStream comes in handy.

With PropStream, you can effortlessly find listing leads by searching for local homeowners with selling motivation. Examples of selling motivation you can search using PropStream are:

• Divorce
• Pre-foreclosure
• Bankruptcy
• Pre-probate

And more!

Easily save leads to marketing lists and create your campaign in one convenient location.

Want to see why agents love PropStream?