FREE LANDLORD TRAINING
Welcome! As a way to say “Hi,” enjoy this free video course on passive income from rentals!
A Landlord Blog for the Passive Income Obsessed
Know the acronym “FIRE,” in personal finance circles?
It stands for Financial Independence/Retire Early.
Financial independence means that income from your investments (like, oh, I don’t know, rental properties) is enough to cover your living expenses. In other words, you’re no longer “dependent” on your job to pay your bills.
My name is Brian Davis, and I’m a landlord, real estate investor, personal finance writer, co-founder of SparkRental, and world traveler. I get to spend most of the year living abroad, largely because my rental income allows me to live anywhere.
Deni (my partner) and I have a simple goal: to help 5,000 people reach $5,000/month in passive income from rental properties. Actually our goal is to help as many people as possible reach financial independence from rental income, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it 😉
Want to retire early with rental properties? Stack up streams of passive income? Reach financial independence?
We created this landlord blog to help you do just that. Being a landlord is great, but ultimately rental properties are a means to a greater end: giving you the freedom to lead whatever life you want.
The Latest from the Landlord & Real Estate Investing Blog:
11 Ways to Lower Your Real Estate Investing Risks as a Landlord
One of the great advantages to real estate versus stocks is the predictability of real estate investing returns. When you buy a rental property, you can accurately predict your average annual yield and cash flow. And while I love stocks too, they’re as volatile as a...
Should Landlords Rent to Illegal Immigrants? Unbiased Pros & Cons
*Note on Terminology: Conservatives and liberals can’t even agree on terminology, with conservatives using the pejorative “illegal aliens” and liberals using the cuddly “undocumented immigrants.” We’ll split the difference here and use the term “illegal immigrants,”...
Competing with Cash Buyers: Persuasive Real Estate Offers to Purchase
If you’ve ever made a real estate offer to purchase and were beat out by an all-cash buyer, you’re not alone. Many potential homebuyers and investors are feeling the pressure from buyers offering of the enticing real estate cash offer to sellers. Corporate investors...
Tenant-Proof: 13 Rental Property Improvements to Fortify Against Damage
People are clumsy, dirty, accident-prone Tasmanian devils. That goes double for children, and says nothing of pets. Homeowners are no better, but they have so much money invested in their property that they take more care not to damage it. But renters? Fuhget about...
The BRRRR Method: Real Estate Leverage with 100% Financing
Deni always laughs when I say “the BRRRR method of real estate leverage” out loud. Apparently I sound like I’m shivering. The BRRRR strategy is an acronym standing for buy, renovate, rent, refinance, repeat. Some investors refer to it as the BRRR strategy, skipping...
Should You Become a Section 8 Landlord? The Good, The Bad, & The Truth
Heard tales of guaranteed rent payments, courtesy of Section 8? Deposited by the government, and paying higher-than-market rents? If these stories perked up your ears, you’re not alone. Section 8 landlords can make good money, with a lower risk of rent defaults – at...
Does the 4% Rule for Retirement Still Apply? How Rentals Help You Retire Earlier
Why don’t more people dream of retiring young? It could speak to how many people love their jobs, except that’s not true: 70% of people hate their jobs. More likely, most people just don’t think they can retire young. Fortunately, anyone earning the median U.S....
The Eviction Process, Step by Step: What You Need to Know BEFORE Eviction (Infographic)
If you own or manage rentals long enough, you’ll eventually have to go through the eviction process. Evictions are expensive, time-consuming, and fraught with pitfalls. No really; they can take anywhere from two to twelve (12!) months. Many landlords make...
House Hacking: 10 Ways to Live for Free (Even in a Single-Family Home)
I live for free. Before that, I only paid around 30% of my mortgage payment. How? By finding ways to have other people pay my housing costs. It’s called house hacking, and there are many ways to achieve it. Not all of them require you to move, either. Here’s...
What do you want to learn more about?
Popular Reads:
Who Is This Blog For?
Well, sure, this is a real estate investing and landlord blog. We write about the nuts and bolts of investing in rental properties, tenant screening, leasing issues, collecting rent, managing difficult tenants, and so on.
But while the “how-tos” and “avoid these mistakes” are important, they’re only part of the picture.
The bigger picture? How rental properties and real estate investing fit into your larger strategy for building wealth and passive income.
Specifically: reaching financial independence to give you the freedom to retire young, if you so choose.
So who is this “landlord blog” for? It’s not just for landlords – it’s for anyone looking for creative ways to reach FIRE through real estate investing.
Real Estate Investing & Landlord Education
Our real estate investing blog includes hundreds of landlord articles, personal finance articles, property management tips, and detailed real estate investing advice. Browse it, search it, use it as a free resource.
But our landlord education doesn’t end with the blog.
We offer a range of free webinars and online masterclasses for landlords and real estate investors. We offer several premium landlord courses. Our weekly newsletter keeps you abreast of rental industry trends, landlord tips, and the best of real estate investing blogs from around the web.
What for? Why do real estate investors and landlords need continuing education, anyway?
Because investing in rental properties is not like throwing money in an index fund.
Buying real estate investment properties takes skill (at least if you’re going to make money). Managing rental properties takes skill.
Your returns on rental investment properties are directly proportionate to your knowledge and skill, both as an investor and as a landlord. If you want to reach financial independence from real estate, you’re going to need to know what you’re doing.
That’s why we’re obsessed with ongoing landlord education at SparkRental. We want you to make as much passive income as possible, as fast as possible, on the fewest rental investments possible.
Beyond the Blog: More Landlord Resources
Had enough of us going on about the importance of landlord education?
“Cut to the goods already Brian! Gimme some free stuff!”
All right, all right. Here are some free landlord resources, to help you on your quest for financial independence from real estate:
Free Rental Application
Email our free rental application PDF to your prospects; they can type into it, e-sign it, and email it back to you. It even includes authorization for you to contact employers, prior landlords, and run tenant screening reports.
Tenant Screening Reports
Well, it’s free for the landlord. The applicant verifies their identity and releases their credit report, criminal background check, and eviction history tenant screening reports to you. No site inspection required!
State-Specific Lease Agreements
Our rental lease agreements are extremely landlord-protective, and deter any lawsuit-happy tenants. They’re editable, reusable, and include all state-specific lease clauses, disclosures, and addenda.
Free Rent Collection
Collect rent online, through either ACH (bank transfer), credit card, or our unique RentDeduct – we pull the rent directly from your tenant’s paycheck! RentDeduct fees can be charged directly to the tenant.
Want more free landlord resources? Check out our list of Free Landlord Tools.
Spark Rental Blog Guest Post Policy
This is our skeptical face. Persuade us you’re not another hack!
Yes, we do allow guest blog posts occasionally.
No, we don’t accept crappy posts from bad writers or people who aren’t real estate investing experts, landlords, or rental industry experts.
If you’re an outstanding writer, with something unique to write about, and you’re a rock star real estate investor, landlord, property manager, housing industry analyst, or FIRE and personal finance expert, we can talk. But I’ll warn you right now, we have extremely high standards, and we will probably send you a detailed set of instructions to follow.
We also only accept in-depth articles of 1,500-2,000+ words.
Still interested in contributing to our real estate investing blog?
Contact us using the form below, to pitch a few unique and relevant blog post ideas.
