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A Landlord Blog for the Passive Income Obsessed
Know the acronym âFIRE,â in personal finance circles?
It stands for Financial Independence/Retire Early.
Financial independence means that income from your investments (like, oh, I donât know, rental properties) is enough to cover your living expenses. In other words, youâre no longer âdependentâ on your job to pay your bills.
My name is Brian Davis, and Iâm 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 doesnât have the same ring to it đ
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:
Do You Have to Put a Down Payment on a House? Down Payment Hacks
For homebuyers and real estate investors alike, coming up with a down payment presents the greatest barrier to buying. But do you have to put a down payment on a house when you buy? Are there creative workarounds that homebuyers and real estate investors can take...
De-Urbanization: Are Americans Fleeing Cities in the Wake of COVID-19?
As a city dweller myself, Iâm all too familiar with the challenges of urban living during the coronavirus pandemic. My family shares a small apartment with no outdoor space â and it certainly got harder to stay cooped up in it as the weeks and months of social...
How to Convert Your Airbnb into a Long-Term Rental Property
Even as the economy slowly reopens and people adjust to a ânew normal,â the future of the home-sharing market remains uncertain. Vacation rental companies such as VRBO and Airbnb saw a collapse in demand and revenue due to travel restrictions and the economic fallout...
How Long Does Each Part of Your Rental Property Last? (Infographic)
Ever had a tenant fly into a rage because their refrigerator went out, ruining all of their food? Landlords know what a big deal it is when things break at their properties. Sometimes itâs something small like a window AC unit, but sometimes itâs something major like...
Unemployment Rates by County: Interactive Map
When renters lose their jobs, landlords tend to lose their rental income. Sure, most got a $1,200 stimulus check, and can go on unemployment to receive temporary assistance. But with over 45 million Americans unemployed (and millions more added every week), many...
9 Hidden Benefits of the FIRE Lifestyle (Even in Recessions)
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, some pundits leapt to the conclusion that âthe FIRE movement is dead, long live the FIRE movement!â They couldnât have been more wrong. More than ever before, the core values of reaching financial independence ring true. When a...
Creative Financing for Investment Properties During COVID-19
The unemployment rate has reached levels not seen since the Great Depression, with analysts estimating the real unemployment rate between 20-25%. This reality is pushing people to find creative ways to make money â including real estate investing. But financing an...
12 Tactics for Better Tenant Retention, Fewer Turnovers & Max ROI
Turnovers are ROI killers. Thereâs the lost income, during the vacancy. You also have to pay the mortgage, and pay to keep the utilities on. Most residential units need to be repainted. Tack on another several thousand dollars. Do you need new carpets? Often...
Tactful Follow-Up: Your Secret Weapon for Scoring Deals During COVID-19
The full extent of the coronavirus pandemicâs effect on the real estate market is not yet known, and with uncertainty comes more risk. If youâre buying houses to flip or for long-term investment, do you really know what the value will be in the coming months and...
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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 âhow-tosâ and âavoid these mistakesâ are important, theyâre 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 âlandlord blogâ for? Itâs not just for landlords â itâs 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 doesnât 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. And every week, Deni & Brian hop on live video on Facebook for a 15-minute live vlog and answer questions.
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 youâre 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, youâre going to need to know what youâre doing.
Thatâs why weâre 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?
âCut to the goods already Brian! Gimme some free stuff!â
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, itâs 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. Theyâre 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 debit card. Reduce late payments and rent defaults, and use one-click Schedule E tax statements and Income & Expense reports!
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!
Let me be crystal clear about our guest article policy. We almost never accept them, and when we do, it’s from websites that meet the following criteria:
- Domain score of 60 or higher, per Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest tool.
- Extremely relevant to SparkRental’s mission. In other words, a focus on real estate investing, passive income, financial independence/retiring early (FIRE), property management, and personal finance.
- In-depth articles on unique topics not found elsewhere online.
- Exceptionally strong writing. Fully 99% of the writing I read on the web is crap and doesn’t meet our standards.
Meet all of those criteria, and still interested in contributing to our real estate investing blog?
Contact Brian using the form below, to pitch a few unique and relevant blog post ideas.
