Retire Early with Rental Properties
Who says you need to work until you’re 65?
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:
How Is Rental Property Depreciation Calculated? Free Property Depreciation Calculator
Ever hear that “real estate investors pay next to nothing in income taxes”? While not true, real estate investors do enjoy sweeping tax deductions. From writing off most closing costs to maintenance and repairs, landlord insurance to rent default insurance, property...
How to Buy Your First Rental Property with No Money Down
A study of asset returns over 145 years in 16 developed countries found rental properties outperformed stocks. But how can rental properties perform better than stocks, with lower volatility and risk? Don’t higher returns mean higher risk? The answer is simple:...
How to Get a Mortgage for an LLC-Owned Rental Property
When new investors start looking into buying real estate, one of their most common questions is: “How do I get a mortgage for an LLC-owned rental property?” Spoiler alert: it’s easier than you think. In fact, it’s one of the easiest things to learn as a new investor...
How to Invest in Real Estate: 13 Types of Real Estate Investments
I love real estate investments as a source of income. Whether you’re looking to earn a quick return through wholesaling or flipping, or earn ongoing passive income from rental properties, there are dozens of real estate investing strategies. Most real estate assets...
What Is a Blanket Mortgage? Pros, Cons, & Uses of Blanket Loans
Who says you need a separate loan for every single property? As you scale your real estate portfolio, it can get tricky to borrow and manage separate mortgage loans for every single property. It also limits your financing options, and your ability to pull equity out...
How to Hedge Against Inflation with Real Estate Investments
The federal government has committed roughly $13 trillion ($13,000,000,000,000) on pandemic-related spending since early 2020. These trillions of dollars have to come from somewhere. Some money spent by Congress will have to be borrowed, but the Federal Reserve will...
Rent Control in California: Which Cities Restrict Rents?
Almost half of California's residents live in rentals. The cost of living, especially rental rates, has risen dramatically over the last two decades, creating some of the least affordable rental housing in the world in many California cities. Given California’s...
How to Be an Airbnb Host: 14 Tips for Fast Success
Ever been curious about how to be an Airbnb host? How much extra income could you earn, if you transitioned a property from a long-term to short-term rental? We tracked down several Airbnb experts to explain how to become a host for Airbnb with minimal fuss and...
Eviction Moratorium Status: Federal & State Rules (Nov. 2021)
Some US landlords haven't been able to evict nonpaying tenants since Spring 2020. First the CARES Act placed a partial moratorium on evictions across the country. Then the CDC declared a nationwide eviction moratorium after it expired, first scheduled to end 12/31/20,...
What do you want to learn more about?
The “Live Off Rents” Podcast
Prefer to watch or listen to your real estate investing and FIRE tips & tricks? No sweat.
Deni and Brian have been broadcasting live every week to the SparkRental-sponsored Facebook groups for years, although they only started releasing the content via podcast in 2020. Each episode is quick, 15-20 minutes, but jam-packed with actionable content.
No fluff, just advice you can put to work immediately to build passive income from real estate.
If you enjoy the episodes, share them, and please rate and review on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever else you listen!
Recent Episodes
Ep. #71 When Landlords Can (and Can’t) Keep Tenants’ Security Deposits
As a landlord, the last thing you want to do is run afoul of federal or state landlord-tenant laws. Which, as it turns out, are quite strict about what landlords can and can't use security deposits for. Deni breaks down exactly which expenses landlords can deduct...
Ep. #70 Squatters vs. Trespassers: Rights & the Eviction Process
After a year and a half of eviction moratoriums, many landlords find themselves wondering how to handle nonpaying tenants versus squatters. And, for that matter, what the difference is between squatters, trespassers, and defaulting renters. Deni and Brian explain the...
Ep. #69 Niche Investing with the Mobile Home Gurl
Sick of overpaying for single-family rental properties or apartment buildings? Brian interviews Rachel Hernandez, AKA Mobile Home Gurl, founder of Adventures in Mobile Homes about what makes them such good investments. From lower purchase costs to higher returns,...
Ep. #68 Can Landlords Require Tenants to Be Vaccinated? Should They?
In the Landlords, Real Estate Investors & Property Managers Hub Facebook group (Meta group?) that we manage, we've seen a lot of "heated debate" about tenant vaccine mandates, to put it mildly. And in fact, we're starting to see the first lawsuits hit civil courts...
Ep. #67 Level Up Your Real Estate Faster with Abhi Golhar
Today, Abhi Golhar owns a multimillion dollar real estate portfolio. He hosts the Think Realty podcast (among the Best Real Estate Investing Podcasts currently airing), teaches other entrepreneurs how to build and buy businesses, and has written several bestselling...
Bonus Episode: Multi-Family Unplugged Hosts Our G. Brian Davis
The fun, raw real estate podcast Multi-Family Unplugged hosts our own G. Brian Davis! Brian chats with Mike Morawski and Gordon Moose about all the mistakes he made when he first started real estate investing, the hard-won lessons along the way, financial independence...
Who Is the Rental Income 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. 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 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 Real Estate 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 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.
