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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:
Property Taxes by State & County: Lowest Property Taxes in the US Mapped
Where are the lowest property taxes in the US? The highest property taxes? Some states offer no surprises. New Jersey, for example, charges the highest property taxes in the nation as a statewide average. But Texas also ranks among the top five highest property taxes...
Is an “Eviction Tsunami” Looming in 2021?
Millions of Americans remain out of work in the coronavirus pandemic, after the economy has recovered only half of the 22 million jobs lost in the spring of 2020. Meanwhile, the stimulus checks and extended unemployment benefits are ancient history by November. This...
What Is Due Diligence in Real Estate, and How Do You Do It?
In short, due diligence in real estate means âdo your homework.â This goes beyond looking for the âperfectâ property, whether for your personal residence or an investment. Due diligence means conducting thorough research to ensure the home is a good investment before...
Capital Gains Tax on Real Estate â And How to Avoid It
Real estate investments come with a slew of tax advantages. While you own the property as a rental, you can take nearly two dozen landlord tax deductions. Then, when it comes time to sell, you can reduce or avoid capital gains taxes on real estate through another...
Real Estate Contingencies: Everything Buyers & Investors Need to Know
Real estate investors and buyers need protection when entering a sales contract for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Price comprises just one piece of the puzzle. Buyers and sellers must agree on all aspects of the transaction, and contingencies in real estate offers...
What Is Owner Financing? The Investorâs Guide to Seller Financing
Low interest rates and stock market uncertainty have set the real estate market sizzling in most of the US. With borrowers flooding lenders to take advantage of those low rates, and lingering economic weakness in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, many lenders have...
What Is an Accredited Investor? Why You Want to Become One ASAP
Do the rich have access to better investments than the rest of us? It turns out that they do, actually. I once offered to invest money with a hard money lender I knew, who had an impeccable track record. He asked a simple question before taking the conversation any...
Can You Roll Closing Costs into a Mortgage?
I hear new real estate investors and homebuyers ask all the time: "Can you roll closing costs into a mortgage?" The short answer is yes for refinance loans, no for purchase loans. But itâs not always possible even for refinances, and even when it is, that doesnât mean...
A 3%-Down Rental Property Loan? How to Use Fannie & Freddie Loans for Investing
A few years back, Fannie Mae and its brother lender Freddie Mac launched loan programs called HomeReady and Home Possible, respectively. Their purpose? To help low- to moderate-income borrowers with little cash buy a home. Which is great news for anyone looking to buy...
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. 20: Which States Charge the Lowest Property Taxes?
Average property taxes across states range from as little as a few hundred dollars a year to nearly $8,000 per year. Given the impact they have on real estate cash flow â or on your personal budget as a homeowner â we decided to break down property taxes by state and...
Ep. 19: COVID: Legal Liability For Landlords As The Second Wave Rises?
Landlords and property managers are starting to get sued over COVID-19 infections. So how do you protect yourself and your assets from coronavirus-related lawsuits? For that matter, how do you prevent outbreaks among your tenants in the first place? Brian and Deni sit...
Ep. 18: How Do Real Estate Contingency Clauses Work?
No one wants to buy a lemon of a house. But you can't necessarily do all your real estate due diligence before making an offer on the property. The answer? Contingency clauses in your sales contract. Deni and Brian break down exactly how real estate contingencies work...
Ep. 17: Should Real Estate Investors Get Their Realtor’s License?
Do you need to get a Realtor's license as a real estate investor? The short answer: no. Should you get your real estate license anyway? Maybe. But probably not. As both a licensed real estate agent and an accomplished real estate investor and landlord, Deni breaks...
Ep. 16: How Would Biden Tax Changes Affect Real Estate Investors?
Democratic candidate Joe Biden has proposed a comprehensive series of tax changes, and with him leading in most polls down the stretch of the election, it begs the question: how would his tax changes affect real estate investors? Brian takes a politics-free look at...
Ep. 15: Creative (& Safe!) House Hacking Tactics During COVID
Between social distancing, the eviction moratorium, high unemployment, and a competitive real estate market, many people have discounted the idea of house hacking during the pandemic. Don't make that mistake! There are plenty of ways to house hack that don't involve...
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 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 Real Estate 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.
