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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:
Rental Property Deduction Checklist: 21 Tax Deductions for Landlords in 2021
Real estate comes with some of the best tax advantages in the world. Landlord tax deductions include just about every conceivable expense associated with rental properties â plus some just-on-paper expenses. But tax laws change fast, so investors need to stay on top...
Should You Pay Off Student Loans or Buy a House?
Youâre not alone. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of todayâs college students graduate with student loan debt. And as they enter the workforce, get married, and have children, sooner or later they ask the same question: Should I pay off student loans or buy a house? Some...
9 Little-Known Lease Clauses to Protect Landlords & Their Rental Properties
Most landlords know that itâs important to have a signed, written lease agreement. But is a two-page freebie you scrounged up somewhere online going to protect you? The quality of your lease contract matters. Thatâs a lesson far too many mom-and-pop landlords and...
20 Creative Ways to Save Money, to Build Wealth & Reach FIRE Faster
No matter your age, net worth, gender, ethnicity, hair color, or favorite movie, how fast you build wealth comes down to one crucial variable: the gap between what you earn and what you spend. The higher your savings rate, the faster you will build wealth. You could...
10 Financial Lessons from Star Wars: The Mandalorian
Master Yoda once said, âWhat you have learned, always pass on.â Or something like that. Like Yoda, The Child (aka Baby Yoda or Grogu) in âThe Mandalorianâ already knows how to use the Force. Let him become your teacher â and learn, too, from the title character, the...
What Is Gross Rent Multiplier? How to Use GRM in Real Estate
Want to run some back-of-the-napkin numbers on a rental investment? Or find your next city for long-distance real estate investing? Use gross rental multiplier (GRM) for a quick answer. Gross rent multiplier offers a simple glimpse into the profitability of any...
How to Increase a Property’s Value: 11 Ideas to Boost Equity & Rents
Looking for ways to raise your property value? Pricing in real estate has little to do with what you paid for the property, or how much you spent improving it. Real estate values and rents are based on one thing: what buyers and renters perceive the value to...
Buying a Property with Tenants: Pros, Cons, and Rules for Landlords
It doesnât get any more âturnkeyâ than buying a property with tenants already renting it. But that doesnât mean that buying a property with tenants doesnât come with its own risks. The tenants and former landlord had their own way of doing things that may differ from...
How Do 1031 Exchanges Work? Defer Taxes on Investment Properties
Owning that first rental property is a huge milestone for investors. It lets you dip your toe into the market, gain experience in property management, and build confidence in your judgement. But for ambitious landlords, the first property marks just one step on a...
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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. 28 – 4 Little-Known Lease Clauses to Protect You & Your Property
Your lease contract is one of your greatest defenses against losses from unpaid rent, property damage, and more. Just make sure that you do everything you can to protect yourself and your property. Deni & Brian chat about 4 little-known clauses to provide stronger...
Ep. 27 – Top 10 Cities in the US for Rental Investing
Looking for more profitable markets to invest in? Try these top 10 cities in the US by gross rent multiplier (GRM), after SparkRental analyzed the top 100 cities in the country based on data from Zillow. It's a short episode that explains the numbers and statitics...
Ep. 26: A Simple Resolution to Build Wealth Faster: Track 3 Numbers
 New year, new you? Not for most people. But try this simple resolution to actually move the needle on building wealth and passive income faster. Here are 3 basic and most important steps to achieve F.IR.E or get your financial life in order in 2021. Video...
Ep. 25: 8 Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Real Estate Investors
Christmas is Friday! A last minute gift idea sometimes it's hard to find, especially for real estate investors! As a fun, quick holiday edition of the Live Off Rents podcast, weâre breaking down 8 gift ideas for real estate investors that arenât boring.Video Broadcast...
Ep. 24: Should landlords ever accept tenants with bad credit?
 Should landlords ever accept tenants with bad credit? It can be tricky, but there are situations where it can be an option. How can landlords protect themselves if they take a risk on a low-credit applicant? We'll go through a few security measures in that case. Deni...
Ep. 23: End-of-Year Tax Moves for Real Estate Investors
What end-of-year financial moves should you make, to minimize taxes and maximize profits? From ways to minimize your capital gains to depreciation and beyond, savvy real estate investors know all the tricks at their disposal. In this episode you will benefit from the...
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.
