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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:
7 Properties in One Year: Nathaniel & Brittanyâs Rental Investing Story
You can't post most photos of couples in the shower together on respectable websites. Unless, of course, they're renovating an investment property. Nathaniel and Brittany Hovsepian are 35 and 27 years old respectively, and own seven rental properties in the Central...
State Taxes Comparison: Are Americans Fleeing High-Tax States in 2020?
It turns out Americans really do vote with their feet â especially when it comes to state tax rates. United Van Lines releases a report every year on the prior yearâs migration patterns within the U.S. They just issued their 2019 report, and the data is fascinating....
Should I Hire a Property Manager? Pros, Cons & Costs
âAt what point should I hire a property manager?â Sooner or later, most real estate investors question whether to hire property management to make their rental income truly passive. I did, and I decided that for me professional management was almost as important as...
Should You Become a Section 8 Landlord? The Good, The Bad, & The Truth (Infographic)
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, youâre not alone. Section 8 landlords can make good money, with a lower risk of rent defaults â at...
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...
Lifestyle Creep & Keeping Up with the Joneses: Why Youâre Not Rich
Could you live on half your current income? Most people shake their heads and answer that itâs not possible. And yet there was probably a time when you did exactly that; you earned far less than you do today, and you managed to survive just fine. So what happened in...
How to Negotiate with Contractors: The Definitive Guide
Dealing with contractors is one of the hardest parts of investing in real estate. The ones who actually return your calls promptly, show up on time for work, and complete jobs on-schedule? They charge a pretty penny for that basic level of professionalism. In fact,...
Whereâs the Cheapest Real Estate in the US? Should You Invest in It?
Everyone loves a deal, an opportunity to acquire an asset at a low cost. When retailers cut their prices on Black Friday and Cyber Monday each year, frenzied shoppers crowd the store aisles to compete for the limited items on the shelves. And every year, the mania for...
Can You Take Out a HELOC on an Investment Property?
Have some rental properties with equity in them, and want to access it to help you grow your real estate portfolio? One way to buy a rental property with no money down is to leverage equity in your other properties. That could mean a blanket loan against multiple...
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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.
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!
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.
