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:
New Laws Criminalizing Landlords: Is Orange the New Landlord Uniform?
When did we as a society start criminalizing landlords? Like so many other creeping, insidious changes in our society, it didn’t happen overnight. An early example took place in Kentucky, when a 69-year-old landlord was charged criminally because he leased to illegal...
12 Best Real Estate Investing Podcasts in 2021
Podcasts offer a convenient, semi-passive way to consume content and get educated. You can listen to them while you’re working out, driving, walking the dog, or cooking dinner. They’re also free, which doesn’t hurt. So, we decided to round up the best real estate...
Can Real Estate Replace Bonds in Your Retirement Portfolio?
The year I was born (1981), US Treasury bonds paid over 15% interest. Times sure have changed. Today, you can expect a paltry 2% interest rate (or worse) from Treasury bonds. Which raises questions and suspicions about the traditional investing advice to roll your...
Eviction Moratorium Status: Federal & State Rules (Sept. 2021)
Most 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,...
Anti-Landlord Laws: Worst Cities & States for Investors
The last time I had to evict a tenant in Baltimore, it took me 11 months to get him out. Over that time, he took advantage of Baltimore’s extremely tenant-friendly laws to keep prolonging the eviction. When I finally got him out nearly a year later, he punched holes...
What Is Leverage in Real Estate and How Does It Help Investors?
What do investors mean when they talk about “leverage” in real estate, anyway? It may sound jargony, but real estate leverage is actually a simple concept, and one of the great advantages to real estate investments over other asset classes. But it also comes with...
Should Landlords Accept Rent by Credit Card?
There was a time when only established businesses could accept credit cards. Fortunately, those days are long gone. Today, even individual landlords can accept rent by credit card. (Hint hint: landlords can accept rent by credit card and eCheck/ACH payments for free...
Heat Map: The Hottest Real Estate Markets in 2021
The coronavirus pandemic saw many real estate markets leap upward. Some saw home prices jump over 40% in a single year! Pick your reason as to why. People spending more time at home are focused more on their home, and usually wish they had more space. Many homeowners...
Best Cities for Real Estate Investing by GRM (Price/Rent Ratio)
The last 12 months have not been kind to gross rent multipliers around the country. Home prices have skyrocketed 15.04% nationwide, while rents ticked upward at 3.99%. In other words, real estate investors are paying far more for the same rental income. Which means...
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. #61 5 Questions to Ask Before Purchasing an Investment Property
Wavering on the sidelines, trying to decide whether to move forward with buying a rental property? Ask yourself these five questions to help you decide whether to purchase or not.Video Broadcast VersionAudio Podcast Version Also available on iTunes, Stitcher, and...
Ep. #60 Should Investors Pay a Realtor or FSBO
In today's world of online property listings visible to the public, do real estate investors still need to pay a Realtor to list and sell their properties? Deni and Brian talk through the pros and cons of hiring a real estate agent, in the modern era of flat-fee FSBO...
Ep. #59 How to Reach Financial Independence by Being Frugal
Can you reach financial independence through frugality alone? Yes, with some caveats. A higher income certainly helps, but it doesn't matter how much you earn if you don't save and invest any of it. Deni brings on Jen Smith from Modern Frugality to talk about creative...
Ep. #58 Worst Cities & States for Landlord Regulation
Some cities and states just don't like landlords. And they make life for investors far harder. So? Don't invest in these markets. Put your money in investor-friendly markets instead for higher returns and fewer headaches. Deni and Brian explain typical state...
Ep. #57 How to Deal with Bad Contractors
Hiring and managing contractors is one of the hardest parts of investing in real estate. Deni and Brian walk through what you need to know about screening out bad contractors, managing repair jobs to avoid problems, and how to handle contractors if they go bad on...
Ep. #56 Scaling Fast to Multifamily with Becky Nova
How do you reach financial independence with rental properties in under three years? Becky Nova from Lady Landlords comes back on the show to talk about multifamily properties, house hacking, investing in overseas real estate, living abroad part-time, and hard-won...
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.
