Build Passive Income with Real Estate
Who says you need to work until you’re 65?
A Passive Income Blog for the Obsessed
Want to work forever?
We certainly don’t. Which is why we’re so obsessed with passive income. And while we love stocks, our true passion is passive real estate investing.
My name is Brian Davis, and I’m a passive real estate investor, personal finance writer, co-founder of SparkRental, and world traveler. I get to spend most of the year living abroad hiking, scuba diving, wine tasting, and breaking toes trying to learn how to surf.
Deni (my partner) and I have a simple goal: to help 5,000 people reach $5,000/month in passive real estate income. Want to be one of them? To start stacking up streams of passive income? To reach financial independence and retire early with rental properties or real estate syndications?
We created this real estate investing blog to help you stop relying so heavily on your 9-5 salary and start living more intentionally. Welcome!
The Latest from Our Real Estate Investing Blog
How to Create a Financial Freedom Plan and Achieve It
The Big Picture on Creating a Financial Freedom Plan: Financial independence is achieved through a series of stages, beginning from a negative net worth and progressing through financial solvency, stability, and halfway to financial independence. Crafting and...
Better Money Habits: Save Money and Build Wealth for FIRE
The Big Picture on Developing Better Money Habits: Strategies like house hacking, moving to a lower-cost area, and getting rid of a car can significantly reduce major expenses, accelerating wealth building. These methods require substantial lifestyle adjustments but...
Invest in Real Estate with a 401(k): Everything You Need to Know
The Big Picture on How to Invest in Real Estate With a 401(k): Publicly traded REITs, borrowing from a 401(k), and using self-directed IRAs or 401(k)s are some of the ways to incorporate real estate into retirement savings. Self-directed IRAs (SDIRAs) and...
Self-Insured vs. Fully Insured: What Is Self Insuring?
The Big Picture on Going Self-Insured vs Fully Insured: Self-insurance allows individuals to set aside funds for any emergency, offering flexibility that specific insurance policies do not. By self-insuring, individuals can potentially save more money compared to...
The Debt Snowball Method, FIRE, and Real Estate Investing
The Big Picture On Debt Snowball Method, FIRE, and Real Estate Investing: Focus on paying off the smallest debts first while making minimum payments on larger ones. Quickly eliminating small debts provides a motivational boost to tackle larger debts. List all debts...
How to Become a Property Manager: And How It Makes You a Better Investor
The Big Picture On Becoming a Property Manager Property managers handle leasing, tenant communication, maintenance, and finances. Meet requirements (age, education, residency, licensing), develop skills (organization, communication), and consider certifications (NALP,...
Pay Off Student Loans or Buy a House – Making the Right Call
The Big Picture On Deciding to Whether to Pay Off Student Loans or Buy a House: Carefully evaluate the return on investment of purchasing a home versus paying off existing debt, considering all related expenses such as maintenance costs and closing fees. Explore the...
Landlord Security Deposit Mistakes: Costly Errors to Avoid
The Big Picture On The Common and Costly Mistakes Landlords Make With Security Deposits Protect yourself from tenant disputes by meticulously documenting the property's condition during move-in and move-out inspections. Keeping security deposits in a separate,...
What’s the Rule of 72 in Investing?
The Big Picture On the Rule of 72 in Investing: The Rule of 72 is a simple formula to estimate how long it takes an investment to double: Years to double = 72 / rate of return. Variations like the Rule of 70 or 69.3 can be used for more accuracy at different return...
Bonds vs Real Estate: Choosing the Right Investment for Retirees
The Big Picture On Bonds vs Real Estate Investment for Retirement Low Treasury bond returns make them less suitable for retirement income. Real estate offers stable income and low risk, serving as a bond alternative for retirees. Retirees can invest in real estate...
Bad Tenants: Best Ways to Spot and Handle Them
The Big Picture on How To Handle Bad Tenants: Identifying excuse-makers, nitpickers, and slobs early through thorough tenant screening, including credit and eviction history, as well as observing their behavior and current living conditions. Maintain professionalism...
Money Mindset: Your Subconscious Is Sabotaging Your Success
The Big Picture On Improving Your Money Mindset: Success requires not just setting goals but creating detailed plans and routines to achieve them. Systematizing behaviors leads to consistent progress and tangible results. Actively practicing gratitude and maintaining...
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 since 2017, and 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 or wherever else you listen!
Recent Episodes
Beyond Education: Group Real Estate Investment Club
Learning is wonderful, and we offer nearly endless free education content for real estate investors. But nothing beats getting in the trenches and actually investing to earn real returns.
At your request, we created a real estate investment club that lets you “earn while you learn” with a club of other investors. Every month, we meet on a video call to vet a new passive real estate investment. These group real estate investments range from private parnetships to private notes to real estate syndications and funds for fractional ownership in an apartment complex, self-storage facility, retail or other large property. You get all the benefits of real estate investing, from cash flow to appreciation to tax benefits, without the headaches of buying properties yourself.
Best of all, you can invest with a lot less money. Rather than the $50,000 – $100,000 needed for a typical private equity real estate investment or rental property down payment, you can invest with $5,000 per deal.
Oh, and non-accredited investors are welcome on all deals. We intentionally propose inclusive deals open to all investors.
Who Is this Real Estate Investing Blog For?
Well, sure, it’s for aspiring and active investors and landlords. We write about the nuts and bolts of investing passively in real estate syndications or actively in rental properties. We cover topics ranging from real estate crowdfunding to tax benefits, tenant screening to collecting rents, single-family to multifamily to self-storage and beyond.
But while the “how-tos” and “avoid these mistakes” are important, they’re only part of the picture.
The bigger picture? How real estate investing fits into your larger strategy for building wealth and passive income.
Specifically: reaching financial independence to give you the freedom to retire early, if you so choose. Or to supplement your current lifestyle so you can live better or switch to your dream work.
So who is this “real estate investing blog” for? It’s not just for passive real estate investors or active 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 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 real estate investors. We offer a premium course called FIRE from Real Estate, to help you reach financial independence and retire early in years rather than decades. 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 want 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 real estate education at SparkRental. We want you to make as much passive income as possible, as fast as possible, on the fewest real estate investments possible.
More Resources for Investors
Had enough of us going on about the importance of real estate investing education?
“Cut to the goods already Brian! Gimme some free stuff!”
All right, all right. Here are some free real estate investing resources, to help you on your quest for financial independence from real estate:
Real Estate Investing Calculators
Real estate investing involves math. But it doesn’t have to be hard math. Use our free rental income calculator, house hacking calculator, property depreciation calculator and more to get ahead in the game of life.
Interactive Real Estate Maps
It’s a big country, with thousands of towns you could invest in. Where should you invest? Why? Check out our interactive maps of the hottest housing markets, cooling real estate markets, best cities for real estate investing by price/rent ratio, and more.
Real Estate Crowdfunding Comparison
Wondered whether real estate crowdfunding investments are worth considering? The answer: some are, others aren’t. But which are worth it? Check out our comparison of real estate crowdfunding platforms — and which we invest in ourselves.
Landlord Software & Mobile App
Use our free landlord software to screen tenants, collect rent online, and automate your rental accounting. Sync your bank account, automatically label income and expenses, and use one-click Schedule E tax statements.
Want more free landlord resources? Check out our list of Free Real Estate Investing Tools.
