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
Should You Ever Invest in Properties with Negative Cash Flow?
Conventional wisdom should be questioned. At one time, conventional wisdom held that the sun revolved around the earth. And that the earth was flat, and that smoking was completely safe. Even when conventional wisdom isn't wrong per se, it can be limiting. For...
13 Hidden Benefits of a High Savings Rate & the FIRE Lifestyle
Whenever bad economic news dominates the headlines, pundits love to declare “The FIRE movement is dead, long live the FIRE movement!” They shouted it during the pandemic, during the stock market crash in 2022, during the sustained inflation and cooling real estate...
12 “Cheat Codes” in the Game of Building Wealth & Creating Your Ideal Life
Ever wish you could punch in a cheat code for the game of life? Build wealth and passive income streams faster? Live your ideal lifestyle without putting in decades of hard work first? Personal finance does offer some hacks — if you’re willing to think outside the...
Case Study: A Real Estate Syndication Deal Gone Wrong
We send out a monthly update about all the past deals we’ve invested in through our Co-Investing Club. Most of the real estate syndication projects are doing fine. A few have narrower cash flow than forecast, due to soaring interest rates, and have delayed starting...
Are LLCs for Rental Properties Worth the Hassle? Pros, Cons, and Costs
One of the first questions I hear from new real estate investors is: “Should I create an LLC for rental properties, rather than owning them under my personal name?” It’s a good question, and shows foresight. After all, people love to sue landlords. And love to hate...
The “Lazy 1031 Exchange” – Defer Taxes on Real Estate Without the Hassles of a 1031
A few years ago, I sold all of my multifamily properties as well as a few of my single-family turnkey properties. As I was getting ready to sell, I contacted Nate Busch, my CPA, and asked him how I could avoid the capital gains taxes on these assets. The market had...
Streitwise Review Q1 2024: A Private REIT Worth Investing In?
Looking to invest in commercial office real estate, but don’t have several million dollars lying around? Real estate crowdfunding platform Streitwise makes it easy to add commercial office buildings to your investment portfolio. I've invested my own money with them....
Median Net Worth, Income and Real Estate Ownership by Age & Percentile
We talk all the time about how the wealthy invest in real estate. Today, you get to see just how much they like it. And stack your own finances up against the average American. But no matter how your finances compare to the median American income or net worth, don’t...
Probate Real Estate Investing: How to Score Great Deals Through Probate
Looking for the next great addition to your investment property portfolio? Start seeing dead people. Well, not literally. That would be real creepy. But your local probate court, which settles the affairs of your recently departed neighbors, could harbor eye-popping...
Declining Home Prices Mapped: 89 Cities with Falling Prices
Heard nothing but doom and gloom in the real estate headlines for the last 18 months? The wild 50+% price jumps we saw during the pandemic are a distant memory, while 2022 through 2025 have seen real estate markets drop back down to earth. They did exactly what...
The Landlord’s Guide to Pet Deposits vs. Pet Rent vs. Pet Fees
I love animals. I have almost always had at least one pet in my home. Pets enrich our lives and provide unmatched companionship and unconditional love. Except for my cat, whose affection seems to depend on my filling his bowl—and, even then, often includes the use of...
Umbrella Insurance for Rental Properties: What Landlords Need to Know
I have a theory that nobody likes insurance. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important and often required by law or by lenders. But insurance is just so psychologically unsatisfying. I don’t know anyone who’s really excited to get their sweet new coverage. At best it gives...
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.
