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 Investors Consider Buying Condemned Houses?
You've probably seen condemned signs on houses. But how do properties become condemned, and what do you need to know as a buyer or seller? There is likely a condemned house somewhere in the neighborhood you live in. Some are so far gone that demolition is the only...
13 Habits of the Wealthy You Should Adopt
When you think of wealthy individuals, do you think of playboy heirs and vapid heiresses? Perhaps slovenly lottery winners? People who just stumbled or lucked their way into wealth? Maybe you picture self-indulgent tycoons, with eight cars and four homes spread across...
Should You Sell a Property with Tenants Living in It?
There are no federal, state, or local regulations that prevent the owner of a rental property from selling it while renters live on the premises. However, it can present some challenges. Sellers should plan carefully before listing tenant-occupied properties on the...
Financial Independence from Flipping Houses: How John Maxim Did It
From wholesaling to property management, vacation rentals, house flipping, mortgage lending, commercial real estate to residential, John Maxim has done it all. He has founded multiple seven-figure businesses including Tree Fort Realty, Rhino Property Management, Savvy...
What Is Compounding? Compound Interest Calculator, Formula & Investments
If you ever hope to reach financial independence and early retirement, you need more than just a high savings rate. You need investments that do the heavy lifting for you. Enter compound interest, A.K.A. compounding returns. But what is compounding? What’s the formula...
How Much Real Estate Should Go in My IRA?
The earlier you want to retire, the more proactive you need to be in funding your post-work life. There are many ways to achieve financial independence for early retirement (FIRE). But many real estate investors wonder how they can put real estate in their IRAs....
Historical Stock Market Return: Average S&P Returns Since 1926
Real estate investors often assume that real estate returns beat stock returns. And it’s often true — check out this study on returns over 145 years in 16 developed countries. But to compare real estate versus stocks, it helps to know the average historical stock...
The Retirement Catch-Up Plan: 7 Steps to Retire in the Next 5-10 Years
As a passive income evangelist, I love this gem from Warren Buffett: “If you don’t find a way to make money in your sleep, you will work until you die.” Everyone loves to talk about what separates the wealthy from the proles, the successful from the wage-slaves, the...
Average Cost of Tiny Homes: Profitable Real Estate Investments?
Inherent in the name, a tiny home is exactly that — tiny (400 square feet or less). But the passive income opportunities that tiny homes offer are anything but. So how much does a tiny home cost? What kind of returns can you earn on tiny homes as a real estate...
How Greg & His Family Retired Young with Rental Properties
“I wanted to get money out of the way so I could spend my time with kids and a wife (I didn't yet have.)” Greg Wilson retired recently at 42. But he started planning for financial independence and early retirement when he was a teenager: “I am the son of a business...
What Is a Good Credit Score?
Generally, the credit bureaus consider anything over 670 a good credit score. If your score is 671 or higher, you’re doing fairly well. The best credit score and the highest credit score possible is 850 for both FICO® and VantageScore models. FICO considers a score...
10 Tips from Pro Real Estate Investors You Won’t Learn in School
They don’t teach real estate investing in high school or college. You have to go out and learn it on your own. Toward that end, we offer hundreds of free articles, a weekly podcast, and monthly live webinars. But we decided to bring in some outside real estate...
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.
