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
Landlords’ Guide: Virtual Tours of Vacant Units in COVID
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of our lives. As we all try to keep up with all the ways the coronavirus is impacting real estate investors, many landlords are scrambling to figure out how to fill vacancies during the pandemic. Landlords and...
Housing Market Analysis: Interactive COVID Impact Map
Not all housing markets are created equal. Nor do they all face the same risk from the coronavirus pandemic and the damage it leaves in its wake. In early April, ATTOM Data Solutions released an analysis of which US cities and counties are most vulnerable to a drop in...
Buying Properties During COVID: A Guide for Investors
As Baron Rothschild famously put it, “the time to buy is when there's blood in the streets.” And as bad as the bleeding has been over the last month, it’s going to get much, much worse before the COVID-19 crisis passes. Which raises the question: Should real estate...
Landlords & COVID-19: Navigating Rent Defaults & Evictions
The new “C” word, coronavirus, has caused disruptions so different, so enormous, that it’s left most investors and landlords scrambling to keep up with constantly-evolving changes to how we do business. For landlords, COVID-19 is not only creating the problem of mass...
Out-of-State Real Estate Investing with BRRRRs: Whitney’s System
“I keep offering to pay for my husband to retire and mountain bike all day, if he’ll move overseas with me. So far he keeps turning me down, but we’ll travel the world sooner or later!” Whitney Hutten is 44 and brings in around $15,000 per month in passive rental...
The Best Cities for Real Estate Investing in 2020, Based on Rental Cap Rates
Ever get sick of hearing people glibly spout “Location, location, location!”, whenever real estate comes up in a conversation? Yet most real estate investors never look much further beyond their own backyard, when deciding where to invest. Which is why we wanted to...
REI Property Pro Review: Is the Suite of Tools Worth the Cost?
More Americans are becoming interested in real estate investing. Which means more companies are creating tools to help them do it. In mid-2019, the Wall Street Journal noted that the number of investors purchasing residential property to “flip” – sell short-term for...
Apartment Amenities in Demand: Housing Features Tenants Want Most
As an investor, every dollar spent needs to justify itself. You have to weigh which real estate amenities are worth your extra money based on which can garner higher rental rates, better tenants, and stronger loyalty. Some apartment amenities are consistently in...
7 Properties in a Year: Nathaniel & Brittany’s Success
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...
Lifestyle Creep & Keeping Up with the Joneses: Why You’re Not Rich
Could you live on half your current income? Most people shake their heads and answer that it’s 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...
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...
Calculating Your Net Worth: Why It Matters and How to Do It
Sometimes you hear chatter on the Internet about people with an extremely high net worth (often to complain about them). But net worth isn’t something only the ultra-wealthy should be aware of. Every investor show know how net worth is calculated, what it means, and...
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.
