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
The Best Real Estate Books – Real Estate Investment
The Big Picture On The Best Real Estate Books To Read: "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" teaches the investor mindset, emphasizing assets over liabilities. "Book on Rental Property Investing" covers all aspects, from analysis to management. "Estimating Rehab Costs" is crucial for...
Living With Intention — Improve Your Life With Lifestyle Design
The Big Picture On Living With Intention: Design your life or someone else will. Take charge of your work, where you live, and how you spend your time. You can't have it all, so pick what matters most. Make smart trade-offs to get what you really want. Set your top 3...
Preventive Maintenance Checklist For Properties: Landlords’ Guide
The Big Picture On a Preventive Maintenance Checklist For Rental Properties: Include specific maintenance clauses in lease agreements to ensure tenants contribute to property upkeep. Address kitchen and shower drain maintenance to prevent clogs and potential plumbing...
Hard Money Loan Requirements: Unconventional Financing Part 3
The Big Picture On Hard Money Loan Requirements: Hard money loans offer quick, flexible financing for real estate investors but come with high costs and strict requirements. If you need fast cash for a unique real estate project, hard money loans can close in days and...
What Is A Co-signer On A Lease And When Should You Add One?
The Big Picture On Co-Signers In Lease Agreements: A cosigner on a lease takes on the legal responsibility for paying rent if the tenant fails to do so. Cosigners benefit landlords by expanding the pool of potential tenants, especially in high-demand markets like...
Reverse 1031 Exchange Timeline & Rules
The Big Picture On The Reverse 1031 Exchange Timeline & Rules: Unlike a traditional 1031 exchange, where you sell a property first, a reverse 1031 exchange allows you to buy the replacement property before selling the relinquished one. To comply with IRS rules,...
Contingent vs Pending In Real Estate Explained
The Big Picture on The Difference Between Contingent vs Pending Real Estate: A "contingent" property sale depends on specific conditions, like financing or inspections, being met before the sale can proceed. A "pending" property means the offer is accepted, and the...
Single Family vs Multifamily Rentals: Which Should I Invest In?
The Big Picture On Single Family vs Multifamily Rentals: Multifamily often beats single-family for income, with built-in risk spread. Single-family homes are easier to fund. 2 to 4 units still count as residential, but 5 or more units need commercial loans. Both...
Property Management Duties and Responsibilities — A Checklist
The Big Picture On Property Management Duties and Responsibilities: A property manager can make managing rental properties easier by handling the daily tasks so you can focus on other things. Property managers find tenants, set rent, advertise, screen applicants, and...
Most Profitable Niche Real Estate Investments You Haven’t Tried
The Big Picture On Profitable Niche Real Estate Investments: Consider strategies such as flipping rentals to hedge funds, investing in mid-size properties, or focusing on large apartment buildings for diverse opportunities. Niche markets like office real estate,...
Property Management Skills — A Landlord’s Blueprint To Success
The Big Picture On Property Management Skills: Successful landlords set boundaries, communicate effectively, and take a proactive approach to tenant management to protect their investments. Improve your property management by focusing on prevention, from aggressive...
How to Get More Bookings on Airbnb — Stand Out and Book Out
The Big Picture On Getting More Bookings or Airbnb: Optimize your Airbnb listing with quality photos, detailed descriptions, and regular updates to stand out. Focus on longer stays, offer amenities, and go the extra mile with personal touches to impress guests....
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.
