Passive income is a great tool for building retirement income faster, paying off debts, and, ultimately, retiring early and comfortably. If you have passive income during your retirement years, you potentially could live as well as you did during your peak earning years. Passive income is money you earn without doing actual labor. Often times, it comes from investments, such as in rental properties, stocks, bonds, annuities, and other investments.
Passive Income from Real Estate
In the real estate market, the one of best ways to generate passive income is by investing in turnkey rental properties that are ready to rent with and are managed by property management companies. In theory, the process is relatively simple. You either research properties or have people you trust do it, find ones that are in good condition and preferably in good areas, pay a reputable contractor to perform any repairs and ensure the property is in its best possible condition, and then hire a trusted property management company to handle the administrative tasks, including collecting rent, documenting and paying for maintenance and repairs, and sending money to you.
If you leverage turnkey investment properties, then most everything is already done. All you would need to do is purchase the investment property, let the professionals manage it and collect your monthly cash flow checks while your tenants help you build equity.
Generally Two Ways to Profit
When you have several rental income properties, you make your money two ways. The most obvious is the revenue stream created by rental income. So long as the amount collected in rents surpasses the amount paid for mortgages, taxes, insurance, maintenance, repairs, and property management services, you will reap a well-sown harvest of rental income each month. The other way you can profit is by increasing the value of a turnkey rental property and mining the equity that you build. You either can take low interest loans against the equity or sell a property outright if you have others that will continue producing a good stream of passive income.
Out-of-State Investing
One of the great things about generating passive income via rental properties is the ability to buy properties throughout the country instead of just in your generally locality. Because you will hire others to manage, maintain, and repair the property, you don’t have to be in the same location and can maintain passive ownership from virtually anywhere. That gives you the ability to better choose rental markets where you stand the best chance of profiting the most due to lower local and state property and business taxes.
Ideal locations are those that have relatively high per-capita incomes in communities that have strong local economies, low unemployment rates, and high-occupancy rental markets. Empty units cost money. Keeping them full with responsible and well-employed long-term renters will help to ensure your long-term success and continued passive income. Look for markets with job growth, Fortune 500 companies or that will soon be the home of a major new factory or large corporation as this can fuel a higher demand for housing than the present inventory can handle. The result is an increase in property value and a stable pool of potential tenants.
Avoid the Money Pits!
Being successful in generating passive income from real estate requires doing a great deal of homework beforehand so that you don’t wind up buying a money pit. A money pit will eat up all of your potential rental income and cost even more for constant repairs and make it harder to keep your rental units full. You can avoid them by doing your footwork and making your money when you buy.
That means you visit properties, review their tax histories, ensure the local market is robust and has sound long-term potential and the local rental market is one that is favorable to landlords and property owners. If you have to compete to fill your units and pay high taxes in areas where potential rental income in limited, you made a bad business decision and will have trouble generating passive income from your real estate investment. But so long as the property and market are good, you can make money.
One option to make sure you avoid potential money pits is to leverage the experience of a professional. Companies that specialize in turnkey investment properties know exactly what it takes to create positive cash flow and eliminate or minimize risk.
Talk to JWB to learn more about earning passive income from our turnkey rental properties.
Have a Strategy to Generate Passive Income from Real Estate Investments
Successful investments require planning. Whether you’re buying stocks, bonds, or real estate, a good plan up front helps you avoid mistakes. When you buy an investment property, there are several known issues that you should consider before making that purchase.
Cash Flow
Not all properties are equal when it comes to cash flow. When you run the numbers on your expenses, expected income, and profits for a property in a less well-kept neighborhood, your return looks good. However, as with any investment, your high return comes with increased risk. On the other hand, a property in a superior area with good public schools is less risky and will offer higher appreciation over time even if your monthly profits are smaller.
Tenants: Good and Bad
Obviously, you want the best tenants you can find. If you’ve chosen a property in a more affluent and stable neighborhood, your tenants are more likely to be responsible with your property and reliable about paying the rent. Properties in lower income areas are more likely to attract tenants that become delinquent in paying the rent, move out without notifying you, and damage your property. This is part of the higher risk of this type of investment property. You’ll end up with the expense of repairs and less income to spend on those expenses.
Vacancy Rates
An investment property with a high vacancy rate isn’t really much of an investment. Yes, the property may appreciate over the long run, but will it be enough to defray your expenses as a property owner? It’s better to invest in a property in an area that will attract stable and responsible tenants.
Property Condition
Before you buy any property, an inspection by a professional and independent home inspector is essential. Even if your potential purchase has just undergone a beautiful renovation, you must find out if the wiring and plumbing are all up to code. In most areas, it’s illegal to operate a rental property with any code violations. A top-quality inspector will be able to estimate the remaining life of the roof, HVAC system, and hot water supply, as well as find any defects in the structure, such as dry-rot in the attic.
Managing the Property
Unless you live nearby and genuinely enjoy doing maintenance work, you will probably want to hire a property manager to oversee your investment. Do some research on any potential management company. You should look at the number and type of properties the company manages, as well as how many properties each individual manager handles. If this last figure is higher than 250, it’s likely your property may not get enough attention.
Did you know Jacksonville, Florida is one of the best locations in the nation for turnkey rental properties that generate consistent cash flow and above average returns? Talk to one of our specialists to learn more about earning passive income from our turnkey rental property investments.
