Residential Rental Property. Once you own a property, you become the landlord of your future tenants and are responsible for paying the mortgage, taxes and maintenance costs (and possibly a property manager, if you don’t want calls about broken appliances at midnight). Ideally, you’ll want to be able to charge more than your monthly costs, so that you earn a profit. This is your cash flow—your paycheck for filling the property with a quality tenant. For instance, I now own thousands of apartment units across multiple states—but I didn’t start there. I started with one single-family house. And I’d recommend the same for you. Real Estate Investment Trust. A real estate investment trust (REIT) is created when a corporation (or trust) uses investors’ money to purchase and operate income properties (residential and commercial). REITs are bought and sold on the major exchanges, just like any other stock. According to Investopedia, a corporation must pay out 90% of its taxable profits in the form of dividends to keep its status as an REIT. By doing this, REITs avoid paying corporate income tax, whereas a regular company would be taxed its profits and then have to decide whether or not to distribute its after-tax profits as dividends. Since the 1960s, REITs have been a popular choice for income investors due to their reliable payouts and massive capital appreciation potential. Real Estate Investment Groups. If you want to own a rental property, but don’t want the effort associated with being a landlord, this option may be the right solution for you. Akin to small mutual funds for rental properties, a company will buy or build a set of apartment blocks or condos and then allow investors to buy them through the company, thus joining the group. The company operating the investment group manages all the units, handles maintenance, advertising vacancies and interviews possible tenants in exchange for a percentage of the monthly rent.