Well, if you went out and bought a couple dozen single family houses and kept them, you would create a decent income. Good but not great. Its? going to take you a little time to find all of these deals and then you would have to manage all of those tenants. What if you put a couple dozen units in the same property? Then you would only have to find one deal and then a few more to create a great passive income.

I know what you're thinking. Oh no, not apartments! I don't want to deal with the tenant hassles! And I agree with you, you shouldn't be dealing with any tenants, wouldn't it be better if you could just sit back and collect checks while someone else deals with all of the management headaches?

Those people are called management companies and they make a living shielding investors from the day to day management of their properties so you can go out and continue to do what you do best, find more property and create more cash flow! But aren't they expensive? It's true that management companies are paid a percentage of the gross collected rents, somewhere between 6% and 10%, though if you factor this cost into the deal, as long as the property cash flows with these fees, you've got yourself a winner!

Not only have you found a property that will get you one step closer to true freedom, you don't have to hassle with a single tenant.

But don't the management companies nickel and dime all of your profits away? While it's true that there are some bad management companies out there, you can be assured to find a good one if you follow these simple steps. Go to www.irem.org. That's the Institute For Real Estate Management, a great resource. When there, go into the search box and search for a Certified Property Manager (CPM). These are owners and managers who have taken time out of their busy schedule and taken a series of required courses to improve their management knowledge and skills. Upon the completion of these courses, they take a big test and then they are awarded the CPM designation.

These managers are the cream of the crop and these are the ones that you want to have managing your properties. They will send you a summary report each month, telling you how the property is performing and the only thing you have left to do is to go cash you're checks while you're out finding more properties for your portfolio!