As the new year gets into full swing, experts will make their fair share of predictions about the trajectory of 2018. We’ll see them across every arena: politics, economics, entertainment, and yes—even real estate investment. Where passive real estate investment, in particular, is concerned, the predictions that come with a new year may not be what you expect.

There’s a popular saying among real estate investors. Cash flow is king. Cash flow, in a general sense, can be defined as the money being transferred into and out of a business. In the context of investments, there are two types of cash flow: positive and negative. Real estate investors are on a mission to maximize their positive cash flow (their passive income).

Envision your future as a real estate investor. What do you see? A retirement in a beach house? Being independently wealthy? Building a business for yourself as a successful investor? There are many paths you can go down in real estate investment. Getting there, however, is a different story.

ROI is one of those buzz words in real estate investment. People say it all the time but no one really seems to know what it means or how to actually measure it, do they? ROI, or return-on-investment, can generally be summed up as the profitability of any given investment.

A new year. We ring it in with champagne, fireworks, kisses and confetti. Along with it comes a hope for something different — something better than before. No matter how good or how bad your 2017 was, 2018 just seems like the kind of year to get it right.

Plenty of people make resolutions — to lose weight, to change jobs, to buy their first investment property, to buy their fifth investment property, to achieve a previously unconquered goal. Within a week or two, we usually fall back into old habits and quietly forget we decided to make a change at all.

In real estate investment, there’s always talk about which strategy is the best.

As real estate investors, it’s important to know your market. For passive real estate investors, you may not be involved in the day-to-day operations of your real estate investments—you might not even be all that involved in acquiring your properties! As busy people, you don’t want to have to sweat the small stuff. What you do want to know is that your investments are in good hands.

The holidays are great. It’s the time of year where we cozy up, break out the cocoa, and spend time with friends, family, and plenty of good food. As real estate investors, however, we tend to neglect one important thing about the holiday season: it’s a great time to get ahead. The fourth quarter of any year tends to drag when it comes to real estate.

Financing can be tricky to navigate in real estate investment. For the most part, your average real estate investor won’t be paying for their properties in cash—at least, not in the very beginning. And with limits on the number of mortgages you can take out, there have to be alternative real estate investor financing options, right?

Taking the plunge as a turnkey real estate investor is the first step to the beginning of a bright financial future. You’ve found your turnkey provider that you trust, you’ve started building a solid relationship, purchased the property, and started generating passive income.

So...now what?