Investor-influencer Grant Cardone was recently in hot water in the form of a class-action lawsuit alleging fraud and false promises through his real estate investment fund. You can read all about it on Bigger Pockets (linked above) and other news outlets. Regardless of how the lawsuit has turned out, we see it as a cautionary tale to passive investing hopefuls.

While high interest rates make investing in real estate more challenging, it remains a viable and profitable investment strategy. We also want to point out that real estate isn’t the only asset impacted by interest rates.

Fix-and-flip investments might make for compelling programming on HGTV, but investors prefer buy-and-hold rental properties. A recent Investor Sentiment Survey from RCN Capital demonstrated that rentals were the most popular of the three types of residential real estate investments.

Traditionally, investors have looked upon owning far-away rental properties with suspicion. It seemed impossible to own and manage a property that was hours away from you. In today’s hyper-connected world, these impossibilities have disappeared. If work can be done remotely, why can’t investing in real estate?

Due diligence is a simple concept to understand but challenging to execute. It’s anticipating and mitigating risk, gathering accurate facts and data for informed decision-making, and doing your best to ensure you’re building your wealth and managing risk exposure.

One of the biggest mistakes turnkey investors can make is mistaking “passive” investing for “disengaged” investing. No matter what strategy you utilize, an owner-investor has a critical role to play – and that role comes with responsibilities.

The bigger your real estate investment portfolio grows, the more diligent you must be in wealth management.

For passive real estate investors, your job is to steer the ship. You’re the one setting goals, driving acquisition rates, communicating a vision, and, ultimately, evaluating your portfolio performance and pivoting accordingly.

Remote real estate investing can be one of the best things you’ll ever do as an investor. From unprecedented market access to key portfolio diversification, the benefits – and the options – are endless. With that said, out-of-state investing can be risky. Don’t ignore these essential steps to safely (and successfully) investing outside of your local market.

Most people who invest in anything are after passive investments. Active investors must dedicate considerably more time, energy, and expertise to building their portfolios. Those are things that people don’t often have – and building wealth can’t wait until you have them.