I wanted to share a helpful article I wrote that is featured on McGraw-Hill's Business Blog right now, How to Passively Build Your Real Estate Portfolio. It's the first in a series of guest posts I'll be doing for them, and as one of the biggest educational publishers, it's an honor to be working with McGraw Hill!

You work hard. You have a career that you’re proud of. But in the back of your mind, you know that there’s something more out there for you. While a career may bring you personal fulfillment and keep your mind engaged, you feel that you can supplement your income—maybe even find wealth—elsewhere.

At the same time, you don’t want to sacrifice all that you’ve built. Is it even possible?

For some real estate investors, turnkey real estate is an elusive idea. It doesn't quite make sense. After all, at first glance—some of the pieces of the turnkey real estate puzzle don't seem to add up! For inexperienced investors or those used to investing a certain way, the turnkey method sounds too good to be true.

Real estate investors come in a lot of varieties. Different strategies, goals, opinions, and standards. You’re going to find a lot of differences of opinion out there.

And if you’ve ever looked into turnkey real estate, you’ve likely stumbled across this opinion: turnkey real estate is too expensive. It’s overpriced.

Is it true?

Out of all the ways to prepare for your financial future, investing in real estate has grown increasingly in popularity over the past few decades. There are compelling reasons for that. For one, real estate investment offers flexibility that other types of investments, like stocks and bonds, just don’t. You direct the course of your real estate investments yourself—choosing what properties to buy, where to buy them, how and when to scale, what types of properties to choose, how to leverage capital, and more.

With Turnkey Real Estate investing gaining in popularity as investor realize there is a way to be passive and invest in long-term buy & hold at the same time, real estate as an option has grown even more.  Passive options like investing in turnkey properties have attracted many investors, both experienced and inexperienced, both flush with resources and just starting out.  The one thing in common among passive investors is that they know they do not have the time to devote to learning how to actively learn real estate.

There are endless variations on strategy and practice when it comes to building your financial...

Customer Service is an often used phrase, some say over-used, by companies that want to set themselves apart from their competition.  Unfortunately, saying the words "Customer Service" is easier than actually committing to providing exceptional customer service.  It takes thought, process, commitment and total buy-in from a team in order to really be great.

For Memphis Invest, our mission has always been to provide the best possible experience for every real estate investor that comes into contact with our company.  Turnkey real estate investors should EXPECT more!  Value should never be measured simply by the price of a house.  The real value of an investment comes from the experience you can expect as a passive investor.

Where we set ourselves apart, and I mean we put miles and miles between us and any other company in this niche when we

Turnkey real estate investment is one of those things that a lot of people want to get into but a lot of people don’t really understand.  

This is one of the most important articles you will read if you want to passively invest in real estate...Period!

How do it work? What’s the process? Where do I start? Is it really passive? Can I trust someone else to handle my investments?

There’s a lot of soul-searching to do when deciding whether or not you want to turn to turnkey real estate investment, but even more important than the questions you ask yourself are the questions you ask your potential turnkey investment partner.

The company that you choose to work with is paramount to your success in turnkey investing! Their success, their reputation, their experience, their expertise—it all matters!

Want to learn all about turnkey real estate investment? Read our white paper.

The world of investment is huge. The world of real estate investment is huge. If you want to earn passive income, you have a thousand options. If you want to invest in real estate, you also have a thousand options.

So why, when you have an endless sea of opportunities ahead of you, would you pick turnkey real estate investment?

We’ll be upfront: turnkey real estate investment isn’t for everyone. It’s not what every investor is looking for! You might be enthralled with flipping houses. Your method of investing might be your full-time job. You might like being hands-on.

But if you’re looking for passive income, we would argue that turnkey real estate is the best method investing you can choose. Yes, we’re absolutely biased. That said, there are compelling reasons for why we believe so strongly in turnkey real estate and why we’re in this business in the first place.

Investing in real estate should mean that you’re earning passive income. You’re not breaking your back to get your paycheck—granted, some investors like to get more involved: flippers, wholesalers, even landlords. But we’d argue that these are really jobs, investments of time as much as they are investments of money.

AND they take up a lot of time. For the investor looking to earn passive income, however, you know that you can be passive. Turnkey real estate investing, for example, offers an avenue where you don’t have to be involved in the daily details of your investments.

The best Turnkey companies, well - let me be more frank here and say that Memphis Invest is one of only two companies that do this - will have a fully dedicated team to support investors with timely updates on their portfolios.  Those updates are important in keeping that investment as passive as possible. 

Real estate investing does not have to be hard and it does not have to be time consuming, but much of what makes it passive is that team.  If you've picked the right team, then they will make you feel comfortable with the passive nature of this investment and help you understand a key point.

Even the most passive real estate investments take some work.

Turnkey real estate is about as passive as passive gets. But if you want to be successful in turnkey real estate, there are some things you still have to do. There are some places you’re going to have to get in there and get your hands dirty.

Every week, more and more first time investors head onto the road to learning about their options and getting started in real estate.  There is a lot to learn.  What is even better is the fact that there are millions of experienced investors in both real estate and other markets that are making moves daily to get into the real estate investing game. That’s great! But hey—there are a ton of options out there in real estate. It’s not enough to decide that you want to be a real estate investor. You have to think about what kind of investor you really want to be.

You can go the fix and flip route for a hands on approach, you can assume the role of landlord for a handful of properties or apartment units, you can dig deep into commercial real estate, or look to land and development...There are plenty of ways to invest.

One way, however, offers opportunities to earn passive income in the most passive way possible. Is there still work involved? Absolutely. All investments require, well, investment. But if you’re in the market for a more hands-off approach to investing, turnkey real estate just might be right for you. So much of deciding what kind of investments to pursue just depends on what you as an individual enjoy and value.  

To help you decide, we’re diving deep and looking at the the ins and outs of turnkey real estate: what it is, how it works, what you have to gain, and what red flags you should watch for to ensure the best outcome for your financial future.