My spouse and I have talked about becoming landlords so many times. What stops me is the stress of dealing with tenants: keeping up with rent, repairing things, complainants and especially bad tenants. I do not see the value in it or having a service do it for us. I do like real estate just not us directly owning the properties.
REITs
That is why I like to invest in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). There are many different REITs and each can invest in specific property types: office space, retail space, hospitals, houses and apartments. You can also buy funds that invest in several different property types. It all depends on the risk you want to take. But please do not make REITs your whole investment portfolio.
Advantage/Due Diligence
Not all REITs pay dividends, but the ones that do typically pay higher dividends than regular stocks. REITs are also taxed differently than regular stocks. As with anything we share, please do your own research to make sure the investment or advice is right for your situation.