Income Producing Properties are real estate investment which you hold, and which provide income from leasing. A Non-Income Producing Property might still be used to make money, but only if it's value appreciated over time and then you sold it. Today, we will only be talking about Income Producing Properties.

1. (The Most Common Type) Rental Houses

Under this heading, we have both single-family and multi-family homes. However, please be advised that these two types of rental properties require different insurance coverage, a different type of mortgage (talk to commercial real estate agents for multi-family properties), and different investment requirements and returns on your investment.

Multi-family homes typically require the same insurance coverage and mortgage requirements as an apartment complex, have a much larger down payment with different things being looked at by the bank, and produce a much higher return on your investment in the beginning.

Single-family rental investment homes are typically covered by homeowner's insurance, have a much more reasonable down payment (similar to the home you currently own), are simply viewed as a second home by the bank, and produce a lower rate of return at the start.

2. (The Most Common Commercial Type) Storage Facilities

Storage facilities are some of the most common ventures which both real estate investors and new business buyers take up at the beginning of their investment property career.

Storage facilities are incredibly easy to run, make great turn-key businesses for someone wanting to sell and simply pass operations on to a new owner, and produce a lot of continuous income from the very beginning.

In other words, storage facilities are low-maintenance, high-revenue, and a fairly easy operation to keep safe with security cameras, a security service, and good insurance coverage. A great way to begin is to simply do a search online for "buy businesses in name-of-town" and notice of any of the listings are storage facilities. A big plus is if they are currently in operation and the new business owner can simply step into the shoes as the old owner, making the transition a seamless process.

3. Industrial Locations and Venues

This is a great way to lease a lot of empty open land space or industrial building space out to a business which desires to operate on your land. Manufacturing can be specific, so be sure to advertise if you have covered yard space, refrigeration, access to heavy equipment, access to highways or waterways, or any other amenities which an industrial operation might find useful.

If your building is an office space, advertise some reliable, bonded local cleaning services, security installations, and customer traffic for ease of use. If the building is near the airport, be sure and advertise that your lessees can entertain clients or guests at a short distance from their hotel and flight.

Always state in the advertisement what the total rental cost per month is and state whether or not electricity or other utilities are included in the price. Make suggestions for possible uses of the space (which can be a huge selling point when someone is trying to decide) and get as many ideas as possible from everyone you know. Let other people think outside the box for you, too, because more possible uses can be quite appealing to businesses which are trying to decide how to run their second location.

4. Retail Space

Retail space can be easily found in the mall, in closed department stores, in large commercial spaces, and in new construction which is occurring on the edge of town.

Before you buy retail space, make sure that it is available because of the former business simply changed location. If they had difficulty selling in that location or if a string of businesses have come and gone in that location, then the energy, vibes or marketability of the place is broken down. However you want to put it, don't buy a location which can't keep a successful business long-term. Ask to see the books of the former business (nothing proprietary) so that you can determine if the location was a factor in their closing down.

Things to Remember:

• Rental Houses are the most common form of real estate investment
• Storage Facilities are the most common and easily run commercial investment
• Location matters so do a thorough check on former businesses in that location
• Be sure and advertise all available resources which could be used by potential lessees

Happy investing and peaceful fortunes to you.