1Buying a small – or large – portfolio by of single family homes yourself. Advantage: you control everything about the portfolio and all the profit is yours. Disadvantage: unless you have deep pockets, this is out of reach for most investors. And you should hire a property management firm or you could end up with nothing more than a job.

2Buying shares in a Real Estate Income Trust – Advantage: Average dividend yield of 6+%; fairly safe. Disadvantages: the stock market has outperformed REIT's in the past few years; large institutions generally are the managers, and they have much higher volatility than directly owned real estate.

3Investing in a Limited Partnership where the General Partner finds, negotiates, purchases and manages a carefully selected pool of properties for maximum return. Advantages: 20 – 25% average annual return with quarterly cash flow for a total of 100% to 125% in 4 to 5 years, low investment buy-in (minimum of only $25,000) – a truly "armchair investment". Disadvantage: Less liquid than a REIT.