Successful real estate investing requires smart decisions. To start investing in real estate quickly and easily, ask a few important questions, discover different ways to invest in residential property, and build an effective real estate team.A few questions to ask before you invest in real estateMost people can succeed at investing in real estate if they’re willing to do their homework.

A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns, manages, and/or finances real estate holdings. These holdings can be in the form of apartment buildings, hotels, shopping centers, self-storage facilities, warehouses, and even billboards, data centers, cell towers, woodlands, and many others.REITs have stock attributes (liquidity and transparency) and, at the same time, enable you to enjoy the benefits of owning income-producing real estate.

Many real estate investors pick inspectors as an afterthought or simply take the recommendation of their real estate agent. But inspect the property inspectors before you hire one. As with other service professionals, interview a few inspectors before making your selection. You may find that they don’t all share the same experience, qualifications, and ethical standards.

Knowledge is power, as the saying goes. But knowledge also is a tool — a tool for building wealth and personal freedom. A bit like a spanner or a wrench, only slightly more glamorous. ©goshutter/Shutterstock.com In most professions, continual education is key to staying on top of your game. The people who progress well and succeed are the ones who are continually evolving.

Investing in rental real estate that you’re responsible for can be a lot of work. Think about it this way: With rental properties, you have all the headaches of maintaining a property, including finding and dealing with tenants, without the benefits of living in and enjoying the property. Unless you’re extraordinarily interested in and motivated to own investment real estate, start with and perhaps limit yourself to a couple of the much simpler yet still profitable methods discussed here.

Even though your home consumes a lot of dough (mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, and so on) while you own it, it can help you accomplish important financial goals: Retiring: By the time you hit your 50s and 60s, the size of your monthly mortgage payment, relative to your income and assets, should start to look small or nonexistent.