Many people think real estate investing isn’t easy.

Investing for short-term appreciation isn’t a good idea these days. If you buy property and hope for quick gains, you’re likely to be disappointed.

As far as long-term appreciation goes, you can buy a property, looking to purchase one at a price that allows you to pay management fees. Otherwise, you can manage the property yourself. But what about the tenants?

Commercial real estate is risky too, depending on the local market. So you are thinking about residential real estate. Managing it yourself may mean you are doing a lot of maintenance. And how do you find the right tenant? How do you create a lease? What you want is a stable situation with a tenant who stays a long time and keeps up the property. How do you get there?

You may decide to try a the truly hands-off alternative: a real estate investment trust (REIT). THis is a publicly traded fund that owns property (usually commercial) and/or mortgages. The value of these funds doesn’t trend with the stock market, so that can diversify your portfolio.

But REIT funds, like mutual funds, charge management fees. Are these taking away your profits? Perhaps you would prefer a property with a deed as your real estate investment.

You could consider a pre-packaged system where you choose a new or nearly new single-family house from a variety of relative low-cost local markets. With the system comes a pre-selected reliable property manager at negotiated rates. The loan situation is negotiated, too, at five to 10 percent down.

A system like this will give you a predictable set of expenses and income. In fact, your tenants will pay off the mortgage for you. You can start a college fund for your kid this way–you can sell the house in 15 to 20 years, and take out your equity.