Investing in real estate is often lauded as the answer to everyone’s prayers. If only you can pick up a rental property, you will have it made, they say, but what they often do not say is that real estate investment can be expensive, time-consuming, and often ripe for failing.

That is, of course, not to say that it cannot be a good way of investing your hard-earned cash, it just means you have to be careful about how you do so, and with that in mind, here are some really easy ways to invest in real estate right now:

Real Estate Investment Groups

If you really don’t want to get your hands dirty by buying and running a rental property off your own back, you can still invest in property, and going through a REIG is one of the best ways to do it.

What are REIGs? Basically, they are like a tiny mutual fund that invests solely in rental properties. Members of the group pool their money to buy properties, the running of which is then overseen by employees of the group. Single investors can own several units, or just the one, but no matter how many units within a property are owned by the individual, it is always the group who are mutually responsible for running them – all of the advertising, vetting tenants, maintenance, and management are taken out of your hands, but you will receive a share of the profits. It might sound too good to be true, but it is all legal, above board, and a great way to get started in real estate.

House flipping

If you have decent DIY skills and enough money to purchase a property outright, flipping can be ab easy way to make money. Of course, it is only easy if you have a good head for real estate. You need to be able to pick out the properties that require a minimal amount of cosmetic primping to push up the price, and you need to be able to haggle for them at the lowest price possible. Once you’ve done that, you need to be able to patch the place up and make it look great with your DIY skills so that it will sell for more than you bought it plus parts and labor costs. Think you can do that? Flipping might just be for you.

Invest in a subsidized property

In many places, like the UK and Singapore, there are properties that are subsidized by the government, these are known as council houses in the Uk and HDBs in Singapore. If you take a look at HDB resale prices, you will see that they typically go for less than other types of housing, despite the fact they are often in just as good condition or can be made so with a little TLC. That’s why this is one option worth considering.

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Real estate investment trusts are another hands-off option whereby all you need to is invest your money into a REIT – something that is created when a trust or corporation uses the money of investors to buy properties with which to generate income. It’s basically like investing in the stock market, but you’re buying a share of property instead of stocks or commodities. You will get a return on your investment (hopefully) in the form of dividends, and most REITs invest in commercial properties like office spaces and malls, so it pays to watch the commercial market before you go ahead and invest.

Peer-to-Peer lending

Millennials are the peer-to-peer generation. We have grown up sharing things online, and that extends to financial transitions, These days, you can even use P2P technology to invest in property. Basically, you lend a third-party, along with other investors, the cash they need to buy a piece of real estate, and they pay you back plus interest over a set period of time:  it’s like you’re their mortgage provider instead of the bank.

As you can imagine, this is a slightly riskier way to invest in real estate, but if you vet the candidate before lending, it should be easy to find the right person, and of course, you will be working with other investors so the risk is spread.  Not only that, but it’s an extreme,y hands-off way to invest in real estate too.

Investing in real estate is something you should never do lightly, but nor does it have to be a big scary deal, as you can see.