The retail shopping center provides an excellent introduction to commercial income-producing property. Retail property management requires more knowledge about tenants’ businesses than does management of any other commercial income-producing property; often the income from the property is directly related to the success of the tenants’ businesses.

Few would deny that real estate is a solid investment. It provides an attractive combination of stability, reliable cash flow, preservation of principal and capital appreciation. However, many investment property owners nearing retirement find themselves in a quandary.

Hiring a property management company is a great idea if you have even a small apartment building. Having someone taking care of all the small details of a rental property means you'll have more time to find the next good investment. Also, trying to do it all yourself is the surest way to make your real estate investment experience a bitter one. To find a good property manager, ask the following questions.

You may think that to raise your rental property income you can just raise rents. However, you can't just raise the rents arbitrarily, because if tenants leave, income goes down, not up. Fortunately, there are other ways, including the ones listed below.