Rock stars do it. YouTubers, bloggers, and influencers, too. And don’t forget the OG earners of passive income: real estate and stock market investors.

Making money while you sleep is more than just a pipe dream for a lot of savvy individuals, who supplement their day jobs by earning royalties, investment dividends, and wealth from real estate. But you don’t have to be a famous musician or monied mogul to make a tidy income on the side. Today’s passive income earners are working smarter – even when they’re not working at all.

In this article, we’ll share how passive income works, including how it’s evolved in the digital age. Then we’ll introduce you to the power of PropSharing – a revolution that’s democratizing the way passive income is earned from real estate. (And how you can get in on it for as little as $100.)

What is passive income?
If you’re like most Canadians, you’re probably an active income earner. Active income is what you do to make a living, whether you’re self-employed and get paid for services rendered or you earn a salary or hourly wage from an employer for doing a specific job.

Passive income is a whole other thing. It refers to any earnings you receive from owning property or assets that generate income without you having to do anything. Examples include:

• Writing a book or a song and receiving royalties every time someone purchases it
• Investing in mutual funds or dividend stocks such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that pay out dividends in cash or additional stocks
• Earning interest by keeping money in high-yield savings accounts
• Receiving rent for a property you own

“Passive income is money making money while you sleep. You do nothing and it will snowball and build over time,” said Stephanie O’Mahoney, vice- president of wealth management at Willow. How the internet has super-charged passive income opportunities
There was a time when owning real estate or hefty stock portfolios were the main channels of passive income. Without other avenues, earners were an exclusive group of the already-wealthy.

Then along came the internet, which opened up a rich new world of opportunities to earn, including:

• Creating an online course and selling it for a one-time fee
• Starting a paid newsletter
• Writing a blog or hosting a YouTube channel and getting ad revenue
• Renting out your house, apartment or cottage through an online short- term rental service
• Becoming a dropshipper

“Technology is disrupting the way we can create passive income” said O’Mahoney.

But these amazing new channels don’t come without a cost. Although many of them may feel like less “work” than a 9-5 job, they don’t quite meet the criteria for true passive income. That’s because they do require something of you. For example, if you want ads and sponsors for your YouTube channel, you’ve got to regularly post videos content and engage with your audience.

Renting out your cottage is less work, but it’s not no work, as you’ve got to make sure it’s cleaned before and after you have guests – or pay someone else to do it, which cuts into your passive income profits.

For that reason, even the best digital side gigs aren’t technically passive income, which involves making money without a lot of actual effort.

PropSharing brings technology and real estate together for the ultimate passive income
If investing in the real estate market is too expensive for the average person, and earning residual income online is labour-intensive, what can a regular person with $100 in their pocket do to rake in passive income?

Enter PropSharing. It combines the intelligence and convenience of technology with the high returns of commercial real estate investing – without having to make a huge investment.

“Real estate has always been a great way to earn passive income and even replace employment income in the long-term. The downside is that you need a big down payment to purchase real estate and you need to hire a property manager to handle rent and tenant issues – or do it yourself, which is a big responsibility,” said O’Mahoney.

“In contrast, PropSharing on a platform like Willow allows investors to buy and sell fractions of property like shares on the stock market.”

Willow splits high-value, rent-generating properties across Canada into 100,000 units of ownership and offers them up for sale through our platform. All you need to get started is $100.

“Fewer than 5% of Canadians have an investment property. This is an area that’s limited to the wealthiest people in the country. On Willow, we have a listing for a building at Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave. in Toronto that costs $8.25 million. A buyer would need at least $1.6 million to put a down payment on that building. The monthly rent is $47,633. But investors can actually own a part of this building, including a portion of that rent in the form of dividends, through PropSharing,” said O’Mahoney.

“That’s how PropSharing allows for anybody at any stage in their financial growth to participate in this exclusive market that has seen consistent returns and creates a nice alternative to their regular income or income from stock portfolio.”

Unlike real estate investment trusts (REITs), investors can choose which buildings they invest in and how much. “It’s important to be confident that your stream of passive income is stable. With REITs, you can’t be involved in decisions about which properties you’re investing in. Plus, they can hold back some of your profits for investment, which creates a bit of uncertainty as you’re building your wealth plan,” said O’Mahoney.

What to look for in a reputable real estate investment platform
It’s important to choose a trustworthy platform to earn passive income in real estate. Some things to consider are:

• A platform may charge low management and transaction fees and a one-time property acquisition fee, but there should be no upfront costs or down payments required.
• Your entire investment should go towards the property, minus the fees. The platform shouldn’t take a percentage of the profits.
• The platform should be regulated by all provincial and territorial security regulators.
• All buildings should be professionally managed.
• There should be a compliance and investment team to evaluate your financial profile and investment goals to ensure PropSharing is a good fit before you begin.
• The platform should use bank-grade security to protect your information.
• The platform should own a small percentage of every property to ensure their incentives are aligned with their investors’ goals.
• Dividends paid to investors should go into their platform accounts as cash to be used to invest in other units or transferred to their personal bank account.

Learn more about Willow
Passive income is a major part of reaching financial freedom for many people. PropSharing in the digital age is a way for more people to participate, no matter how much they earn or have saved.

“Willow brings steady real estate growth to the internet age by creating a platform that delivers choice, transparency, and speed to investors. It’s a really exciting place to build wealth,” said O’Mahoney.

For more information, visit www.willow.ca