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Real estate investing is far from easy, many people would say.

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?

Depending on the local market, commercial real estate can be pretty risky too. So you are thinking about residential real estate. If you manage it yourself, you worry about excess maintenance costs. You worry about finding the right tenant. You worry about creating a lease.

A real-estate investment trust (REIT) is the real hands-free alternative. You simply purchase shares in a publicly traded fund that owns property, often commercial property, and possibly mortgages. When the stock market goes up, these funds tend to go down, and vice versa. This helps balance your holdings.

Like mutual funds, REIT funds must levy fees. The fees may cut into your profits, as owner. Instead, perhaps you would like to own a property outright.

What do you think of the idea of investing your money in a single-family house, to be rented out? You can choose the house from a variety of local sunbelt markets, and you can take advantage of negotiated relationships with property managers, insurers, and mortgage originators. All this at just five to 10 percent down on each house.

Using such a system, You can set up an investment with known costs, and then let the tenants pay off the mortgage for you. It’s a great way to start a college fund for your young child. All you will have to do is sell the house in 15 years and extract the equity.