As a landlord, you can reap the dual benefits of appreciation from your investment and ongoing rental income. This can help to ensure a more comfortable retirement or help keep you afloat in case of an economic decline, resulting in the loss of your primary job. When owning an apartment building or multifamily property to generate real estate passive income, as opposed to a commercial building, you're not having to deal with business tenants. In addition, also consider how involved you want to be when it comes to collecting rent, handling repairs and whether you'd prefer to assign those duties to a property manager.  This is all dependent on you as the investor and where your comfort level stands.