This article is part of a Property Report package looking at small investors and real estate, from new ways for individuals to buy slices of office towers to how real estate crowdfunding is changing to survive.

Buying a home as an investment property has long been too complex or daunting a process for all but the wealthy. Thanks to a group of real estate startups, that may be changing.

The companies enable individuals to assemble a portfolio of rental homes throughout the country relatively hassle-free. Without ever visiting the properties, investors can buy and manage homes with a few clicks of a mouse or taps on the phone.

Roofstock, an Oakland, Calif.-based firm founded in 2015, offers an online marketplace where buyers and sellers trade about 500 rental homes a month in cities such as Atlanta, Indianapolis and Houston. The homes, which sell for prices ranging from $50,000 to $400,000, typically come with tenants in place.

REI Nation LLC and JWB Real Estate Capital are getting into what is known as the turnkey business in regional markets. They buy, upgrade and lease houses, then sell them to investors.