You’ve thought about it before: creating several streams of passive income to live off. But it just sounds too good to be true. And I'm not just talking about the passive income that requires work - I'm talking about residual income streams that work all the time, even when you're sleeping. I mean, how can a regular person like you create residual income? Obviously you know it can be done or people wouldn’t be buzzing about it all over the internet. Or are those people lying? Luckily for you they’re not. There are countless ways to earn residual income, but they all do require work or investment up front In fact, here are 7 super smart ways to build residual income.

Purchase A Rental Property

Real estate has always been high up on my investment list and for good reason: real estate is one of the longest standing, proven investments.

In fact my grandmother had several rental units. Her husband plans on the rentals funding his retirement. Since they’re now paid for all the money that comes in on a monthly basis provides a great income.

But the biggest thing holding most people back is money - it used to take a lot of money to buy a rental property. That's all changed with recent legislation and multiple online companies that have entered the space to make real estate investing affordable.

If you're looking to get started in real estate, look at a crowd funding solution like RealtyMogul. It works similar to LendingClub - you commit as little as $5,000 towards a property. When the property is fully funded, you become an owner, and will receive your share of the earnings and appreciation in the property. Check out RealtyMogul to learn more.

If you're liking the idea of REITs, you should also check out stREITwise - another private equity REIT that focuses on cash flowing real estate investments. Check out stREITwise here.

Finally, if you're looking for single family rentals, check out Roofstock. With Roofstock, you can buy cash flow positive single family homes online easily! Check out Roofstock here.

Make Money With Your Spare Room

Don’t have the money to purchase a rental property? That’s okay, you can list a room in your house and earn residual income.

Look for a quality tenant who you’d be okay living with (a friend or family member would be ideal) and list your spare bedroom.

This is one of the easiest ways to bring in some residual income. This is one of our key strategies for earning an extra $10,000 per year.

You can sign up on Airbnb and start listing your rooms and house today. Heck, you can even list your backyard for people to camp in!

Check out our comparison of the best places to list your property: Airbnb vs. Booking.com.

Invest In The Stock Market

Investing in the stock market opens up a wide area of opportunity.

For easy investing you could choose to invest in a couple of index funds or if you like to pick investments yourself you can hand pick a group of stocks. Whether you invest in a personal investment account or a retirement account you’ll still be making your money work for you.

The good thing about investing in the stock market is that it’s fairly easy to do. The con, however, is that you’ll have to put up a lot of your own money before you see any substantial benefits.

I choose to invest in an index fund for retirement and dividend stocks within my personal investing account.

Don't know where to invest? Start by checking out our list of the best places to invest.