These 3 ETFs Pay More Than a Rental Property With No Tenants, No Repairs, and No Mortgage

Quick Read

• QQQI’s 16% yield and PFFA’s 10% yield both crush the 3 to 5% net returns most landlords collect after taxes, repairs, and vacancy.

• JEPI offers a 7 to 8% yield at just 0.35% in expenses, backed by $46 billion in assets for unmatched liquidity among covered-call ETFs.

• The most widely read finance newsletter on Substack isn’t published by a bank, it’s Doomberg, where 383,000+ readers get the energy and macro analysis the mainstream press misses. 24/7 Wall St. readers save 17% on their first year here.

Owning a rental at the current 90th percentile of the Case-Shiller index means paying peak prices for a stream of tenant checks that arrive net of taxes, insurance, vacancy, and the plumber. Three exchange-traded funds sidestep all of that while paying distributions that dwarf the net yield most landlords actually collect: NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF (NASDAQ:QQQI), Virtus InfraCap U.S. Preferred Stock ETF (NYSEARCA:PFFA), and JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (NYSEARCA:JEPI).

Each solves the income problem differently. QQQI writes call options on the Nasdaq-100 for double-digit monthly payouts. PFFA leans into leveraged preferred stock for a fixed-income-style coupon. JEPI blends low-volatility equities with an options overlay. All three sit well above the 4.7% 10-year Treasury yield, and all three settle monthly rather than on the first of the month, when the tenant remembers.

Why Landlord Math Keeps Losing to ETF Math

Gross rental yields in most U.S. metros run in the mid-single digits before subtracting property tax, insurance, repairs, capital expenditures, management fees, and periodic vacancy. Net yield in a typical year is closer to 3% to 5%, and it comes with a mortgage, a phone that rings at midnight, and a home price index reading of 335.1, leaving little room for cheap entry. The three funds below package cash flow into a brokerage account, with liquidity a rental can never match.

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QQQI: The Yield Standout Built on Nasdaq Volatility

The highest-paying fund on this list is QQQI. The NEOS fund holds the Nasdaq-100 constituents and sells index call options against that exposure, converting the implied volatility of large-cap tech into monthly cash. Because Nasdaq names like NVIDIA, Apple, and Microsoft carry richer option premiums than the broader market, the fund harvests more income per unit of notional exposure than a covered call product written on the S&P 500.

In July, QQQI paid $0.6346 and has generated a trailing 12-month total of $7.62 per share, yielding roughly 15.8% annualized against a share price of $55. That is running alongside an 11% year-to-date total price return and a 19% one-year gain, so shareholders have not been trading away principal for income, as some option income funds require. NEOS structures distributions to rely on the return of capital treatment, which, for taxable accounts, defers taxes and lowers the cost basis rather than triggering ordinary income each month.

The 0.68% expense ratio is higher than that of a plain index fund, though it reflects the cost of the options overlay that produces the distribution. This fund caps upside in strong Nasdaq rallies because the sold calls get called away, and in a sharp tech drawdown the premium income will not fully offset the loss on the underlying basket.

PFFA: The Contrarian Pick Hidden in Preferred Stock

An actively managed preferred stock ETF that uses modest leverage to amplify a coupon-driven portfolio is PFFA, representing a fundamentally different income engine from the two options funds that bracket it. Preferreds sit above common equity but below senior debt in the capital stack, pay fixed or floating dividends, and behave more like long-duration bonds than stocks. Layering leverage on top pushes the yield into rental property territory without requiring a stock market bull run to sustain it.

The portfolio holds 200+ positions and $2.35 billion in net assets, with heavy weightings in bank preferreds such as Flagstar Bank and First Citizens, energy midstream names such as Energy Transfer, and REIT preferreds from hotel and mortgage issuers. Manager InfraCap frequently owns multiple series of the same issuer, holding five Triton International series across the C through G tranches, for example, capturing different call dates and coupons on the same credit.

The distribution has been printed at $0.1725 per share every month of 2026, worth an annualized $2.07 at a $21 share price, or roughly 9.9%. Distributions on preferreds often qualify for the lower qualified-dividend rate, a tax treatment different from that of either QQQI or JEPI. Price performance is the flip side: PFFA is up only 3% year-to-date and 7% over one year, so buyers are compensated almost entirely through the coupon. The leverage that amplifies yield also amplifies drawdowns when credit spreads widen, and the 2.11% expense ratio, which includes borrowing costs, is a real drag.

JEPI: The Steadier Middle Ground

The largest and best-known name on this list is JEPI, and it earns its spot as the moderate option rather than the yield leader. JPMorgan builds the portfolio around low-volatility U.S. large caps and generates income through equity-linked notes that replicate the sale of out-of-the-money S&P 500 calls. The result is a smoother ride than QQQI, with less upside capture in a Nasdaq rally but shallower losses when volatility spikes.

Top holdings read like a defensive slice of the market rather than a tech basket, with Broadcom at 2%, Ross Stores, Amazon, Apple, and Howmet Aerospace each near 2%, alongside AbbVie and EOG Resources. No single position dominates, which limits idiosyncratic risk. The 0.35% expense ratio is the lowest of the three, and $45.8 billion in assets makes JEPI the most liquid fund in the covered-call category.

Monthly distributions vary with volatility, ranging from about $0.34 to $0.45 across 2026, with a trailing 12-month total of $4.58 and a forward annualized estimate near $4.40. At a $58 price, that is roughly a 7% to 8% yield. The premium income from ELNs is taxed as ordinary income rather than as qualified dividends, so JEPI performs best inside an IRA or 401(k). Total return is up 11% over one year.

Which One Belongs in Which Portfolio

An income seeker willing to accept concentrated tech exposure and options-driven volatility in exchange for the highest headline yield lands on QQQI. A retiree who wants a bond-like coupon with equity-market plumbing and does not mind that price appreciation will be modest lands on PFFA, ideally inside a taxable account where qualified-dividend treatment helps. An investor who wants monthly income with the least drama and the lowest expense ratio, and who holds the fund in a tax-deferred account to sidestep the ordinary-income treatment of ELN premiums, lands on JEPI.

These three funds replace the rental income line with a check that clears without a tenant, a mortgage servicer, or a contractor, though they do not offer the leverage or price appreciation of owning a home outright.

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