For those involved in real estate in any form or fashion, we’ve all noticed how home prices have shifted over the past few years. During the recession, home prices were at an all-time low. Real estate investors jumped on the opportunity to grab at cheap properties and make big profits.

It was honestly easy to invest and succeed.

But now, in markets across the country, prices have heated back up. The inventory of homes in foreclosure have decreased.

It’s not so easy to find those deals and make easy money.

New York, New York. San Francisco, California. Los Angeles, California. Miami, Florida.  

As real estate investors, we hear the names of these cities and get stars in our eyes. It's hard not to drool over such glamorous markets from time to time. After all, they've got it all: prestige, incredible properties, legendary profits ... what's not to love?

A lot of things, as it turns out. For one, competition in these sought-after markets is incredibly steep. International real estate investors want their slice of the pie when it comes to these markets, so you’re not just competing with domestic competitors. On top of that, the barrier to entry is lofty. It’s hard to crack into one of these markets. Most investors spend years clawing their way up to that point if they didn’t already have the capital to do so readily available.

In real estate investment, there are endless ways to run your business. Because yes, it’s a business. Ultimately, deciding how you want to run it is down to what you prefer and what you enjoy. One of the most important elements is how you handle rent money. If you’re landlording, you deal with this directly—if you have a property manager, they handle it, but you should still be in the know about the process.

After all, certain ways of taking and processing your rent payment may be more efficient and can even increase the chance of your tenants paying on time. They may also have negative effects you may not have considered…

Sometimes, real estate investors neglect to put the right pizzazz in their investment properties. We think to ourselves, well: they’re just renting. They don’t care as much. It doesn’t matter what it looks like. We’re telling you: it matters. The rental market is growing and in demand, and there is plenty of competition, even in secondary and tertiary markets.

Renters aren’t going to settle anymore. In order to really compete, it’s important to keep up with some interior design and home showing trends, especially when you start considering renovations.

These are simple changes that will make you property timeless and appealing to a wide pool of renters. Remember: presentation matters, whether you’re showing to buyers or prospective tenants.

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We love great tenants. Who doesn’t? They pay on time, they don’t cause trouble, and sometimes, they leave the our investment properties in better shape than when they found them. A good tenant is good reason to celebrate.

But really, what are the qualities that make up that ideal tenant? Sure, a nice, friendly disposition is great, and you can connect with someone on a personal level. But we all have friends that we like as people that we wouldn’t necessarily want to work with professionally.

What makes a good tenant good? What should you property manager be looking for—beyond the background checks and usual vetting—when deciding if a tenant is worth trying to retain or sign on in the first place?

This is an article that we originally published on BiggerPockets.com and have revised and updated here for our readers.  It is such an important topic for real estate investors and we realize that many of our readers are also active real estate investors and landlords.

Rental fraud is real and is something that we all have to be aware of and prepared to deal with.  It comes in many forms and really requires us to be diligent not only as landlords, but even as property management companies.

Rental fraud. It’s not fun, and reports of it happening have seemed like they’ve been going up all across the country. What’s an owner to do? How do you protect your property against such tactics?

For those of you blessedly unfamiliar with rental fraud, it’s what happens when someone who isn’t you or your manager claims to own your property and then proceeds to rent it out and earn rental income on unknowing tenants.

When they’re inevitably found out, the unfortunate (but still illegal) tenants must be removed and you’re left to with the mess of proving in court that you’re the one that owns the property, on top of other fun complications.

Wouldn’t it be better to avoid the chance of rental fraud in the first place?

Well, we’ve got good news: there are strategies you can employ to greatly reduce your chances to falling victim to such a scam.

There are plenty of virtues that make for a successful, well-rounded real estate investor. We’d argue the one of the most important is patience. In a world that teaches us to crave instant gratification, it’s practically a lost art!

For many, real estate investment is seen as a quick fix: maybe they’re not so naive as to call it a get-quick-rich scheme, but they expect things to work out quick and easy.

Any successful real estate investor will tell you that that’s far from the truth! Any type of real estate investment—even passive real estate investment—takes time and effort before the fruits of your labor really build and begin to multiply.

We all know what they say about Texas. And if it’s true anywhere, it’s true in Houston. Houston is the Lone Star state’s most populated city and the fourth largest city in the United States with a census-estimated population of over 2.2 million as of 2014.

Space City is a rich in art, culture, and innovation. It’s a technological hub, budding with industry. It has the largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions in the world. It’s home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Mission Control Center. It’s a hub for the energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, and transportation industries.

Constantly attracting millennials, bringing in bright talent and business, Houston is truly a remarkable city.

And it’s no less true when it comes to real estate!

Fear can be a powerful motivator. It can also hold us back from being all that we can be. Achieving anything when we’re afraid of moving forward is no easy feat: but making decisions and moving ahead in spite of our fears is often necessary for success!

When it comes to investing in real estate, you will have moments where you’ll be afraid. Whether it’s risk or uncertainty, fear can make it incredibly difficult for you to know when to take the plunge and when to hold back.

Overcoming fear is harder for some than others—especially if you’re prone to anxiety or worry. But when it comes to your investments, you can’t afford to be fearful. You can only afford to be smart. Here’s how you can begin to overcome the fears that are holding you back from financial freedom.