All of us are well-versed in what property management is designed to do for our residents and our investment properties. When we consider property maintenance, we usually think of those responsibilities: fixing or replacing broken appliances, changing locks and performing major repairs.

At the most basic, core level, owners and managers are required to provide a habitable space for residents. What this means can vary based on local law, but these standards always involve things like safety, health, and cleanliness. Some tasks, however, don’t necessarily always fall to property management. Your residents have responsibilities, too.

While they may not be vital to the habitability of the property, there are things residents have to do. Sometimes those lines can get blurry and cause contention: so let us clarify.

Remember that these guidelines are typical and may vary under different legal regulations.

What makes an investment property ideal? What makes it a dud? There’s certainly a science to it, no doubt — there are factors that will set your property up to be a passive income powerhouse, while other things may turn it into a money sink.

Seasoned investors no doubt know these factors like the back of their hands, but new investors may struggle to properly evaluate a property. Even those with experience may make the wrong call once in a blue moon, because you can’t always predict people.  The factors that make a particular property good can vary as well and they can change.

Networking for real estate investors can be a tough deal. While most of us enjoy new friendships and the excitement that comes from successful partnerships, the act of actually making connections and forming new professional relationships can be tricky and awkward.

Where to start? How do we make those relationships genuine?

It’s all nerve-wracking! But never fear: if you’ve ever been intimidated by networking as a real estate investor, we’ve got a handy list of dos and don’ts that will help you make the right connections you need to succeed.

10 Essential DOs and DON’Ts of Real Estate...

Things are cooking in Dallas-Ft. Worth! For all of the fears surrounding the Texas real estate market in 2016 due to the flagging energy sector, real estate has refused to flinch. Overall, the success seen in Dallas real estate has been nothing short of astounding—but not without its lingering questions, concerns, and pain points.

Real estate investors deal with a lot of numbers and data. They just do! There are a million considerations when looking to purchase a new investment property, or even when assessing the financial condition of a current property. In our information age, where we have so much data at our fingertips, it’s a little too tempting to take data at face value.

5 Tips on Reading Real Estate Data the Right Way

Some people are slower to embrace change than others—And that’s not necessarily a bad thing! In real estate, change tends to come slow. For the most part, the same rules have governed how we’ve done things for decades, with a few adjustments here and there.

But as technology changes, real estate does, too.

Now more than ever, we have data at our fingertips and ways to manage our finances, properties, and day-to-day businesses through technology. It’s not so much about the newest app or the newest model of smartphone, though those do offer brand new resources for real estate investors to increase their efficiency. It’s about how technology creates opportunities to innovate—ways that weren’t there before.

The changing landscape of real estate technology is something investors should think about on a bigger, broader scale: how are new innovations, new startups, and new technologies changing how we do real estate on a grand scale?

New Technology, Methods, and Why They Matter

Many of us are guilty of focusing a little too much on income. Granted, income is important. We have to have money to cover bills, needs and desires and offer life security for ourselves and families. No one is denying that security is very important to our overall wellbeing.

New investors, no matter where they’re starting out, have a massive learning curve if they want to be successful. It’s true—there’s a ton to know before you can really dive in. If you want to find success in real estate investment from the get-go without making a lot of costly mistakes, there’s a foundation that must be laid from the very beginning.

8 Fundamental Concepts for New Investors to Master in the Beginning

Stepping into a brand new real estate market isn’t easy. Your local market is like that childhood friend you grew up with. You knew him, his parents, his third grade teacher, that embarrassing incident in the cafeteria in the fifth grade, and every awkward step all the way through high school.

You know him like the back of your hand. You could not talk to him for years, but meet him for coffee right now and pick up where you left off.

But a new market? There’s so many years you’ve missed out on! So much history you don’t know! How can you ever hope to catch up to people who’ve known that market for years and years?

Here’s the thing: it’s not a lost cause. Plenty of real estate investors successfully invest in out-of-state markets and go beyond their own local areas all the time. Is it more work? Yes. But it’s very, very possible, especially in our Information Age.

If you’ve confined yourself to local markets up until now, you may be a little nervous about breaking into a new real estate market for the first time. But don’t worry: we have tips!