Have you ever tried to follow a recipe, got to the end, and found that you’d accidentally skipped an ingredient? Maybe you used the wrong ingredient entirely! We’ve all had a good laugh over those really salty chocolate chip cookies, I’m sure.

Recipes gone wrong make a funny story. A good laugh. Sure, you waste a few ingredients and a little bit of money, but it’s just a small inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. It’s far more serious to leave something out of your real estate investment business!

Wait—how can that happen?

Hands off real estate investment sounds like a dream. Real estate investors can kick back and relax while other people worry about the day-to-day details, leaving you to chill while the money rolls in. Right?

We hate to break it to you, but no investment comes that easily—not truly successful investments, anyway. Not the kind that come with long term, mind-blowing success and the results that you really want.

(You know the kind we’re talking about!)

No, truly successful real estate investors know that even passive investments demand work. They need input, and there’s no time to kick back and twiddle our thumbs. Even if you don’t have to be involved in the daily going-ons of your investments, risk management and due diligence are the big two that should always be top of mind.

With Thanksgiving behind us, we’re knee-deep into the holiday season. Christmas trees are going up, carols are on the radio, and it’s hard to escape the lure of cookies, candy canes, and homemade goodies. This is the time of year when most real estate investors are tempted to coast into the New Year.

That said, this time of year is also full of untapped opportunity. You don’t need to hold off until the New Year to be productive! For engaged, motivated investors, the holidays aren’t a time to put your investing career on hold.

Turnkey real estate. Some people hear that word and get excited! Others...skeptical. Truth be told, the concept of turnkey real estate is a little divisive. Many people have had wonderful experiences with great turnkey investment companies, while others still aren’t sure what to make of the whole concept.

When you think about your real estate investment career, what’s the one thing you think you couldn’t live without? Think hard.

It’s a reliable property management team, plain as day.

Even real estate investors who aren’t turnkey...they just aren’t landlords...would probably contest that they couldn’t do it without the help of their property managers. After all, someone has to be there, hands-on, taking care of all of the day-to-day, nitty-gritty details.

Think about the purchases you make—big or small. We don’t often like to buy anything without seeing it first! Whether it’s a new car or a bunch of bananas, there’s a certain level of inspection we like to give anything and everything.

So for real estate investors, the notion that we would buy an investment property without seeing it first seems insane and off-putting. How can you possibly buy something that big and important without seeing it for yourself!?

For passive real estate investors, the first two properties are the most exciting!  

It’s a time to figure things out. You make a lot of mistakes, learn more than you can ever imagine, and find both the joys and the frustrations of owning passive investment properties. But it’s also not the end—not by far.

From the first investment properties come many more to grow a strong, thriving real estate investment portfolio.  This has to be THE goal for passive investors.  If owning a passive portfolio is not your stated and nearly obsessive goal, then rethink your position on investing in passive properties.  A solid, consistent, performing portfolio can be an absolute game changer!

Often for real estate investors, though, the idea of expanding can be a little overwhelming. Even intimidating. If you wait too long, you’ll have missed opportunities. Too soon, and you could end up straining your resources.

So how do you know when it’s time to expand past those first couple of properties, and how should you go about actually building your portfolio?

If you’re in the real estate investment biz, you’re no doubt going to come across a bad tenant at one time or another.

No matter how good your screening process is, how diligent your property managers are, and how savvy your investment strategies can be, it’s just bound to happen. Tenants can sneak past the screening process, good tenants can go rogue, and sometimes, bad things just happen.Bad tenants come in all kinds of flavors. There are lazy, neglectful tenants that run your rental property into the ground by simple lack of upkeep and hygiene. There are rowdy, unruly tenants who disturb their neighbors and make a mess with parties and a wild lifestyle.

There are tenants who like to complain, argue, and fight with your managers about everything. There are even bad tenants who break your lease at every turn—bringing in extra illegal tenants, pets, and doing all kinds of outlandish things to your property. Unauthorized construction, destruction, and damage!

And that’s not even to mention the kind of bad tenants that get into downright illegal behaviors.

So how does a real estate investor handle a bad tenant, when a bad tenant can vary so much? What do you do?

In the world of investment, there are a lot of options. Stocks, bonds, gold, gas, technology. There are a million ideas, products, assets, and companies all vying for the attention of investors looking to capitalize on the next big thing, or just on something that’s worth something. Something reliable and time-tested.

Real estate definitely falls into the latter: it’s one of the oldest investments out there. Even just being a homeowner is considered an investment in our culture. It’s a mark of “making it,” even today.

But why, above gold, above stocks, above all of the things we can invest our time, money, and futures into, why is real estate considered the best? What makes it such a good investment? For someone looking for a solid financial future, why should you choose to invest in real estate over anything else?

While Houston was the market in Texas that garnered the most attention in recent years for being the hottest market around, it wasn’t the only star of the show in the Lone Star state—not by far! Texas has been home to several real estate champions: Houston, Austin, and, you guessed it: Dallas.

All three cities rank in the top five real estate markets in the nation, and Dallas actually ranks ninth in the world for investments. It’s not just a seller’s market, it’s a landlord’s market, and many real estate professionals are calling DFW one of the hottest real estate markets seen in decades.

Naturally, that’s not the full story. There are a lot of questions left unanswered about Dallas’s real estate market. How big was the impact of the oil crash? What’s the economic landscape like? Where’s the trajectory headed? What’s the long-term outlook for investors? Are rapidly increasing property prices creating a bubble?

What is the best course of action for investors who want to strike on Dallas real estate?