New to Dallas/FW Area Investing

[Malachi Barlow]

Hello!

I am a new investor to the Dallas/FW area. I have a few questions for all of you seasoned veterans:

a) As I am currently going to be investing from out-of-state, what are some of the best Property Management firms? I have looked around and it seems that Specialized PM is leaps ahead of others. Am I correct in this assumption? Any experience with any PM's in the area would be extremely helpful.

b) I have a decent idea of what neighborhoods to steer clear of, but wanted to make sure that I'm not missing any. What areas as an investor push you away from investing, and what areas attract you?

c) Avg. Rents - In larger cities rent can vary greatly. In my current city (Salt Lake City, UT) I can kind of eyeball property costs and get a feel if it will cash flow or not, because I have an idea of what typical market rent goes for here. But I wanted to pick all of your brains and see if you guys have the same rule-of-thumb that you use when looking for properties. 

Thanks for taking the time to help out a fellow investor!

Any other tips or resources would be greatly appreciated!