I have heard of calling police station to ask about the address/ recent crimes and stating you are investor, but this is obviously not the routine when initially checking on many potential out of state investment properties at once. im sure some of you have your 4-5 websites in order that you use to analyze an out of state property. as of now I use google maps and the 360 view to cruz the nearest streets and intersection. then I go to rentometer dot com to look up avg rents. and their claimed accuracy. then I look comps on Zillow for value. even any sites used when checking on rental potential or the growth in the area for solid rental occupancy in the future would be extremely helpful. thx :)other than that im very curious what are routine habits for others!!  

Yard Maintenance:(1) "Yard" means all lawns, shrubbery, bushes, flowers, gardens, trees, rock or other landscaping, and other foliage on or encroaching on the Property or on any easement appurtenant to the Property, and does not include common areas maintained by an owners' association.(2) "Maintain the yard" means to perform activities such as, but not limited to: (a) mowing, fertilizing, and trimming the yard; (b) controlling pests and weeds in the yard; and (c) removing debris from the yard.Does this outright mean that tenant is responsible for everything or one could still interpret that tree trimming is not a routine task of landscaping?

I am a strict routine kind of guy and love having set times and specific tasks to accomplish during those times. 

Maybe one day we will both be at the point where these questions feel routine.

Hey Brandon it’s nice to hear that you are looking to break away from the routine and become financially free.

Big capital expenses like a water heater will always be depreciation, little routine things like light bulbs will always be repairs, but there's some amount of discretion for everything in the middle and depending on your tax professional's interpretation of the tax code.Q2: Both are wrong if we're going off of tax returns, or at least both were relayed with less than 100% accuracy into this post.

My mother is going on the routine inspection for the quarter with myself and she is giving the tenants small gifts, boxes of chocolate for christmas.

Drains work OK at the moment.In CA, sewer line inspection is not part of a normal home inspection, though it should be, and I will make them part of my routine in the future.It took me a while to do my video inspection due to prepping a rental property (my first house ), moving,  prepping the new house, working overtime , plumbers flaking out, etc.When I finally get my inspection, it turns out the green spray paint marks the exact location of the sewer line break.My agent knew what was going on from the beginning, knew I was suspicious, is now trying to negotiate with the sellers agent and seller.

I routinely discount my commission to get listings but the buyers agent always gets 3% as I don't want my reputation ruined.

Disclaimer - Not legal advice....Even if it is possible to invest via a LTD or PVT LTD, it is likely to raise eyebrows and introduce unnecessary complexities into the deal.