I am a new investor and I've gotten myself stuck in the mud, so I am looking for advice from some of you wonderful folks.  

People are unreal.....The smell would not dissipate, so I finally asked the drywall guys to re-trowel/re-mud the entire house, walls and ceilings...it cost thousands, but it finally got rid of the smell....So just be patient.....

Not to mention, in Houston you'll want to keep an eye on property taxes, MUDs, and prior flooding.

Worst case at least I know there ARE options and I'm not completely stuck in the mud.

Typically there is a one or two year ramp up period where you get all the deferred maintenance and/or undesirable tenants out.

Once you start doing more than cosmetic repair.Various widths of blades for spreading and working "mud". 2", 4" and 12-16".Kilz!!!

Slightly concerned that I might catch a bunch of undesired feedback.

Examples of pitfalls include purchasing in an undesirable area, not understanding the market values (vs. list prices), not knowing the rental values (current and market), inheriting bad tenants, buying a lemon, going rogue on renting and management with no contacts / systems / no legal understanding of PA and Municipal landlord-tenant laws, not having trusted resources and contractors in place, using out of state lenders or shaky financing, throwing lipstick on a pig when renovating a house and wondering why it's ARV isn't increasing, tenants are renting, etc.

I have mixed feelings about it: they're a no-fuss, hardworking people, but the amount of mud they can bring into the house...

If you get an undesirable tenant, the solution is to break up and not try to enforce a random slick thing in a lease that a judge will likely not allow anyways.