Don't forget that Houston also is a global leader in medicine, and the Texas Medical Center is the largest medical center in the world (it's actually bigger than all of downtown Dallas, for those keeping score in the long-running Houston vs.

The labor market has been  recovering and the feds expect national economic recovery to continue amidst a global economic slowdown. 

I've spoken to a number of conventional hard money lenders in my area who used to rely strictly on value, and now are putting more emphasis on other soft criteria.

(I don't) HML is a counter to that concept in that typically HML puts strong emphasis on the underlying property and less on the emphasis on the borrower, this brings a bit more risk.When we speak to investors who seek exposure to this asset class, we proceed from the investor backwards.

Very generically speaking, larger buildings usually come with increased barriers to entry such as more capital (or the need for partnering-which can be very good or very bad), an increased emphasis on your past "experience" as an investor, more complex asset management (especially if you are talking about something that is both REI and a business like Self Storage or other commercial endeavors).

With Oil pushing $113 and quickly climbing, it looks like the global recovery is about to turn south and fast.

I used to put emphasis on looking for someone with good employment history(minimum 1yr), tell them that I'll do a credit check and how I'd look for references from non-relatives i.e. their previous landlord(s) would be contacted.

If they have counsel, that will probably be your cheapest option, since you will only have to pay for time.If that isn't an option, different firms charge differently, and firms with a heavy real estate emphasis may streamline the process and reduce the payment.

I have been in Dubai for three years and have been working primarily with the Dubai government (RERA/DREI as an instructor and wasl properties as a consultant helping with setting up the Association Management Division).I have been watching the real estate industry here and it is rapidly moving out of the global recession.

I'm interested in how other landlords define this term both in PA and elsewhere where no legal definition exists, and whether anyone has specific guidelines they follow, with specific emphasis on whether you enter during weekend hours if you have a regular 'day job' that's not RE investing.