Increasing rent is a very basic facet of this business and if you do not know this, I assume you do not know the rest of your local landlord/tenant laws. you should not proceed in this business until you fully understand your local laws, and how to operate within them. now to answer your question, any motnh to month lease, oral or written, usually requires 30 days notice and one full monthly rental cycle to change or end the contract. that means if you want to raise rent on May 1, notice needs to be given by March 31.

Now, for a beginner, my classic approach is to house hack because you get some hands-on experience with most facets of real estate investing without fully jumping in per se.

And yes it's absolutely vital to read a ton of books, blogs and listen to podcasts every day to continue to grow your knowledge foundation.

And contrary to what many want to make us believe in courses, blogs or otherwise, it takes time, dedication, perseverence and money to make money.Learning is vital but can only do so much.

@Samuel PascalI have my real estate license and I think it is vital to have it in order to better understand the client side of things.

It is as vital to real estate investors as a stethoscope is important to a doctor. 

(and some coins too ;)  When the current lease ends in a few months, I'll update the kitchen & bath, refinance and then move on to the next one.I love analyzing deals and playing with numbers so I'm open & intrigued to learn about all the facets of REI. 

Thanks everyone who contributes to BP, I've been reading a lot of posts and obtaining some vital knowledge!  

Third, along the way, learn more about the many facets of REI. 

It is vitally important that you treat your investors money well, communicate properly, document well as well as use an attorney to set up the offering properly.