They probably know they have great deal and will be fine with an increase (perhaps not to market rent). 

Some people prefer turn-key and thats fine. 

Returns If you are getting a 0 on returns in an appreciating market and get a great Location and an asset on great condition you may be fine or even better off.Considering labor costs and material cost if you buy a turn key property you may even be ahead of the game.

The decisions they make regarding their finances is not necessarily optimized for a real estate investor, meaning you can get recklessly negligent HOAs who don't make necessary repairs (like in the Surfside Condo Greg mentioned) or who are over-zealous in repairing/replacing things that work just fine.

How do you fine folks evaluate the area surrounding the property??

You can get in touch with @Jamie Pagay, but remember that Houston is VERY big, much bigger than non-Texans think, so you will want to fine-tune your areas so you know you are getting an area expert.

Investing in an AIRBNB with my dad(he really wants to do texas so fine) 3.

One will say that your personal name is fine.

So hoping the two story wall did not collapse on us we continued the magic touch and found out that the one end of the foundation was gone, but the middle and other end was fine.  

IE making sure the kitchen has can openers and a dish drying rack, picking up the mailbox key from the post office, assembling night stands, etc.Most of us manage remotely just fine, but most of us also visit our property once before going live to get it all setup.