2. how do you determine a prowler from a guest?

@Pundari Pothini, I know that you said passive opportunities do not suit your style (I'm assuming you mean syndications), but have you explored the option of joining a syndicator with a more active role?

I remember the podcast ( I forget which one) where the guest trained his small son to walk in the house with him, take a big sniff and say "Smell that? 

When we originally purchased the property it is was not in the best of shape, but we cleaned house and we are actively renovating and beautifying the property.3.

Consider one counterexample: BP podcast #275 has a guest, Rob Oliver, who specializes in condos and makes a lot of good arguments why their supposed downsides can actually be upsides.

And, some areas of Pflugerville have a lot of competition, so make sure you compare your asking rent price to similar homes that have already rented...not only to homes that are actively competing with yours. 

When you say "look at Zillow for an idea on property values in the neighborhood" do you mean you're looking at sold properties, active properties, or the Zillow Zestimate?

You can always open from either side with a key and the thumb latch or you and the tenant can open the door by both activating the thumb latches simultaneously.

I'm neither a lawyer nor an accountant, but I recommend Googling "closely held corporation" and then asking your tax accountant how, if any, the proposed idea might impact your overall tax situation (https://www.irs.gov/faqs/small-business-self-employed-other-business/entities/entities-5: A closely held corporation is subject to additional limitations in the tax treatment of items such as passive activity losses, at-risk rules, and compensation paid to corporate officers.).I've read that when two closely held corporations owned by the same small group of shareholders do business with each other, the IRS sees a red flag because some people try using this approach to evade taxes.From my readings of personal finance articles, this additional scrutiny is based on whether there is an "arms length" between the two parties in a transaction. 

I include it in my language when communicating to guests.