I have run across instances where I was not able to get the same price as the previous owner.Get the property contracts for laundry, landscaping, pool, and anything else they might be paying services for.Ask for a utility run or copies of the historical bills. 

Barbara:We mine on-line data sources and closely follow the rent patterns in our neighbourhoods and across the City in conjunction with the statistical data provided by CMHC/StatsCan.Vacancy on 2-bedroom units in that neighbourhood is running 4-5%, ours is running <1% - it's not an issue for us, or the landlord across the way.   

Where do I find the Dallas real estate statistics such as home sales by City, by types of homes, rental trend, Job growth trends etc.. which helps the inesters to decide

I overpriced the home initially which caused it to sit on the market longer and foolishly cut some landscape finishes out at the end of the project which hurt my curb appeal.

Grade to drain like I said above, cover in plastic to the property line and then landscape if crushed or river rock 1"-2" diameter or whatever is cheap locally.

.- If you have a marketing background then offer to help them get more leads/deals- If you a skill like, plumbing, rehabbing, landscape...  

Two Exact houses on the market now, one just came on the market at $300K with a pool but interior looks bad, another on the market at $286K with no landscaping and worn and non-upgraded interior.

Mainly my mom who owns her own landscape supply business that I have worked at my whole life.

I guess this means it doesn't include any of the surrounding landscaping/parking lot. 

(metro statistical area)  here is a link to the most recent data from Census.gov In the opinion of many experienced investors (and by experienced I mean investors who have been around the block a few times and have had both success and failure) including myself, the market is what you look at first.