My lease states the tenant takes responsibility if the technician determines the tenant has abused or neglected the appliance.I know a few Landlords that shift responsibility to the tenants.

I have never rented a house before and looking for mentorship on contracts, picking a property manager, tenant screening, what to include with the house (lawn & pest management...etc) and how to determine the best cash flow.

Trying to determine best options.

When determining a buy down, most investors do what you already did; they determine how long to recoup the extra money down.If it's less than 36 months and the investment is a long term play, that's good.

@William ArringtonIf the first lender determined that your DTI would be too high since you don't yet have income for the new property, you could go the DSCR route.

@Gloria Lucia let's look at a likely scenario that you might face out there to determine the best route.  

These loans are typically more expensive.Many PML and HML will look at each situation individually to determine what qualifies. 

Will's advice is invaluable - I highly suggest approaching different agents with an "interview" mentality, but I'm always available if you have any questions about the DFW market specifically.Also, check out some of the BP calculators if you haven't already.

I think the dynamics of the labor market will help determine how much interest rates are hiked in the coming few years.

Trulia proves to be quite helpful in determining high crime areas in your city; so that you may avoid investing in such areas.However, the internet has its limitation.