In the beginning of our rehab adventures, I had a female friend with good design decor taste help me out.

Not fun.Texas has unique penalties, so if you do it wrong it's really expensive.

The other thing a smart real estate investor needs is uniqueness.

There are many local issues in RI that you need to be aware of and as you state students are a unique market. 

I would be surprised if anyone, anywhere could get their long-term averages to be less than 40% unless they have some very unique situation and are doing their own PM.  

From the decorating I'm guessing the owner was elderly and was tired of tenants and let the bottom unit go vacant, but that's just a guess as to why the unit was unrented.

Of course flood damage coverage is unique to the national flood insurance program, but basements can fill up with water from a lot of sources and I see them every week.ServiceMaster or similar companies are good but they charge a lot for work that's not rocket science.  

Hello Everyone:My situation is very unique. 

As a Brookside expat, I can attest to the safety of the neighborhood and the general unique feel to zips 64113 and 64114.

@Jason Pachomski One really unique thing about L.A. is rent control.