Last week, Zillow Group announced the winding down of its iBuying business, which came as a shock to many in the industry. What could have gone wrong at one of the biggest names in the real estate world? And what does it mean for other companies?

We were recently tasked with finding potential locations for a build-to-rent single-family rental community. These types of communities are booming around the country in response to strong demand for spacious rental properties. As owner-occupied housing becomes more expensive, they fill a gap in the market and have become hugely popular. We’ll review some of the steps we took in completing this type of analysis.

How do you know your target neighborhood allows rentals? Or that it won’t stop allowing them in the near future? We have developed a index to measure just that.

So, you’ve decided to join the flood of firms moving to Texas, and you’ve narrowed down your search. Now, it’s a question of digging into the details, like affordable housing, good schools, and available amenities.

An oft-repeated rule of thumb for single family home real estate investors is something called the “1% rule.” Simply put, this means that monthly rents should equal to at least one percent of the purchase price of the home. This is a quick-and-dirty way to check whether a home has cashflow-generating potential. In other words, will there be much left over after all expenses are paid?

A tried-and-true method for any kind of debt reduction is the “snowball” method. It’s a metaphor for a ball of snow rolling down a hill and getting larger as it picks up more snow. It works amazingly well for real estate as well.

Everyone has their favorite area to invest, but what if we wanted to be totally objective?

Continuing on our theme of improving neighborhoods in Dallas, we decided to look at the question from another angle: code violations.

How can we identify neighborhoods that are on the up-and-up? Places that are rapidly improving, where money is pouring in to keep houses fresh and up to date?

Steering clear of the roller-coaster housing markets, at the city and neighborhood level.

In the central area, the number of homes is constrained by the near absence of developable land. At the same time, proximity to centers of employment and amenities drive strong buyer demand.

Investing in rental property doesn’t have to be a research headache. Why spend time vetting deals when 80%+ of them can be easily eliminated, allowing you to focus your time and energy on the other 20%?