The accidental landlord Most urgently written for
You inherited the house, got relocated, or couldn't sell at your price. No systems, no vendor list, no lease experience — and a tenant moving in anyway. Start here.
New — First edition, 2026 · 208 pages
The DFW Landlord Survival Manual
The real-world operating guide for owning and managing rental property in Texas — written by the firm owners call in the middle of the crisis.
No email required. Opens as a PDF — read it here or save it.
- 23Years managing DFW rentals
- 1,200+Single-family homes managed
- #7In the U.S. — TrueMatch™
- 97.75%Independent audit score, 2026
Who it's for
Three kinds of landlord read this book — for three different reasons.
Whichever one you are, the operational standards in the book are the same. Texas law does not grade on a curve for accidental landlords.
The intentional investor
You bought with a financial thesis and you know your numbers. This sharpens the operational execution behind the returns.
The scalable operator
You own multiple doors and you're weighing systems, vendor leverage, and whether professional management beats self-management. The book gives you the benchmarks to decide honestly.
What's inside
Twenty-one chapters. The first three are free.
Included in the free preview
- 01 Should You Even Be a Landlord? Free
- 02 Preparing a Home for Rent Free
- 03 Knowing What to Charge for Rent Free
- 04Marketing Rental Homes Properlyp. 31
- 05Showing Properties and Managing Prospectsp. 39
- 06Tenant Screeningp. 45
- 07The Lease Agreementp. 61
- 08Building Your Vendor Networkp. 67
- 09Maintenance Operationsp. 77
- 10Rent Collection Systemsp. 87
- 11Lease Renewalsp. 95
- 12Handling Problem Situationsp. 101
- 13Evictionsp. 109
- 14Move-Outs and Security Depositsp. 115
- 15Financial Management and Reportingp. 123
- 16Insurance and Risk Architecturep. 133
- 17Fair Housing Lawp. 139
- 18The Technology Stack for Landlordsp. 145
- 19Scaling Beyond One Rentalp. 153
- 20When Self-Management Stops Making Sensep. 159
- 21The McCaw Differencep. 165
Plus eleven working documents you can use tomorrow
- The complete rent-ready checklist
- Tenant move-in checklist and orientation guide
- Vendor onboarding checklist
- Vendor scorecard
- Complete turnover checklist
- Seasonal maintenance calendar
- Vacancy cost calculator
- Security deposit accounting worksheet
- Renewal decision timeline and framework
- Emergency maintenance flowchart
- The self-management audit
What you'll walk away knowing
The details that cost landlords money — in the order they hit you.
Ch. 01
Whether you should be a landlord at all
What four to eight hours a month actually looks like, what a bad month costs, and the honest arithmetic behind self-managing versus hiring out.
Ch. 02
What "rent-ready" legally requires
The security devices Texas mandates and cannot be waived by lease — including the garage-to-house door most landlords never think about — and which upgrades earn back their cost.
Ch. 03
How to price without guessing
Neighborhood-first comparables, reading days-on-market, seasonality in DFW, and the renewal framework that weighs a rent increase against a $3,000–$5,000 turnover.
Ch. 06
Screening that catches document fraud
What today's fabricated paystubs look like, bank-linked income verification, and criteria you can apply consistently under FCRA and Fair Housing.
Ch. 13–14
Eviction and deposit timelines
The Texas process step by step, and the security-deposit accounting rules that turn small disputes into lawsuits when the dates are wrong.
Ch. 17
Fair Housing and assistance animals
The traps that create real liability for private owners — the ones that don't feel like discrimination when you make them.
You don't have a property. You have a business.
The tenant who stopped paying in month two. The water leak that became a $6,000 claim because nobody caught it for three weeks. The security deposit dispute that turned into a lawsuit because the timeline was off by a few days.
This is the manual we wish every owner had read before they called us in the middle of a crisis.
Start reading
Free preview
The first three chapters
Should you even be a landlord, preparing a home for rent, and knowing what to charge. No email, no form — the PDF opens straight away.
Read the free previewPaperback · $24.95
The complete manual
All 21 chapters and 11 working checklists, calculators, and worksheets. Shipped by Amazon.
Buy on AmazonWould rather hand the whole thing to someone else? Talk to our team about managing your property.
This book is general educational information, not legal, tax, or insurance advice.