house rental by the room basics

[Paul Witte]

The suburban market I live in is primarily single family homes.  But like many suburban communities, it has diversified a lot in the last 15 years and I think there is a real shortage of affordable multifamily housing.  I'd like to explore whether buying a house and then modifying to maximize the number of bedrooms to rent out individually.  I know this is commonly done for college-type housing, but maybe not in my sort of market.  

To explore whether this might work, I have all sorts of questions... How are common areas managed?  Who controls how many residents per sqft/bedroom/bathroom are allowed?  Etc etc.  Are there any resources out there to give me a primer on this strategy?

Thank you!