Since LMHA started inspecting my properties every 9 months instead of 12 as was the norm before ~2013 I request a rent increase each year and so far have been pretty good about getting a 2-5% increase. 

Satisfied guests aren’t just likely to leave glowing reviews—they may also spread the word to friends or choose to rebook themselves, keeping your property consistently booked and increasing your revenue!

You are required to file a complete and accurate return, which means reporting the income that you earned along with atleast the direct expenses that you incurred on your rental.There are two comflicting forces - Your tax accountant wants to be aggressive with deductions because it will entitle you to paying less taxes(now or in the future).Your lender wants to see as much income as that will increase your Debt to Income Ratio(DTI).The good thing is that you can speak with your lender about 'one time expenses', that were only incurred in that year and are not reoccuring. 

The hot tub was just for the luxury of having it, but we justified the purchase by increases the AirBnb nightly rent.

I am getting increasingly serious about purchasing an office building here in Denver in the next few months. 

There are many other angles also you can take to both increase profit, reduce risk, etc.

Rents for long term have been steadily increasing for years here, but you're right, they do top out at some point.

@Brian Quo50k increase per year on say a 1million dollar house is 5%.

Market in a MinuteEast Tennessee home sales decreased 7.8% from the previous month, and decreased 1.0% from a year ago.The median sale price was $371,250 — up 9.19% from the previous year.Total housing inventory increased from the previous year – up 38.3% from a year ago.Half of the homes sold were under contract in 20 days or less, up from 11 days a year ago.40.55% of homes sold for the asking price or above, with 18.77% selling for more than the asking price. 8.04% sold for at least $10,000 over asking and 2.88% sold for at least $25,000 over asking price.The sale-to-list price ratio decreased from last month to 97.5% – down from 97.9% a year ago.New construction represented 12.36% of total home salesData Deep Dive: How's the market?

I do not think they are sketchy is just that they do not go by all of the state regulations and they might charge you a cancellation fee or increase rates more often.