Any recommendations for resources (calculators, spreadsheets - I'm a huge data guy), contractors, and any other related professionals in the Pittsburgh area would be so appreciated!

Deegan and @Arda Bircan There are technically 7 Tests for Material Participation (but 3 that are most common) -> the individual 500 hour mark, that the activity of the individual is substantially all, and that the individual participates more than 100 hours + no-one else spends more time than them.Litmus Test: Are your hours integral to the operationsThe hours that qualify must be substantially all hours and have a legitimate impact on the rental activities.Activities that generally count: showing the property for rent, taking tenant applications & screening tenants, preparing & negotiating leases, cleaning & preparing the units for rent, repairs, and improvements, managing the construction, purchasing supplies & materials, inspecting the property, responding to tenant complaints & inquiries, collecting & depositing rents, evicting tenants, writing & placing advertisements, and working on your websiteActivities that don't count: education & research, investor-type activities, and travel time..

Please think about this between now and then; bare bones, you need some education and access to tolls (assessor data and bulk mail printing) to but property right.

I like to use data, coming from an engineering background, and I see the data and trends over history, this can be used as a guide only to help with investment decisions (it’s not a guarantee but another tool to use). 

Michael, check out furnishedfinder.com/statsType in your zip code and you’ll get a good bit of data on what people are looking for.Then, I would go on furnishedfinder.com and look around as if you were wanting to rent a MTR yourself.

If you're going to use national average data, I would recommend using all of the other national data to provide as a benchmark. 

Katy, TX - a suburb west of Houston with close proximity to the city and good schools, as recommended in this forum.5.Montgomery County, PA - I am interested in this location due to its strong economy, high-income professionals, excellent schools with an average rating of >7, and good proximity to downtown Philly.public data shows low crime rate in any of those areas, is that accurate?

This allows you to test the waters without committing entirely to unfamiliar territory.Local Expertise: Leveraging the knowledge of local experts is invaluable.

So, we obtaina full credit report and review collections, chargeoffs, age of credit accounts, active accounts, etc.to build an overall credit evaluation.FICO ScorePct of PopulationDefault Probability800 or more13.00%1.00%750-79927.00%1.00%700-74918.00%4.40%650-69915.00%8.90%600-64912.00%15.80%550-5998.00%22.50%500-5495.00%28.40%Less than 4992.00%41.00%Source: Fair Isaac CompanyPublic RecordsWe also obtain data from national databases about evictions, convictions and sex-offender histories.

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this data, I have attached the link as well so you can see where they pulled this from.