I just saw this article on Yahoo regarding where rents are rising the fastest and thought I'd share:http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cities-where-rent-ri...I agree with the article that it isn't really a great measurement of what is really happening in an area because it is a small sampling, but might help answer some of the questions posted here along the lines of, "What city is best to invest in?" 

Pacolet Pointe contains an ideal unit mix comprised of 8 one-bedroom units measuring 616 square feet each, 4 one-bedroom units measuring 588 square feet, 16 two-bedroom units spanning 777 square feet each, and 8 three-bedroom units encompassing 936 square feet each.

What are different ways to measure this?

I have only one property that has not had my initial investment pulled out.If you want initial cash flow, So Cal may not be the place to invest but its measured returns have surpassed virtually everywhere else in the US (so claiming somewhere with sub $200K properties has had higher returns than So Cal is not based on facts). 

So you see - Cap Rate is great for comparing two properties - if they were bought all cash.But its very deceptive when used to indicate how much money is made.The ROI is the true measure of that.Thank you.

Once you're in the business, you'll need some way of actually measuring your successes or failures.I'd start there.

I tell people who ask for my help to look at these numbers just as a starting point to begin a search. it helps to down-select from the many many properties you can find online.The real measure is: What do you want to accomplish?

So I checked it out and measured mine, and sure enough, theres about an extra 100 square feet.

This isn’t easy by any means but it will be 10X worse with the market going against you.Lastly, I would note that “default” is not the best measure many times.

IKEA sells countertops in one piece square slabs (for islands) and cut to measure for counter tops - that can be fit into the back of a Dodge Grand Caravan with the back seats removed.