In the end our actual budget has been ahead of our estimated which has worked out in our favor.The biggest variable is going to be placement costs.

To gain insight into the demand for rentals in an area, it's a good idea to look at variables like comps that have rented in the past 6 months, how long they took to rent, original list price compared to actual rent price, how many active rental listings there are in an area, average rent price, median rent price.

@Mary Lloyd There are many variables when determining the post possible option.

@Jennifer Hamon If you are looking at obtaining a conventional mortgage then any variable income generally requires a 2 year history. 

Do you take out variable costs (management fees, maintenance/ repair, vacancy, cap expenses) from the monthly income just like the mortgage and taxes when you look at Cashflow?  

Hello, I’m wondering what percentage everyone calculates for variable expenses?

That being said, I feel like there are a lot of variables in house hacking I cannot account for?

The assumptions that I use are variable depending on the quality of the property.

Then you can say that because of the solar panels the electric utility is "free".Either way, you eliminate the extra work, hassle, and variability of charging different amounts each month.  

You can filter by location and area of expertise (as well as other variables), which would be handy for you to find a CPA in another state.