It looks like Fannie Mae is taking measures to qualify millenials with boatloads of toxic debt.  

-Total debt isn't a good measure of risk in this case because, well, its not risk adjusted.

Wealth is measured in time not dollars.  

You can institute the punitive measures which should be in your lease for that breach such as a fine, etc.

The next big thing is when you get to the point of them doing an actual bid, make sure they take notes, measurements, ask questions, and are in general paying attention.

measure the length and width of your walls that have the roof on it and find out the exact pitch of your roof then search the web for roofing calculator and plug your numbers in there.

(measured by comparing Zestimates to actual sale prices).You can find it here, also linked off the home page:http://www.zillow.com/howto/DataCoverageZestimateAccuracy.htm

Which basically amounts to a property inspector (more than likely an insurance adjustor or someone similar) that performs the site inspection, takes photos, and measures it - who then forwards it to some out of state appraiser who has never actually visited the subject and likely isn't an 'expert' in your local market.

I am mainly curious about the practicality of putting in the next 12-13 years to achieve some measure of reliable income.3)  Madness - I am honestly not sure why you think investing in real estate for me is madness.  

A Far better quote to have used would have been:"I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom" - General Patton