I was hoping to find some calculator which could build a portfolio of houses then forecast the difference between taking 10 years versus 30 years but unfortunately could not (i.e. trying to build something in excel at the moment).

Port city versus inland?

You'd need to prorate the amount of your mortgage that would be funding the rental space in order to know what your rent to value ratio is (how big is this space versus the entire prop?).

Sometimes it's ambiguous, but even then, why should I bother with the company that has numerous unresolved lawsuits, versus another company that is virtually the same but has none.

I'm interested in Indianapolis for the consistent job growth, ease of entry into the market (versus homes here in LA), the Cap rates and ROI that's achievable, and some of the really cool programs that have popped up, like Near Indy.

Federal government chooses to respect local laws and suspends enforcement in this case.But in this case I would argue this isn't even a Federal versus local law situation.

They will want rent credit versus paying the rent and can argue with not getting paid enough. 

It would be better for someone to buy an average deal versus no deal.

Then to further back up what David says about the tax benefits and other benefits, here's a general article about owning your own primary house versus investment properties (the article doesn't suggest house-hacking directly but same ideas apply)-https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/01/1...Hope that helps!

@Brian Burke What are some of the differences in your "Desktop" underwriting template, versus your complete IRR template?