Today is the first day I actually measured my space and I'm just now realizing I only have 14 1/2 inches of depth to the door frame. 

@Chase Gochnauer You are not kidding when you state that Altoona is a little picky when it comes to their rental inspections but I suppose it is in good measure.

For example, Hawaii has created vacation destination zones specifically for this purpose, and other counties across the country have similar measures in place.

We will see.It all depends on what works best for you, if you have done well with it you can keep them, although you can try only at very specific times changes and measure results. 

This data set would be a metric representation of the market direction and strength of that direction, be it growth, decline, appreciation, depreciation.I created my own algorithm for calculating such data and disseminating it into a charitable data representation, but that is just me and my own understanding of how I feel things should be weighed and measured.

What are you using to measure what general contractor to hire?

Are there certain ratios one should use in order to measure whether or not a real estate investment is wise?

How much lower can the stock drop before they have to take some drastic measures?

You then apportion your other building expenses and report those on the Schedule E as well.Here are the expenses you'll want to consider:Mortgage InterestProperty TaxInsuranceWater/Gas/Electric/Sewer/Garbage Removal/Lawn Maintenance/Pool Maintenance (presuming your tenant is allowed to use the lawn and pool)Repairs to the property as a whole (ie, roof, plumbing, electrical repairs)Repairs specifically to the space you are rentingDepreciationYou then measure the room you've rented and compare it to the livable square footage of the house.So let's say you're renting a 300 square foot space, your bedroom is 500 square feet and you share the kitchen, bathroom and living areas and those common areas add up to 1000 square feet.So your rented space is 300 + (1000/2) for an effective square footage of 800 square feet rented.You then take the above mentioned expenses and multiply each one by (800/1800) and you claim that amount of expense.The only exception is repairs specifically to the rented area.  

I am in @Chris Clothier  camp on this one.. a measure of a rental property in a given market needs to be done in year 3.. with a report on year 1 and 2.buying a rental and reporting rents for the first year is quite misleading.. as the first tenant is brand new the house is brand new.. and 80% of the time or more the first year is a cream puff  LOL.so for those that watch along and say hey I am going to see what happens in the first 6 months and if its good I am going to jump in.. well that simply is not enough time in this business to fully understand a property or an area or PM company.. we are all rock star's first year or so.Chris often mentions those that given one year rental guarantee's  he will say  ya ask them to guarantee year 3..