Up at 4am working on my craft.... tired. I have been overwhelmed lately, but I am still pushing. I noticed I have been writing and typing so much lately my hands actually hurt lol. Got a couple of important gatherings...

Is there a specific formula investors use to gauge whether they’re properly leveraged, so they can continue buying rentals with confidence even during tougher economic cycles?

You MUST have a correct STR policy specific to short term rentals.Check out Proper (expensive), CBIZ and Foremost (very popular here) to get some quotes. 

@Francis Rusnak I have soaked vinyl plank over night as well.

Most folks can't afford a $2000 a night place (or whatever that might be) but most families can afford $400 or $500 a night for a nice place that fits the bill.Like @Patricia Andriolo-Bull said, more data is needed to really drill down.

Also open to tips on how to figure out if a location is a good fit and how to run the numbers properly.

You can do a ton of things to help you feel more secure, sleep better at night & know you are doing good.Applaud you for taking the steps in learning more! 

What I see is that if you set your pricing properly with the minimum night settings, AirBNB provides more bookings. 

They always have higher occupancy and higher nightly rates. 

If you buy and ordinary property in a so so community, the competition will basically dictate your nightly rate and you will cap out.2.