For instance, in NY, back then, if I buy health insurance for myself thru the business, I have to extend that to my employees as well, so I do it thru another business that I'm the sole employee.

If he reduced his debt by 400K by purchasing $400K less property then he would have boot of $400K that would be taxable.But in either instance that impacts only his exchange. 

You'll find a ton of great material and people here.In terms of your RE strategy, are you planning to continue to be a landlord and buy SFH and residential multi-s, or do you want to diversify into other RE investments such as syndications for instance?

For instance, in the Soviet State of Washington, it is a criminal act, Yes, criminal act to contact people who are in foreclosure, who are in default or who THINK they may BECOME in default. 

For instance, if I have a paragraph in the purchase agreement that says "the buyer can back out of the contract for any reason if they wish", does the assignee get to assume that right and they now have the possibility to back out whenever they choose?

That gives us what we need for instance: Say the house is presently worth $120,000If the house sold for $100,000 in August 2013 and the interest rate at the time was 5% with 3.5% downPurchase $100,000Down 3.5% - $3,500Loan Amount $96,500Interest 5%Put those into a mortgage calculator and the payment is about $518 a month WithOut taxes or mortgage insuranceLook at the amortization table and after 5 years of payments the principal balance is about $88,615So, present value (PV) = $120,00Amount owing = $88,615Assumed Equity = $31,385Build a spreadsheet so you can change the variables.

Take for instance I deal I'm running right now - Duplex (we'll occupy for the first year, but running numbers for when we move out)Purchase price: $190kTotal Rental Income: $1750/mo10% down: $19kClosing costs: $6kTaxes: $357.08/mo ($4,285 annually (6%)Vacancy/Repairs/Management: $350/mo (25%)Monthly Cash Flow: -$53It's sort of disheartening.

So in your instance it will make a huge difference whether you use the property as investment for 1 or 5 years. 

For instance, if you had a home in a nice subdivision with a 1-2 bedroom finished basement with kitchen, could you stay in the basement full-time (I'm a single bachelor) and then Air BnB out the entire top of the home?  

In that instance you are technically still the tax payer for the property.