Dave Ramsey talked a lot about budgeting and when self-employed you’re pulling your business up by the boot straps. initially there’s nothing reliable.

I then look at area vacancies, economic conditions, employment opportunities, area demographics and verify that the property has not been red tagged or have any other underlying problems that might make it difficult to resell or rent.When I have my financial information then I can consider debt service and costs related to equity partners in the overall income produced.

If you invest into an area that has strong growth and good employment numbers it can overcome many other Cons.  

If your student loans are only 3-5% interest, that's pretty good so I think it's okay to pay those off over time.It sounds like you're making good income with your current employer and there is room to grow, so I'd plan to stay with that job until you can pay your high interest loans off and save enough for a down payment for your first property.

Low crime, steady employment opportunities in the surrounding areas as well as Appleton. 

As primarily self-employed most of my life it would have helped me to discover DSCR loan sooner.

But we also know that the materials he employed on the Usonian houses are not exactly affordable by today's standards... 

My employer never had such a requirement.  

However, your rental income depends on your tenants remaining employed at similar wages.

You could also ask the employer if they can spread out the bonus over multiple years.