They lower taxable income for federal taxes but not for FICA.However, employer contributions made by the S-Corp are not subject to FICA and count as a business expense.Make sure your W-2 correctly reports wages, deferrals, and FICA wages.

I have been cross-ways with the IRS about 25 years ago due to a dishonest [ex] employer and I dont want to have to go through that again.

I currently have a pre-tax retirement account with employer match and a Roth IRA invested in the stock market.

Great points, ZharaBirmingham has relatively steady and diverse rental demand, and I’ve seen many investors I work with have success with C/B class buy-and-holds.Location is key—areas near UAB, major employers, and popular suburbs tend to have the strongest rental demand, while C/D class markets offer solid affordable housing and Section 8 opportunities.

If you are self-employed and do not report much income, you may also want to look at other NOnQM programs such as a Bank Statement Loan or P&L Only Loan.

Can you count that $4,600 as “rental income” or does it have to go under some kind of self employment?

Lenders will want a letter from your employer that states you are allowed to work remote from where you currently live and that this move will not affect your income. 

The city has excellent fundamentals...strong Ed's and Med's which are some of the most stable employers, huge investments made in the life science sector,  proximity and easy access to NYC and DC, international airport, port city to name a few. 

Interest rates and cap rates change, competition changes, your PM ends up being horrible, lots of variables.Just to throw you a monkey wrench, in your killer spreadsheet does it include the credit score, income, and employer of every resident? 

In the past 10 years, Ocala has greatly improved the employment base, adding tons of logistics and distribution jobs on top of the medical, service and equestrian jobs that we have always had.