I would suggest self-leveling concrete as well because the chips are all over and not just a few.

You now have the experience of the first house and confidence you can make it work on the next. 

With that said, I know that @Brandon Turner has said (if I remember correctly) on the podcast that he likes to get at least 12% cash on cash return and something like $200+/month in cashflow.In the stock market I am confident in about an 8% return over the long run so I obviously want to get a better return than that if I am going through the work of buying a property and also managing the rental.

Rental income doesn't get hit with the self employed income tax, so having them in an S-corp isn't really necessary.In the future, we may break up properties by area or risk demographic. 

The issue is I'm self employed and everything is written off, my credit ranges from 750-790 depending on the credit card miles game.

When I was self-managing, I would have units re-rented within a week.

I want to eventually flip houses myself but need that bit of confidence and listen to the successful people around me.

Get honest with the city.. try to give little info and not incriminate your self.

Listen to Jason Hartman--he self manages some of his remote properties.  

The villages isn't bad per se, but residents tend to enjoy that they are tucked away from massive growth in their own community so the lack of appreciation is a bit self inflicted.