One thing is for sure, that can't happen when your self employed. 

Assuming Will operates out of an S-Corp (he's a smart guy so I'm positive he's doing this) and nets $350k, by deducting his lease payment he avoids 15.3% self-employment tax, a 1.5% CA franchise tax on net income, a blended CA income tax rate of 7.98% and a blended federal rate of 26.1% for a total of 50.88%.

The location is ideal, right by a major hospital which would be attractive for the many renters who are employed there.

If you fail to do this, then you can only go back as far as the date that the LLC was created which will subject earned income prior to the LLC's date of existence to be subject to the full self-employment taxes (read: costly). 

My husband and I are both full time employed.

My husband and I are self-employed with a pet business and it has gotten to a point where we are doing very little labor for the business, so we are wanting to get to our next step in life, real estate investing!

I had a great amount of money saved but I was let go from my previous employer a month before my wedding so what I had saved went to the wedding and then into financing my bills to keep me afloat. 

There is not a lot here employment-wise but it's becoming a more popular bedroom community for NYC.

What happens if halfway through the option period, the tenant / option holder looses their employment and you need to evict them?

Heres my thing though, earlier this year I quit my job to run my retail store business full time so now my tax return will reflect self employed income where losses may be reported.