You need a stay that they can't experience elsewhere.

Also make sure you are comfortable with some holding costs if the units don't get rented right away (if vacant).Also look into if there is rent control in the area that the property is located.

Because of my savings and lack of expenses, I'm in a very comfortable position to make my first move, but because my income is mid, I'm unable to meet the Debt-to-Income requirements to qualify.

Get out of your comfort zone.

With the cost of utilities and the level of comfort people feel is mandatory now there is no way I would want to be on the hook for it. 

If you're looking for appreciation and are comfortable with being a landlord, keeping it as a rental could work, especially if it's cash-flowing $300/month.

I know what my ideal life looks like in ten years, unfortunately, I don’t feel like I can have my ideal life now because I am having to stay in the state that I am in until we can move without risk of my husband losing custody of his child, which will be in about 10 years so believe it or not I do spend a lot of time thinking about what I want the future to be like.

Center Point is not investor friendly anymore so I would advise staying away from the rental side.

Yes all losses and returns the IRA incurs stay in the IRA until you take a distribution. 

If you switch to or stay with the custom tax settings, you'll need to update the amount of tax collected to 7.75% because the 9% city tax will be collected and remitted by law to the city on your behalf, but  the 6% state and 1.75% county tax will be collected and sent to you to remit to the state and via Avenu to the county.