He is planning to move across the border to MN (much cheaper health insurance) and live in a house and step away from day to day activity. 

@Chandra Sekhar What border of South Shore? 

You want to look for a C+ property that sits on the border of a B+ area.

@Doug Dattawalker you can find great rental stock in all or the border cities to Detroit.

If the home is truly a 2 unit property and you claim the income on your schedule E the bank will use this income.However if it's a border income situation.  

stay away from streets like Peter Pan and Snow White... as well...be leary of zips 32202/06/08/09 especially. 32222/44 is decent enough. 32210 has its good spots bordering 32073. 17/23/57/58/59  Mandarin NW St Johns, Switzerland, Julington Creek areas are all decent esp 58/59 if you have the $ to spend. 32221/ 32234 has its good spots in rural areas and some new construction.

That is why I found the Indiana side of the border to be a much more conducive place for investing.  

They are almost non-existent on the Virginia side of the border.

.' :) Without further ado, here are the numbers (I'm sure I'm missing something vital and will update as needed):- Westside Jax (32244), Wal-Mart supercenter 2.5mi, 60k zip population, MSA 1.3 million population- Unemployment 6%, Median home price $85-110k (border of two areas), median income $55k- Rent for 2BR $970/mo, vacancy rate 10%- $315k contract price, $65k seller carry @ 3.5% interest-only, 5yr balloon.- 21 units, 1 unit $200 lot rent.

I am in Northern VA and flipping in a city and county that border DC.