They check credit, criminal, eviction, employment, and residential history.

I thought to myself yesterday, driving around town: is this development signal or noise for the city's future prospects (employment growth, population growth, etc.)?

Not only can you get more, but if you are self-employed, it is nice to have the flexibility of being able to downsize, if your business takes a downturn. 

There has been no layoff ever from these big employers.

I am currently self employed.

The largest employer is the state government and the second largest is the Federal government. 

Hard to lose with todays prices and interest rates.What is your current full time employment?

That is not possible for the self-employed RE investors.

It seems like waiting for winter to pass is an obvious move, but maybe people have managed to carve a niche by employing the tactic of being the last rehabber standing in the winter.Guys?

Assuming that they look and act good enough for me to show them the unit, I then have them fill out an application and then do a thorough screening (full criminal background check, eviction check, previous landlords, employment, etc, etc, etc).