Are they eating a little too well right now? 

I use mysmartmove.com to run screening and it has worked well. 

Legislation was just introduced in Pennsylvania as well. 

It's not traditional and it comes with plenty of risks but it's a great way to get into properties with low down payment, as well as lower interest rates than the current market allows for. 

For example look at the zip code you are building in, for a recent new build in columbus that we do since miami is expensive we pulled all these stats: Zip Code Statistics: 43206Housing Units Delivered: 8 Average Sale Price: 642,875Median Sale Price: 505,000Average Price Per Sq Ft: $316.40Average Square Feet: 2172 Sq FtAverage Bedrooms: 3.25Average Bathrooms: 2.75Average Days on Market: 138We design the house around this, around the lot, around the neighborhood, from scratch and try to pick a long term build design that will do well.

I do have those who show up stating “but my cats are clean” or “it was only one eviction” which I just say no, but I’ve also had those who may be slightly off income but have a qualified co-signer, or a lower credit score but it was for a medical bill or student loan, and they worked out well.

I'm in Simpsonville as well, and I'm actively looking.

I think this is smart to do, but you are making move for quality of life as well so make sure the town is a place you will enjoy (along with the new job) living.I've seen people use metrics to move out-of-state without really getting a feel for how much their lifestyle suits the new market.

The zillow application has worked well for me. 

In a perfect world it will also allow me to input quotes as well as actual cost to complete each line item, so I can get better with each renovation.