They say that this generation may want to down-size their current home now that they don’t have employment or family obligations.

My service verifies employment and contacts past landlords.

You will have local trends, new starts, employment, gentrification, social influences, public amenities as well as commercial activities.

Currently I work full time and my wife is self employed. 

It is hard for people to break their employee/self employed mindset and to think like a business owner/ investor.Now that we have our first tenants and everything is going smoothly one of our biggest detractors (my father inlaw) now wants to help us look for our next property and even is trying to convince his gf to do what we did.Be brave, be prepared and follow through and those voices will change their tunes.

Employ experts where should and DIY where appropriate.

I keep waiting for prices to slow too, but there is such an imbalance between the employment situation, which is the best in the country by far, and the housing situation, which is quite limited in supply, that I actually foresee continued gains in real estate prices until tech finally crashes.  

I require good credit, employment, and deposits.

.% of vacant homes% of boarded up homes (not always easy to get this one).Employment rate for the area.Probably a few others.

I was also employed at the time.I wish I had the resources available here when I started.