He is currently self employed but when we move he is closing his business and looking for a job. 

Also, the property is very close to my husband's employment and he is very good with repairs, so he would be doing most of the maintenance.

In case you end up doing it yourself, I use rentecdirect.com and I call past and current landlords and verify employment as well.  

Instead, the profits will be classified as active income subject to 15.3% self-employment tax.

Volvo just announced building a huge factory employing 12005.

Knowing I could do this for a living instead of commercial construction would give me the freedom and feeling of accomplishment that my current employment cant offer.

Should help you save more money every month from your employment as well.

The 2 year thing for counting rental income is either based on it being an LLC (this would be considered self employment and almost always requires two years history and tax returns) or is probably what is called a bank overlay, meaning it is not a Fannie/Freddie requirement.

Quality of schools, crime rate, median household income, tax rate for property, tax rate for tenant's income, ratio of rent vs purchase price, proximity to employment, proximity to shopping, proximity to public transit - that's just a partial list, and in some areas some of those are less relevant. 

I only employ sub-contractors that are insured.