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.  

If it's a decent property operating at a 7% cap you could probably take another $5-8k a year in cashflow which push returns on investment into the low 20% range....and that's on a pretty marginal property.Next year I'm selling off the rest of my personally-held stocks, the only thing left in that market will be my employer funded 401k.  

Im self employed for 3 years and doing very well.

If not, you're adding the self employment taxes and paying 40%.  

Obviously the concern is the economy and oil prices to keep him employed at this level but I digress.