First Year of 1099 Income - What Next?

[Remington Lyman]

2.5 years ago I worked for JPMorgan in Columbus, Ohio. I realized I could take my W-2 income and get a 30-year fixed low rate note to purchase a multifamily property if I lived in one side. Shortly after this, I rented my extra room and extra side out. I was not paying anything out of pocket. I then did this with two more quads with my business partner. After this, I started cold calling and saving up as much money as possible. A year later I got laid OFF!

Fortunately, I had 3 months of continuous pay to figure things out. I purchased a distressed 4 unit cash and got my real estate sales license.  I realized I enjoyed this lifestyle way more. The hard I worked, the more money I made unlike at my 9-5 job. This allowed me to build my savings quicker and start purchasing larger properties with commercial notes. The downside is I cannot take advantage of the low down payment notes for another year. My lenders told me I need to file 2 years of 1099 income (I have not even filed one year yet) before they will start counting that towards my debt to income ratios.

Question:

What should my next steps be? Should I purchase a 2-4 unit cash, file ASAP next year and refinance it into an FHA product or a different lowdown payment product? If you have a better idea please let me know. I want to take advantage of the fact that I am still willing to live in multifamily properties. Once I move into a single-family property I know I will not go back to the house hacking model.