Need help for the process of acquiring a rental property!

[Tim Yang]

So I have the steps down to how to get a rental property from the "how to get a rental property in 90 days" video.  I have applied to one lender to see if I can get pre-approved.  

So while I'm waiting, I am not sure if I can get approved or not.  I have excellent credit, low income 20k/year after taxes but the factor I think will hurt me is my employment history.  I have had several jobs over the past 2 years so that'll look bad to the lenders.

I am looking for multi-family properties like duplex/triplex,etc so I can try the house hacking method.  Having that cash flow while taking care of my housing needs in order to move out my parents house would be great.

I'm not sure what other options are available that I can look for, if I'm not approved by this lender.  Also I don't think it would be a good idea to keep applying for multiple lenders because that would hurt my credit score each time I believe.  So if this lender doesn't pre-approve me, then would I go look for private/hard money lenders?  But in the case of hard money wouldn't I need a good deal already for them to help with the funding?  

Some suggestions of where to go from here would be much appreciated!