Getting loans without W2

[Jack Middleton]

Hi everyone.  I know the answer is probably somewhere on this site, but I have searched for answers and I don't know why I can't seem to get my head around this issue.

My wife and I have a rental, in her name (started renting as of this month) and I, hopefully, will be closing soon on another in my name.  My debt to income is at the limit since the house we are living in is in my name.  My wife hasn't worked in some time and she has excellent credit.  We asked the loan officer about her getting another in her name, but she has no W2 job.

My question is this-

How do people with no job end up buying multiple properties?  Some people who speak of their success with real estate may have never worked in their lives.  So I am having a hard time grasping that concept.

Are there any places that I can go get a detail on how this is done.  I know there are some things going on like 'seller financing', but I can't seem to grasp why this would work or how to find these people.  I have seen some web casts that explain some of this, but it seems to be in general terms and I would like to be able to learn something practical.

[Zach Quick]

@Jack Middleton Typically those people have enough real estate or other income/cash in the bank that the lender is still comfortable with them.  Your personal financial situation matters a lot more when you don't have very many properties.