Where to Focus First: the Deal Chicken or Funding Egg?

[Shannon McKenna]

I need a bit of direction. I am a little newbie searching for my first deal, which will also be my first ever real estate purchase... a place I can "house hack" as I build up income for my second deal.  I am looking for buy and hold rental properties for cash flow.

I sat down today and called three different mortgage lenders in my area, to see how much house I could buy on a conventional loan. They all sounded very encouraging until I sent over my tax returns. I have been making a living via 1099 (contract employee) income for the past three years, and... how can I put this? I have gotten very good at claiming my deductions.

The answer to "how much money will THEY give me" seems to be zero, which kind of sucks, because I was hoping to use this number as my parameter when searching for that first deal. Now that I don't have a golden easy number, how would you all recommend I structure my search?

Should I go out hunting and once I find that first deal, scramble to secure funding? 

OR

Should find an entity that will give me my own number, and search for a deal once I know how I'm going to pay for it?