Getting a loan for first rental property

[Sarah Purdum]

Hello everyone!

First time poster. I live in Los Angeles and want to purchase my first rental property outside the city where prices are a little less expensive. I have excellent credit and about 40,000 in a Roth but I'm not sure I'll qualify for a loan. I hear the qualifications you need to purchase an income property are tighter than if you take out a loan for a primary residence as I will be responsible for my rent and a mortgage on top of it. 

The issue with this is that I'm a personal trainer and have been for a couple years and most of my income is in cash. I do have about 1,200 of income a month on a 1099 but on paper I look broke. I have the cash and the income to buy a small property (let's say around 200k) but it sure doesn't look like that on paper. 

Does anyone know of a way for me to buy a property on my own? The only thought I've come up with is to have my boyfriend who has more on paper income than me to consign the loan, but real estate makes him a lot more nervous than it makes me and he wouldn't be down to buy a property for another year or so.