I've only in recent months decided to pursue real estate investing and I want to be maximally positioned as a credit-worthy borrower. I'm a physician and for the last 2 years I've worked as an independent contractor because it behooves me financially as I can demand more income and can stow away more money into my self-employment 401k. I make over $200K a year. However I understand that lending institutions typically favor w-2 full-time employment. Do you think that in my case this will make me a less attractive borrower? Do you think I'll still be able to borrow up to the same DTI limits that I would as a w-2 employee? If the above would make me a less attractive borrower, would becoming a full-time employee now right before applying for a mortgage help, or would it only help if that were the case over a couple of years? FYI, I literally can make twice the income as a 1099 than full-time, because many full-time positions limit my moonlighting abilities.