Trying to get mortgage. Been working as 1099. Should I get a W-2?

[Matheus Scaravato]

Hi, 

Thank you all for the help that this website and forum provide for us newbies that are just getting started on the RE investing business.

I've been working as an Independent Contractor for a little over a year now. It doesn't pay tons, but is honest work and the pay is a little better than most other entry level manual labor, and I can work as much and whenever/wherever I want.

Also, I don't work with just one app, but quite a few of them(Instacart, Doordash, Grubhub, Uber, Amazon Flex...) and my income is fairly inconsistent in each one of them, but at the end of the day, I usually get pretty much the same pay every month(4.5-5.5k).

I decided that in the near future I would like to get a small multifamily and househack to get started in the RE investing world. I know that getting a conventional or FHA mortgages as an Independent Contractor is harder that with a W-2 job, but I would like to know, if possible:

(1) How much harder it actually is(1099 x W-2)?

(2) Does the inconsistency in earning in each of the apps makes a big difference? 

(3) Do I have other options besides conventional/FHA that are worth exploring, and not having ridiculously high Interest Rates?

(4) If I got a W-2 job now, would I have a better chance of getting a conventional mortgage any time soon or I should just stick with my gig jobs(try to get to the 2 years mark and try to find someone to approve me)?

Again, thank you for any help!

Any input is welcome.