Help! I need a Real Estate Investing Strategy

[Marcel B.]

Hello,

I am brand new to BiggerPockets and this is my first post on the site. I am interested in getting into real estate investing and today I was told that my strategy will not work b/c I'm an independent contractor (self employed). Long story short, I was planning on getting a multi-family home this summer with an FHA first time home buyer loan, but today I was told that I wouldn't qualify b/c underwriters are only going to factor the NET of my self employed income (I've only been self employed since Aug. of 2016). They will not look at previous income for other companies because I no longer work for those companies. They can only look to what I have made and extend that out for the future to determine what my income is. So they would calculate from 8/16 for my self employment which means I haven't been self employed for a year yet. I will not qualify using conventional means of financing.

So nonetheless, I NEED A NEW STRATEGY. How do I buy in 2017 w/o putting 20-25% down? I heard that there were ways to acquire properties with low or no money down. Is this possible in my position? Where do I go from here? Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

Thanks!