However, most municipalities employ WAFRP standards, and that 1" standard comes from those specs, which is a gold-standard catch-all.

I can't do a residential loan because I don't have the employment history of 2 years.

We both have salary positions and understanding employers so our income was not interrupted.

If losing one lead could cost you thousands of dollars, employing a part time "virtual assistant" is a foolish way to cut corners and potentially lose thousands of dollars.Call recording: Make sure they offer call recording (it will cost extra) so you can check on them anytime you want to make sure they are handling your calls the way you want and that none of the inbound calls are going to voicemail.

Come to find out, not many employers want to hire someone with 6 months of experience who hadn’t been with their current employer long enough to earn 2 weeks of vacation.

He has since (recently) found new employment. 

I that was possible, I would have done this many times myself. 401K money comes from ore tax employment, and you avoid paying taxes.

To best advise you, I would need a lot more information about the strategy (BRRRR, fix & flip, buy & hold), the properties (cost, condition, ARV, vacancy, current rent, etc), and you (skills, employment, income, DTI, home ownership, equity in your home, and down payment / amount of savings)

Again, that depends on the town, crime, employment etc.

I've been self-employed my entire life so for me I don't know any other way.