These were intended for people who had a hard time verifying income, such as the self-employed.

Rarely will you get the truth from a past landlord.Call all job references to verify employment.  

OTOH, if you find a run down property in a nice suburban neighborhood close to major employers and upgrade it can it become a A or B property?

I'm proud to offer lending to self employed investors who need non traditional funding for their business and investment opportunities. 

What are your thoughts on getting a loan from my current employer to cover those costs?  

and that in turn is the whole reason why mortgages (deeds of trust) employ due-on-transfer acceleration clauses to prevent the collateral (property) the mortgage loan was secured against.  

@Jack Aduwo Yeah, probably true, you just may have to look harder, or employ different strategies, but you can probably find something if you look hard enough and are patient enough.

Ngo Hello from a fellow CM major and employed for a large general contractor in the Seattle area.

Banks don't call to verify employment every 6 months.

I hear all this from the cleaning lady we employ and its difficult to determine where the line of overly worried gossip and true lease infraction is taking place.