Don't take my word for it and look at the government statistics.

My next mistake with this property is that I did not know that banks wont loan out to individuals without a W2 job and if you are self-employed or an independent contractor, then you need 2 years of tax returns showing that your income is suffice for them to lend to you.

Not sure where your property is located, but any local independent insurance agent should be able to help you out with your property.

Employees take time, even if independent contractors.I think your purchase was awesome. 

Trades are great, but its tough work, construction kills your body, most of the time you don't get benefits, and I believe statistically college grads make 40% more than those who don't. 

This is basically the power of "leverage" (in terms of real estate investing).Also, your property should be appreciating statistically... and you still haven't paid any taxes.... 

A co-sign would probably be one of the easiest ways around it, especially if your parents are already in real estate.Loan officers usually have a problem with lending money to small businesses, especially if your business is new, because your income will look relatively low and there's a high probability that the business will fail (just statistically). 

If so, I don't know if I would begin independently renovating a property further than a day trip.  

How it is factored in depends on the totality of the scenario. 

Hard money is pretty independent of normal requirements as you're just getting it from an individual investor, but it's usually a lot pricier and increases your risk.If you're confident in your construction timeline and in creating forced appreciation, hard money can be a pretty easy win, but it's definitely a lot more risk.