In either case, you should verify that you are eligible to transfer the funds from your existing retirement account (e.g. if the funds are in your current employer 401k, you will likely not be able to transfer until you quit your job).

I don't know what your original loan amounts were, but you have probably used up a large portion of your entitlement.Full disclosure: I am not a mortgage broker (but I am a veteran, and a Certified Military Relocation Professional, and I've closed numerous VA loans - a couple of my own and several for clients), so by all means talk to an expert smarter than me and verify what I'm saying!

(If the bank needs to verify income levels, I'm not sure I'd qualify as we can technically pay it off...I just don't want to)Any help/feedback is greatly appreciated...thanks in advance!!

We ask the tenants to set transfer for move in day and we call every utility to verify the change order is in place. 

But you'd probably still want some kind of paper trail documenting the issues and communicating your concerns and reasons for moving to your lender (or, the opposite approach would be to not tell them a thing and hope you don't get caught - which I'm certainly not advocating).Ultimately, they need to believe and verify that moving early wasn't your intent all along, just to try and circumvent the FHA requirements (which would essentially be defrauding the government and using up a finite resource intended to promote home ownership in the US); Giving you an FHA loan could ultimately mean that some other family was unable to get one.

Make sure you get tenant estoppels signed by each tenant acknowledging they have no security deposit held by the seller, and verifying their lease and payment terms, and current status (up to date, delinquent, etc), and make sure the seller transfers prorated rent and security deposits (if any are discovered) to you at closing (BY THE WAY, YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT SHOULD BE ON TOP OF ALL OF THESE THINGS). 

Most seller's financing wouldn't either because they will usually also check your credit and verify you have the ability to pay the note.There are other real estate investing avenues that are substantially less to get involved in. 

And be careful, people with no local connections willing to room with them unless newly moved/moving to town for a job, verified of course, would need to have plenty of personal references imo.

Is there anything I can do while the house is under contract, to verify the renters' employment or any other information to reduce the risk of the renter not paying rent? 

In either case, you should verify that you are eligible to transfer the funds from your existing retirement account (e.g. if the funds are in your current employer 401k, you will likely not be able to transfer until you quit your job).Considerations in Setting up a Solo 401k to invest in real estate:1.