However, my wife got laid off start of the pandemic and I started independent contractor work, but no 2 years of tax returns for a conventional loan.

I’m curious to hear people’s opinions so that I can accurately weigh my options.I currently have enough cash to buy both a home and an investment property with conventional loans.

If your credit score is sufficient, a conventional loan will be cheaper. 

You will end up with an interest rate higher than a conventional loan but it will still be reasonable.

We did a 5% down conventional loan which means we are obligated to live there for a year.

If it's not a good investment property the numbers will tell you.Jaron,We brought the present home in 2012 as our first home.Its a new construction.I did run the numbers on the existing home.As I mentioned we paid 212k in 2012.Took an FHA and refinanced to conventional a few yrs later.(3.5% for 30 yrs Balance on mortgage 160k).Mortgage runs to 1200/month.Our property can be rented out as is for 2000/month.Its a 4 bed 3 bath and rents in our community start with 2000 range for our sq footage.I want to pay off this house asap in next 5-6 yrs and free up money to invest in another house.The houses in our community are in 450k+ range.Hubby is preapproved is not the reason for another house.The other house is right opposite to our community  and is a 5 min walk from our house.So its not a big move.Except that I want to move closer to our kids friends.Our lender metioned Heloc maybe a good choice for further investments.I want to explore Home Equity Loan route to be safer.I am still a layman in Heloc route and dont want to burn fingers.Any advice.P.S.What is COC? 

DHL , which I've used in the past to close a conventional loan from Bahrain, said 3 - 4 days (it ended up being 5).  

Around 2000 sqft each.I need a digital file as a DWG or something comparable to a CAD.

If a mortgage lender pulls your credit, any other inquiries that are coded the same way do not affect your credit score for 30 days.If you are potentially buying more than one 2-4 unit property (house hacking), there is a strategy to the order in which to use your VA benefit, FHA, and Conventional financing. 

If I'm using a conventional loan that offers 70% LTV on a cash-out refi, I calculate the maximum loan I can get.