I also happen to be employed by my partner, I do lots of work for his property maintenance and renovations.My major concern is when I have a not so large income how can I grow outside of purchasing a property which is not very feasible at the moment.

Louisville is adding jobs daily and the big employers are constantly investing in the area. 

I have an investment account from a previous employer that I want to leverage to buy a property.

Other reasons for denial involve other risk factors, such as, 1. rental history and prior landlord verification 2. credit score3. employment history and verification4. income v. rent ratioetc. 

If I don't buy a house now and instead use my savings to be able to quit my job and become self employed as 1099 commission sales, how long would this delay a home purchase?

[Bureau of Labor Statistics]Next came ADP’s employment report, where private (non-government) jobs growth slowed for the third straight month to +150,000 in June.

If you do get to claim real estate professional status, you may potentially be able to offset the rental losses(if you have rentals) against your real estate agent income from an income tax perspective.You may still need to pay self-employment taxes.

If you are self-employed or own a small business - your best option would be Solo 401k plan, which is superior to SD IRA and Checkbook IRA, but there are eligibility requirement you must meet in order to set one up.Hope this helps.

This requires that your tenants remain employed at similar wages.

Ask people in the area of employment you are going into, if they would do it all over again.