Im self employed for 3 years and doing very well.

If not, you're adding the self employment taxes and paying 40%.  

Obviously the concern is the economy and oil prices to keep him employed at this level but I digress.  

Assuming I land a job, how will that gap in my employment history affect my chances of getting a loan?  

@Kevin Lillenberg In a nutshell you may qualify to open a self-directed solo 401k if you are self-employed.

Unfortunately, I went through a tough divorce and loss of employment (was a university professor for 8 years) so my credit really tanked.

Years before FHFA argued Fannie Mae was not federal by virtue that it was private before, making FHFA act as a private entity, not the other way around, so that they could win an employment termination case where the woman claimed Fannie Mae was Federal since being held in a FHFA conservatory and thus must follow federal employment law.

Hi,I would request letters of recommendation from their employer and other sources, and have your property manager speak with each source.

I'd suggest too that you not try to employ 1031 transactions, since you're flipping and there is additional costs involved, it just wouldn't pay.

A little background information of myself:1.)I just recently graduated from high school as an honor student who is working as an assistant manager/receptionist at a real estate firm.  2.)I have grown up participating in 6 sports(possibly irrelevant to this topic but hopefully providing you guys an impression/idea of me as well). 3.)As stated in the post subject, I am an 18 year old. 4.)I come from a family of self-employed business owners, doctors, engineers, and stock investor(s).5.)I'm quite the tech-savvy person 6.)I will be taking 13 credits of college courses at a community college in the fall semester I under this career demands a great deal of one's time but I am willing to sacrifice that time for this career by limiting my social outings.