@Anthony Zotto as mentioned, find a co-signer with income to verify.  

A CO is typically needed for a real estate contract to close.

I’ve recently joined bigger pockets through a co worker of mine to learn and possibly get into real estate game myself.

@Alex Olson makes a very good point about finding a co-signer. 

The office is configured as 10 individual private offices with a co-working space consisting of 4 desks.

This extended the amount of reserves I had in the bank, and was also part of the reason I felt comfortable with having a co-signer to qualify for a slightly larger/more expensive property.So now, I had a decision to make.

However, I was declined from the loan- with the loan officer telling me that I would need a W2 job, or a co-signor to qualify... perhaps my debt-to-income ratio was too high? 

Everybody was required to have a co-signer so we are on the lease also.

I’ll be graduating from a Masters program this spring and am planning to start investing in SFH or small multifamily once things settle down. I have $400k in funds but because I’ve been in grad school, I don’t have mu...

Naively  I purchased a town house through a co-op here because the price was cheap (55,000) but unfortunately the more I’ve researched it, I’ve learned they won’t let me sublet or rent out the unit when I’m done here, So when I move I have to sell.