You can get a decent loan using your bank statements as 'proof of income', a must for the self-employed.

Third learn the laws etc for your locale and self manage if its local to you. 

@Kian Faramarzi Knowing what I know now if I had not been on the trajectory I was on when I was 21, which was that I owned a Bed and Breakfast, so was essentially house hacking altogether a little unconventionally, I would tell my college graduated self to buy a 4-unit on an FHA loan and house hack and save up and rinse and repeat and today I’d have a small real estate empire.

In my specfic case, I'm looking to roll over 401k from previous employer into self directed/solo 401k to allow for more REI options. 

Flips are ordinary income tax subject to self employment taxes. 

@Jessica HuynhWith FHA, you also have the ‘self sufficiency test’ for 3 & 4 plexes which is an additional hurdle that most can’t get over in higher priced markets.75% of the entire rental income must cover PITI, which is why a lot of multiplexes don’t qualify for FHA loans without a bigger down payment.The only way to get 10% down programs will be with local credit unions and community banks that offer portfolio/ ‘in house’ loans for owner-occupied plexes.

We have strict rules here about self promotion, which generally includes using this forum for market research.

The Self-Sufficiency test makes it pretty much impossible to get a desirable property with less than 10% down.Single Family REITS have also greatly outperformed multifamily in the last years and now institutional players are getting involved.

While syndication probably offers a far better return than the stock market, it usually won't touch the return you can get from a self-managed property.  

Alerts can be really helpful too: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsThere are a few self-contained guides that you can access here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides