Hey Denver, good for you thinking this far in advance!
You're on the right track already by asking a few lenders questions. Keep that up and talk to as many lenders, credit unions, anyone you can. Ask them specifically about loan options that will work with your commission income job and what specifically the timeframe requirements are for each loan and how they were. Here is a high level link from a quick google search
https://www.ovmfinancial.com/commission-income/
I'd be very hesitant to have a lender do a hard credit pull in this situation since you're trying to build credit and are at least 1 year out from buying. You can use free services like experian to see your credit report and then you can give the lender your estimated credit score. The lenders usually want to make sure your credit score is over a certain threshold to even entertain certain loan options in the first place. Once you get closer to buying, then credit score will be a more crucial factor as it affects the interest rate you'll get which in turn affects how much you can borrow.
The length of employment requirement often depends on your type of income, primarily salaried jobs vs commission income. Depends on the bank / type of loan you do. Research online to find the available types of loans and the timeframe requirement they require for commission income. For example if you had a salaried job, there would generally be no one or two year requirement.
Also as you save, don't just think you need to save the down payment. Anticipate closing costs as well as reserve funds for unexpected repairs.
Owner occupant loans offer the advantage of lower down payment needed and lower interest rate. As mentioned above, FHA is the "cheapest" way to get into a 1-4 unit property that you'll occupy for a certain period of time. If you are looking at a single family house, you can generally find conventional loans with as low as 5% down. Sometimes you'll see people to a conventional 5% loan on a single family and "save" the FHA for a 2-4 family down the road. Conventional loan down payment on 2 units are generally around 15% minimum, so you can see the FHA advantage in terms of down payment.
If you're trying to qualify for the largest loan possible (DTI ratio is based on income and debts), you may want to consider getting a second job you do after work and on the weekends. An extra 2k, 5k, 10k you can make each year will not only help you save more money but come loan time you'll be able to qualify for a larger loan amount. Now is NOT the time to buy a flashy car, buy clothes on credit, buy a fancy watch etc. Use your age and energy to your advantage and keep grinding.
