If your intent is to keep this a two unit I would separate the utilities it will likely save you money and aggravation in the future.

An LOI is just a letter of intent.

My intention would be to live in one unit and rent the other out for residential purposes. 

If you're buying it with the intention of selling it then you kind of answered your own question.

Now, our focus shifts towards house hacking, with the intention of renting out at least one of the rooms.

It is definitely not my intention to take us down that rabbit hole.But to really answer the question (why it morphed just to TX law I have no idea) you can't  just distinguish a cited case because the facts differ from those in OP's pattern.

That makes ZERO sense unless you're intention is to not refinance and just pay for the rehab out of pocket.

@Calvin Thomas INTERNET TROLL is someone who intentionally posts inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments online to provoke or upset others.

Is what I’ve been told accurate that it’s more about the intention than the timeframe?

Most people get into MTRs with the intention of renting to traveling medical professionals but they’re only a small sliver of the MTR market.