And the reason why your "tale of two halves" will play out as you described.Demand:  This has actually been high almost all along, but rent growth hasn't materialized in response due to high levels of new supply. 

Generally they are not rolled into the loan, and it's more the level of fees (say the percentage) they charge rather than any "junk" fees or costs.

I'm going to reiterate what's already been mentioned above, but I'm going to actually give you examples of why it's relevant to you to find a U.S. tax professional.1 - You're going to need to file U.S. taxes once you have property down here, there's federal filings, state filings, and sometimes local filings too2 - Tons of tax treaties between the U.S. and Canada that are easy to miss and can cost you a lot of money (important one with rentals - effectively connected income - if the professional you talk to doesn't know what this is, run away)3 - The amount of days you spend in the U.S. needs to be tracked and if you go over a threshold, all of your worldwide income could be taxable by the U.S.4 - Selling real property means up to 15% of your sales proceeds might not be available to you for years (FIRPTA)5 - Lots of nuance at the state and local levels, which both want to take as much money from you as possibleMain takeaway here is that you should find a U.S. based tax person.

I think some min level of regulation benefits everyone, including wholesalers who currently operate in no man's land. 

Is it single level?

The loan is with you, not with your tenant, so none of that means anything to them - in fact because you live in one unit and it's under 4, if you were self-managing you don't even have to abide by fair housing laws (at least on the federal level). 

Centralize your back office / use remote employees / VA where appropriate to cut costs and improve service levels / responsiveness.  5.

And the idea is that folks that dont know any better assume your on another level or up there with real MLO's and NMLS registered lenders  like myself..

It really depends on your comfort level and long-term goals, but even if you want to get into multifamily long-term, SFR may be the best option to gain some comfortability.

On a more enterprise scale, I employ RevMax software as well as a fractional revenue manager who looks at the prices daily on a market level and a comp set level.