They/you can't choose the carrier - their software assigns it.Fortegra is one of the carriers (paper in insurance parlance) that their product is written on.That said, Fortegra is A- rated I believe by AM Best so that isn't the issue.I'm going to take a guess and say that your umbrella is written with PersonalUmbrella.com (Markel) and they require all underlying insurance to be A-rated but also with an admitted carrier. 

Because of my savings and lack of expenses, I'm in a very comfortable position to make my first move, but because my income is mid, I'm unable to meet the Debt-to-Income requirements to qualify.

In your opion #2, would that require you to rent a home in Seattle?

If you ask the manager to justify a fee and he starts hemming and hawing, move on or require them to remove the fee.

The capital required for Denver, and limited cash flow makes it a tough market to get your next one.

Make sure to get legal advice on what you can and can’t do for bill back and what kind of notice period is required in your state. 

Just make sure you set up a LLC to rack up the required experience.

His name is Dalton Godson with Nexa Mortgage and we're using a UWM product.If you’ve found a lender willing to work with smaller loan amounts, what were their requirements and rates like?

What documents do they require, what credit scores do they allow, how do they verify previous rental history, etc.?

I make sure I screen each potential tenant thoroughly (background and credit checks) and require references.