It was admittedly somewhat of a frustrating process and I got the impression that lenders purposefully make it challenging to remove and do the bare minimum to meet the federal guidelines for removal (very slow responses to PMI removal inquiries requiring multiple follow ups, incomplete or missing information on the process of removal or borrower rights, calculating LTV incorrectly, etc, etc).

Patrick,When you deal with a smaller lender or a broker they have tough guide lines and something called "overlays".

The guidelines are very strict and if they mess one up it could set you back months.

Fast forward two decades to California and Oregon and outside of my growing RE business and portfolio, my day to day interactions with mortgage guidelines and underwriters were limited.

Most homeowners policies have guidelines on the # of renters and other things related.

Do I need to provide SSN for a mortgage estimate.Thanks For a mortgage estimate, you do not need to provide an SSN. 3rd party broker is always the best since many direct lenders have different guidelines.

.#2  Have you read the guidelines for RE professional status.#3  Just based on what you post here I don't think you would qualify.https://www.landlordstudio.com/blog/real-estate-professional...but I guess it depends on how much of your time will be spent on real estate activities. 

We are also in talks with an elevator company (we have upstairs and basement bedrooms) because the FGI guidelines state it is required.

In regards to raising rents and keeping them, the max for raising rents is 10% unless particular town has rent control then you must follow those guide lines.

There are some restrictions on maximum combined loan to values and occupancy type for secondary and third lien positions that will need to meet lender guidelines.