I've also got one property where I have talked to over a dozen lenders and I'm still debt shopping. - Find a mortgage broker and they will check with a bunch of different lenders.

I have an idea that could make you pocket you some quick dough in our tech driven info age:Develop an app for finding absentee owners using someone on Fiverr or some techie in India for cheapCall it something snazzy like "Absentee Owner Gold"Market it like crazy online and make it available on Google Play and the Apple Store and anywhere else applicable for a cheap price like $1.99 with no refunds Have customer support via email or phone only in some foreign country where english is a fourth languageTech/info driven real estate investors buy it in drovesThey open the app and a message pops up "knock on some of the neighbors doors"Frustrated customers call/email customer support and get further frustrated by the inability to communicate with foreign customer service whose english is a fourth language but they string the customer along anyway thus buying you time to make more salesKeep it up for as long as it takes to make 6 or 7 figures Close up shop and disappear

It is really a one stop shop for all things management.

One thing to keep in mind when shopping is your options.

My auto mechanic got a 50k price/estimate to get the site report and design for a 6 bay auto repair shop that he needs in order to get a price on building the property.

This shows me that a borrower is doing their homework and may be comparison shopping my rates and terms.  

Because of the time crunch, it sounds like that could be playing with fire and if you've "shopped," it might be best to take the terms, but look to get out of them as soon as you can.  

Do people shop between 2-5 banks and try to find the best rate or are they all the same and thus, not worth the time to shop around?

My wife had a lender that she frequently works with tell her to wait until the fall when the market slows down and shop around.

We have a section in my town that has some older homes with first floors rented out to insurance agents, barber shops, etc. and then the upstairs are rented to individuals to live in.My personal opinion is that as long as you are legally allowed to continue renting it out to live in, why change it.