I hope you get to see the power of BP by checking out the different forum categories with tons of educational threads, by reading the guides under "Education," and definitely the books.

So you can use this trick OR the "shove all debt possible into the low-wage-earning spouse's name so one spouse's pre-mortgage DTI is 75% but the other one is at 8%," but not both.Make sure your lender is drilling down with you on your post-batch-refi DTI will be and giving you an idea of what you and your wife's purchasing power will be after the fact.

Work with a mortgage broker to understand your borrowing power. 

The house price is certainly higher than the median but thats right in the power alley for a very large group of buyers.

I had to round up all kinds of evidence like power company records (showing two meters and two addresses to bill), testimonials from neighbors who have been there a long time indicating there has always been "TWO FRONT DOORS", county property tax records showing how it has always been billed, floor plans showing back to back kitchens on either side of the kitchen wall, and pictures in the attic showing the common DWV for both is in cast iron which was typical back in the days of original construction, as well as two electrical panels and showing pictures of EMT conduits coming up from both in the attic indicating again the wiring was done back in the days when EMT was common practice. 

I hate trimming with an under powered tool.  

Plus, it's only as "cheap" as it is right now because there's a glut of Chinese power plants not doing anything else.

Can anyone provide a real-world scenario to show how this would affect someone's buying power (old financing vs. new)?

Of course, I have mentors and contacts to answer these questions if need be but I know the power of community and that there will be others with similar questions.

Dustin Kooy you may have negotiating power with that many but typically what you’re describing is standard from what I’ve seen.