The reason for the threshold is so that you protect the tenants from being too optimistic and wanting to rent a place that they cannot really afford. 

is there a reason for it in multi family?

I personally don't do partnerships for this very reason.

The house came with a grandfathered short-term rental license, which was the only reason we jumped at it.

That is not uncommon when paying something online there is usually a "service fee" for just that reason.

They will spell out what they need to see in the deal and your personal finances in order to make it happen.If for some reason you dont have the cash reserves the banks like to see to do multifamily, then go do some flips to generate some cash!

I don't see any reason to believe that it will be any different around Arlington.

@Stephen Sparks as long as your debt-to-income ratio is reasonable and you aren't delinquent in any of the outstanding loans, you should be good.

Closing is set for early December, but lender sees no reason we can’t close before Thanksgiving since we were all set with paperwork and every request for further documentation we jumped on within 24 hours.

You might try looking at smaller schools or in the mid-west where prices tend to be more reasonable.