. — Is it typical for a lender to know or not know which one they use?

Typically, your partner would also have equity. 

Is it typical to pay the same minimums for small apartment buildings?

you are wasting your time. a typical newbie mistake/goal....

Typically you'll get an excel spreadsheet and it gives you an opportunity to see how the building is really performing.  

If you buy a minimum of about 30 apartment units you can afford a Property Management Company and save your self the daily operations and maintenance which s typically what you want with a W-2 job. 

Open houses are typically great, low pressure ways to get inside houses if you are only trying to get comfortable looking at properties.

I usually never recommend refinancing so high because you typically have PMI and a higher interest rate.

You will typically find rates across the board.

Well, typically a financing contingency, if it doesn’t specify a max rate, usually references “market rate”.