It's hard to enforce rules when there is an additional emotional connection.

Looking back I think as long as you have enough units to justify it...

Can’t justify that price until we know the basics. 

My loan officer hasn't told me the exact rule, but essentially they are asking whether I bought the house with cash or with credit.

So even hard  money or private lenders wold be hesitant to loan without an appraisal to justify the value. 

Any thoughts you might have on navigating that I would appreciate.I am just a bit stunned a the hard '4 property' rule for how I was expecting to exploit the equity, but then I realize that most lenders do not even offer this product.Followup - it does seem that Wells will do this, but at a 60% LTV only. 

@Thomas Cottrell welcome and if you presently live in Wichita have you ruled out investing there?

They have much more units so I'm not expecting my taxes to go that high but is there a rule for this on how much it would increase?

In WI the standard contract is the WB-11.#3 USPAP (Uniform Standards of the Professional Appraisal Practice) is the rule book which all appraisers must follow.

The IRS is specific that this rule applies if two conditions are met, it must be used for personal as a residence and rented less than 15 days.