The mortgage business has gone from lending money to anyone that has a pulse to scrutinizing absolutely every little thing when a buyer’s application is submitted for approval.  This isn’t all bad, it’s just that the buyers have to be absolutely squeaky clean with no unanswered questions in order to get a mortgage today.  I’m told from some of the lenders that the underwriters (the final decision makers) have huge authority to approve or reject a loan today.  The lenders are frustrated in that the rules for RD and FHA loans are continually changing and what the lender tells a potential home buyer today may not be true next week.  All this will hopefully settle down (hopefully sooner rather than later) so that we and the lenders will know that when we give information to buyers, that information won’t change.