Yea wow the underwriters are getting picky. We recently bought with a mortgage, and they kept asking about two things that were hilarious from my end:

- transactions between my own accounts to put enough in one place for down payment (this despite sending them transaction records from both sides multiple times)

- the fact that my dad and I co-purchased a condo in the Midwest for 100k in cash. They kept asking for docs on the mortgage for that when there wasn't ever a mortgage. Idk how they wanted me to prove something that never existed. Finally got our insurance agent to call them up on the phone and explain, "yes real estate prices in flyover really are that cheap; no there never was a mortgage; no, that means there's no other bank to talk to"

Really frustrating process when they keep asking for stuff that doesn't exist. The loan officer at the bank that I was working with was similarly frustrated with their own underwriters.

Underwriters are difficult because every day people are trying to pull a fast one on them and it's their job on the line if there is fraud and the mortgage gets bought back.

Source: Father and step mother are contract underwriters.

In these cases I often wonder if there is a piece of software (or three) to blame. When someone's role is tied to a form requires them to pick an option, and gives no free-text alternative, this creates a recipe for making mindless, illogical demands. But in truth, it's not the underwriter, really: it's the underwriter parroting their bad software that is making mindless, illogical demands. (And the manager who gives instructions like, "Just fill out the form. No, I don't want to hear about exceptions. The form has worked for 15 years, why are you so special?")

That wouldn't surprise me at all.

Similar experience. When we were buying our first house, I sort of envisioned just walking into a bank, exuding the aura of "looking for a mortgage", and the bankers would tackle me into the ground with quotes. But instead we had to fight just to get the time of day from a banker. Even SchoolsFirst, well regarded for its customer service, gave us hassle just getting basic info. Getting actual quotes was, as you say, quite tedious. Lots of questions and documentation. We were smart and had our bank accounts in order, but still had to produce a couple weird documents anyway for them.

On top of that, real estate agents and sellers have gotten picky too. Most real estate agents we found wouldn't talk to us unless we had a mortgage lined up already.

The housing bubble burned _everyone_, and now I feel the market has spun the other way in its paranoia. That's perhaps a good thing.