However, I feel that this is IDENTICAL across the board for any and all loan types including conventional AND government financing, most recently with the implementation of TILA, MDIA, and HVCC. My HOPE, though, is that a majority of the readers here already knew that.

That being said, I feel that the biggest mistake that anyone can make in a market like today's, is to generalize it and assume that what is true for one particular buyer, or property or financing type, is also true for another similar buyer, for a similar property, and a similar financing type (because it isn't and couldn't be any further from the truth).

In today's market, the devil is truly in the details, and it's really not only up to the mortgage planner, but also the entire team agents and attorneys, both on the buyer AND seller sides, to properly and completely dissect and pre-qualify the scenario, and minimize any chances for a deal with a contract to fall out, so that the transaction is seen through all the way to the end.

Furthermore, it's also important to manage the expectations properly of everyone else that's involved with the process, so that everyone equally understands that no one borrower is excluded from the current leveled (or leveraged in the lender's favor) market, and that the file can die at any moment.

While usually I would never take in a file that I feel didn't have a puncher's chance of closing, I also make it a point to let everyone know that it doesn't take the lender a “good” reason to deny a loan, but that all it takes is one “bad” reason.

And so for me, in the end, it matters not what type of financing is being applied for, but rather the amount of time put into the early stages of the application and pre-qual process (ideally prior to any contracts being submitted), that determines the success ratio of a loan approving and funding, versus it being suspended or denied.