Exactly this. The MPRs are just surface-level checks: - No holes in the roof? Good enough. - Heat works? Check. - No exposed wires? Move along. But ...

Lender flags can be a real curveball. I’ve had one balk at an old electrical panel—never even crossed my mind until the inspector pointed it out. Here...

Had a similar runaround last year—first lender nitpicked my visa dates, second one just wanted to see paystubs and a fat down payment. It’s honestly a...

Honestly, I haven’t seen much of a speed difference—small banks and credit unions still have to jump through the same regulatory hoops. The only real ...

Couldn’t agree more about reliability over just numbers. Here’s what I’ve learned after a few rounds of this: - Lowest rate? Sure, it looks good, but...

- Gotta admit, I’ve watched a couple friends get burned thinking they’d flip a place before that balloon payment came due. Sometimes you’re the windsh...

I get the frustration, but sometimes those “flags” end up causing even more delays. Once my escrow got held up for weeks because an “alert” needed man...

- Pre-approval is helpful, sure, but I've seen plenty of cases where sellers just want the simplest deal possible. - Had a neighbor once who skipped a...

Yep, totally agree. But I'd say expect at least two or three curveballs, honestly...there's always something. When we refinanced, the lender randomly ...

Good point about padding the budget, but honestly, I found it more helpful to set aside a separate emergency fund rather than inflating my monthly exp...