Loans above $697K in San Diego county are not bought by F/F. There are no standard guidelines for lenders that do them.
I rarely do them, rates are higher and it’s harder to qualify. Like commercial loans, hard to get long term fixed, usually ARMS. The guidelines vary lender to lender.
Often at least 25%-35% down is required.
I’ll post something later…

Up to $697K, F/F have base guidelines. Each wholesale lender adds additional layers of what they will allow. They are all petrified of loan buybacks. If a lender has to buy back a loan from F/F they are stuck with owning it and either service it or resell it at a discount, and lose a chunk of money.

For self employed, most lenders today require 2 years FILED tax returns with transcripts that are accessible from the IRS. If an extension was filed OR 2009 return was filed in April, it isn’t available yet. Need 2007-2008 returns for most.
I do have a lender that will consider ONE year tax return, which opens doors for many that get turned down elsewhere.

It’s not all cookie cutter like many people think and the spread in pricing from lender to lender is HUGE on the exact same loans.

Some lenders have fast service, but their pricing is terrible. Lender with great rates above >$417K may not be good below $417K.

Having an impound account may still get the best pricing. So many variables, but many people just don’t qualify in which case the rates don’t matter.