I think instead of “tight”, the better term maybe “must follow guidelines”.

If you don’t fit in the box that they can sell your loan off to, you will have a tough time. Even if you are a multimillionaire, using the computer program conventional underwriting terms, you may not qualify (think Ben Bernanke…) unless you get a custom terms loan and some lenders won’t even bother with you.

If you are self employed, good luck…

When we bought in 2009, I pretty much told the lender guy how much did you need me to put down to get the loan? Some didn’t or won’t even work with us or spend the time of day at all. This is even if we came in with > 50% down.

It’s all pretty silly.

Seems like a good deal for anyone if you loan them 50%, they default, you just got the house for 50% off.