Barring any more surprises, Melanie will move into her dream home on September 1, 1998.  For a while though, she never thought this would happen.
Melanie had been caring for her grandmother for the last seven years.  She cooked for her, cleaned for her, bathed her, grocery shopped for her, drove her here and there, all out of love for Granny.  It did not go unnoticed.  Whenever Melanie needed spending money, she didn't even have to ask.  She had signing authority on Granny's accounts.  Melanie did not work, per say, her job was Granny.  Last February, Granny died and left what she could to Melanie, some $85,000.
Melanie liked so much what she did for Granny, that she is looking for employment in the same field, care for the aged!  In the meantime, she wants to put down $50,000 on her dream home.  The asking price is $140,000.  She is willing to pledge a whole year of mortgage payments ahead of time, and continue making the monthly mortgage payments anyway, realizing that she doesn't have a job.  She feels that having $35,000 in reserve (that's $85,000 less $50,000 down payment) should be enough comfort for her bank to approve the mortgage.  Her loan officer agreed with her but convinced her to put aside with the Bank the amount necessary to service the debt (inclusive of property taxes) for a whole year, some $10,000.  She is wiling to do just that.  The loan's officer approves the deal & she goes shopping for the house.  He had told her that the mortgage would likely be for $90,000 (that's $140,000 purchase price less the down payment of $50,000) at 6.95% for a five-year term, amortized over 25 years.  The payments for principal & interest would be $628 per month, plus property taxes of $2500 per year.  He told her to expect to prepay property taxes for the balance of 1998, and to set aside $100 per month to pay for heat and light.  He warned her that fire insurance would be necessary and suggested that a pre-purchase inspection would be a great idea.  My, wasn't he nice!
He was to call her the next day with the good news.  The call never came.  She didn't worry about it, he would not have gone into so much detail if there was going to be a problem, right?

She orders the pre-purchase inspection and likes the results.  Her Realtor asks about a financing

condition, she doesn't think she needs one but to be on the safe side, the Realtor calls the loan's officer who reiterates that there will be a mortgage for Melanie when she is ready.  The Realtor waives the financing condition.  Melanie starts to pack.
Two weeks later, the loan's officer's assistant calls up and drops the bomb.  The loan application requires a guarantor with proven income of at least $35,000 per year.  Once she picked herself off the floor, in a panic, she called the Realtor to let him know what happened.  The Realtor picks up the phone to give the loan's officer a blast, only to be told to mind his own business.  He calls the Manager of the Bank who goes over the file and agrees with the decision that a guarantor is required, even though his loan's officer allowed the waiving of the financing condition.  Melanie is having nightmares.  The Realtor has me call her.
I took down all the information and knew straight away that a "normal" lender would not do what Melanie wanted.  All normal lenders go by debt service ratios, which of course means that the applicant must have a job; although theoretically speaking, anybody can be laid off a blink of an eye.  The fact that Melanie had oodles of money in the Bank showed no compromise from her Banker.
I went directly to an "equity" lender and got the deal approved instantaneously.  The pricing was a little more expensive that what Melanie had been told by her Banker, of course she had heard numerous things from him.  She would live with the 7.45% rate and a fee of $1000.
The equity lender lives up to its name.  This type of institution only cares about the quality of the property and the amount of the loan versus the value of the property.  The higher the loan to value, the higher the rate.  The property location should also be favourable toward disposal, if something goes wrong.  At the first sign of trouble, the lender applies to terminate the agreement and sell the property.
Do not waive your financing condition until you are absolutely certain that the lender has given you a written commitment to fund your mortgage without any other conditions.  No matter what the person behind the counter says, get it in writing.  Melanie gets her property but has aged immeasurably due to stress.  Tranquillity may now set in.