Banks' Sudden Need for Perfection is Buyer's Worst Nightmare

So my loan has been confirmed and approved, leaving only closing for things to go terribly wrong. I know, my optimism is infectious. This editorial in Fortune pretty much sums up everything I've learned about the current state of the banking industry. As I read this, I couldn't help thinking about all of the extra crap that they had to verify. The IRS wouldn't send my bank my prior tax transcripts, but they wouldn't accept the copies that the IRS faxed to me. So after a few efforts, I spent 2 hours on the phone with the IRS getting them to send my fax to my underwriter who already had the identical document. The IRS made me confirm that I was the one receiving the fax, so my bank essentially forced me to lie to the IRS. That is in addition to the fact that I didn't know I wasn't supposed to transfer money between my accounts, and that resulted in 5 additional forms having to be filled out, signed, and returned. All while my days to secure my loan were decreasing rapidly, and after having to extend the loan commitment date once. Thankfully, they confirmed my loan at 2:21pm (it was due at 5pm).

In the past, banks were always learning ways to push things through. Now, they not only make you dot the i's and cross the t's, but they also want you to cross the f's, dot the lower case j's, and put the slash in the capital Q so that we know that it's not an O. Proceed carefully and extraordinarily well-prepared if you're thinking about purchasing a home.