Unfortunately, the main concept of the mortgage process, “to obtain a mortgage is not the same as to buy apples on the farmers market,” is misunderstood and neglected, not just by the public, but many real estate professionals as well.
Because of the complexity of the matter, for many people, the terms — loan approval and closing — remain a mysterious subject. I might exaggerate a bit here, but it is very common in the mortgage industry to play the guess games about loan approvals and closings at the time of loan application. One game by loan applicant — “Can I get it, or not?” or “Can you do it, or not?" and on the other end the guessing game by a loan officer. An experienced one might say “We will try, I can’t guarantee it." A big red flag, often said by a not-so-experienced loan officer is — “Sure, we’ll do it”.