Community bank that keeps the loan

Easy to qualify for: Fair. The OCC's Comptroller's Handbook on Mortgage Banking states that banks have traditionally originated residential mortgage loans to hold in their own portfolios, and it separately instructs examiners to review the extent to which a bank's underwriting standards for loans it sells differ from its standards for loans it keeps in portfolio, noting that conforming loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac must comply with those agencies' loan size limits, terms and underwriting guidelines while a bank retaining a loan sets its own standard. A portfolio lender is not guaranteed to approve a borrower an automated underwriting system would decline, but its underwriting is not bound to agency guidelines the way a loan built for sale is, which is why this route exists for borrowers who do not fit a standard file. source↗ 2025