I decided to 'hedge my bets' while financing my house. I applied for mortgages with a very highly recommended local direct lender, and Chase bank, a bank that I've had a long, great relationship with.
I'm sitting here today 100% ready to go with the local lender, and in disarray with Chase.
It's been somewhat of a rollercoaster back and forth between these two - almost like dating two women at the same time. During most of the process, I was 100% sure I wanted to go with Chase. They were super quick with their responses (when they wanted to be), and even suggested that I close early. My local lender was "Slow and Steady..." They didn't communicate much, but told me that their silence meant that everything was going fine.
That was until today.
I'm scheduled to close just over a week from now, October 19th. I got my 4th conditions letter from Chase in that many weeks...yes, I've gotten 4 different conditoin letters, and each one has added things, taken them away, and change them. Make no mistake...I don't have a complicated credit profile. They were for stupid things, like explaining an 'alias' (my middle name vs. my middle initial on my credit report, etc.).
The most recent one takes the cake, however. They said that based on my appraisal, they want a contractor to inspect the property and certify that it is safe to be occupied. This is based on very minor water in a 2,400 square foot unfinished basement, equpted with a sump pump. I wouldn't be quite as annoyed if they hadn't been sitting on the appraisal for 3 weeks, and not waited until 5 business days before closing to request this.
I guess this makes things easy for me. I almost felt bad withdrawing my application from Chase, being that they had already put in time and effort. Oh well.
I guess the moral of this story is that local lenders know their stuff and what it takes to close. My local LO sits 25 feet away from the underwriter, while I'm pretty sure the ones in Chase are in different time zones.
As annoyed as I am, I'm also happy to be free and clear to close with the local lender a week from Monday 
. The ironic thing is, my LO told me they will amost certaintly sell my loan to Chase, as they are their primary investor!
^^^^I believe you 100% Congratulations on getting your approval and for having the foresight to make an application with a local lender!
For Chase to bring up the property condition issues last minute is irresponsible. I am guessing that the loan you seek is FHA, could be conventional, but FHA or VA or USDA are much more likely to bring up a condition issue in the appraisal.
You were absolutly right to go with the local lender. Can you imagine where you would be if you had put only one mortgage application in and it was to Chase???? 
From a recent article I saw Chase is doing whatever they can to NOT originate FHA loans. Their CEO says its too risky (paraphrased). Here is a direct quote of how much Chase is reducing their FHA originations (across the country) with the entire article link so you can read more if you are interested:
In the second quarter, JPMorgan Chase originated just 340 FHA loans, compared with 19,111 FHA loans in the second quarter of 2013. Meanwhile, the bank's overall home lending business is booming. JPMorgan originated $29.3 billion of home loans in the second quarter, up 74% from a year earlier.
