Six months mortgage reserves required?

[Bill Baldwin]

Hey all - question on necessary reserves when applying for a loan through a US bank. I'm currently working on closing my second US property, first time financing through a bank. They just mentioned that I need to show proof of at least 6 months reserves to cover all of my loan payments globally. I have enought to cover but this is a pretty significant number - and if this is always the case its going to really impede my ability to take out investment property loans again anytime soon.

My question is, is this a general requirement or bank specific. I don't want to get it to a conarration on the merit of adequate reserves, just want to understand general requirements. I've taken out 3 very sizable loans in Japan and the question of requires reserves has never come up. 

[Chris Mason]

This is a general requirement. 

Fiscally conservative people generally have 401ks or IRAs to cover it.

BPers are not fiscally conservative.