What is the big deal about financing?

[Patricia Kovacs]

Greetings, BP community! I am a newbie buy/hold investor, in the process of closing on my first SFR. I plan to acquire a portfolio of properties for long term retirement purposes. To give you some background, my experience with mortgages in my lifetime is limited to 3 transactions (conventional) related to my past and present personal residences, as well as 1 refinance. Those 4 transactions were simple and uneventful - I searched on bankrate for the lowest rate, applied and closed.

What I don't understand is why I'm sensing so much trepidation from the various team members (brokers, settlement co, seller...) about which lender I'm going to use? I've been told that deals frequently fall through at the last minute if I don't use the right lender. How is buying a single family for investment purposes different (from a lending perspective)? The lender I selected for my first SFR is aware of why I am buying the house and has priced it accordingly. What am I not seeing here? Does anyone have any book recommendations to help me understand the ins and outs of financing for real estate investors?