the lender's quotes. Suddenly you are no longer a price-checker. You have elevated yourself into the client_ category.  The lender begins to think he might have a deal, so his attitude changes and everything is different. You are now past the Abbreviated portion and into the Descriptive approach. Maybe he's not yet Mother Teresa, but he's sliding away from Voldemort. Do you remember when your mother used to lovingly give you the benefit of her experience? This was before you started wearing prom dresses. You knew she'd be in the kitchen when you got home from school so you went there straightaway. The air was redolent with fresh baking. She'd sit down with you as you were having your cold milk and still-warm-from-the-oven cookie with the M & M smiley face, and tell you how it was when she was growing up, how she handled the little problem you were having. Then she'd kiss you on the forehead. That's the Descriptive approach. You can tell when the lender's being Descriptive:  he gazes upon you with soft eyes and vows to protect your mutual interests by requiring the seller to prove every element of value to your mutual satisfaction. The lender thus brings institutional memory to the transaction. That's important. I mean, maybe you've done one or two similar transactions before, but the lender's institution has done thousands and all the data is available in their computers. That resource, the lender's institutional memory, should be indispensible to the confidence you have