That is an amazing question that I wish more people would ask!
we are not traditional lenders. We are a hard money equity lenders so my take on this would be different than a mortgage company.
I want an actual deal to look over, I am not interested in anything hypothetical so when someone comes to me, I would like them to have an address in mind that we can discuss the price in terms. This property coming to us with a few pictures makes it a lot easier and I'm OK with pulling my own comparables.
I want the individual to just be transparent and have their exit strategy in place for me with a quick snapshot of their situation.
From there, it's pretty easy to get going and get everything funded.
Now, if I'm going to answer as a traditional bank, they're going to want to see a tri merged credit report, financial statement/1003 form, pay stubs, tax returns, W-2, first born's blood type lol you get the point.
it all just depends on who you're going to. But in the investment world, I would say beginning with the deal and an explanation is the quickest easiest way hopefully that helped.