My first house was a cookie-cutter track home and it has had numerous problems despite my paying entirely too much.

He then goes on to talk himself out of THAT because his mom had a bad time owning houses.This is a guy who spent years watching his mom landlord, spending 5 years in his 20s as a loan officer (I'm guessing broker), and now drives big rigs for our employer)I'm honestly just wondering how common such a specific excuse like this is, and why someone wouldnt be open to ideas that give him exactly what he's looking for?

The game is, and always has been, rigged.

However, if this was a more cookie-cutter non-jumbo SFH w/ say 25% down then 4.875 is too high in today's market.  

Slides are nice, but I actually prefer a circular saw for that stuff.For nail guns and compressor I have been loving my Porter Cable pancake rig.