Well, I was conflating two things for simplicity’s sake. They care that the down payment came from legitimate savings with a documented history, to ensure it’s

Well, I was conflating two things for simplicity’s sake. They care that the down payment came from legitimate savings with a documented history, to ensure it’s not from another loan they’re not aware of. And they care that your reported income is stable (you’re reliably employed with a reasonably predictable income stream) so they can reasonably expect you’ll continue to be able to make monthly payments.