EA asking for proof of deposit

[goingonabearhunt1]

We have had an offer accepted on a house and now the EA is asking for proof of deposit.

Just wondered, is it normal to provide bank statements etc. to an EA? I haven't been asked asked this previously. I get that they need to check you are proceedable but last time all I had to provide was the Decision in Principle and ID.

[originalnutella]

Yes totally normal especially if it is a competitive market. I provided DIP, ID and proof of funds for all houses I have bought.

[AnalyticalChick]

I would try to be selective about what you show them, if you have more funds than you would like to reveal. You don't want them trying to squeeze more money out of you having seen your bank accounts. Revealing your financial affairs can risk getting shaken down by an EA for every last penny.

[Lilmisskittykat]

It doesn't sit comfortably with me. I don't see why they need to know the ins and outs of your finances. I certainly didn't have to show them the first time with bought a house.

From my experience I just don't trust them one bit - they aren't working for me but for the seller.

[originalnutella]

Forgot to say you can just put black marker over all the other bits of info - print your statement, black out everything apart from the deposit funds and then scan it in.

[goingonabearhunt1]

that's kind of my thought too lilmiss, they're not working on my behalf (unlike the mortgage broker and solicitor) so it just seems a bit much. but then again, it seems to be quite normal now and i do want the house so guess i will just have to send it.

[bellsbuss]

Had this for the first time 3 years ago, we told them it was coming from the sale of the property we were moving from. They then asked for a current mortgage statement, I asked why and was told that they had had a few people wasting their time making offers on houses they couldn't afford. They gave me an example of a couple who had a combined income of 40k , 10k deposit who had made and had accepted an offer of 425k on a house. The couple believed that this was enough to make the purchase , it wasn't until further down the line that it came to light and the house had to go back on the market

[ViserionTheDragon]

Yes it is, we had to do this on our house purchase earlier this year.

[LittleBLUEsmurfHouse]

Yes. You can black out everything but essential info. They would be failing the seller if they didn't - there are some right dicks out there who offer but don't have funds / enough of a deposit for what their decision in principle says they can borrow.

[Disfordarkchocolate]

Had to do this 2 years ago. I wasn't very comfortable doing it but it's standard practice now.

[Quartz2208]

If it helps whilst they are not working for you they are working for the people you are buying from and making sure you are a buyer who can proceed

[Polly2345]

We had to show our solicitor this. The solicitor then confirmed it with the EA without showing them any of our paperwork - just verbally confirmed it I think.

[Lilmisskittykat]

I think via a solicitor is totally acceptable

[Motherof3Dragons]

Hi, yes, it’s basically to show you are proceedable. We provided our AIP and proof of 10% deposit of purchase price along with our offer. It was accepted. If your accounts show more than the needed deposit, you could get your solicitor to write a note that you can afford the purchase price.

[AnalyticalChick]

@Motherof3Dragons Yes, I think that is the best thing to do if you have more than the 10% deposit. Get your solicitor to to confirm you have the deposit. Otherwise, the EA and sellers may start playing games with you to try to get their hands on any extra you have shown them you have.

[BrickByBrick]

Yes we had to. There was then no 'squeezing' us for more money.

It was the mortgage company that wanted an account of every penny even though it wasn't needed to proceed.

[steve008]

There will be a legal responsibility for the EA to have evidence of where the funds are coming from under money laundering regulations in addition to what others have said about providing the best service to the seller. This evidence can come directly from the buyer or be provided by solicitor/mortgage broker.

Believe me, estate agents will very rarely be concerned with squeezing a little extra from buyers if the seller has already accepted an offer. They will pretty much have already forgot about this sale and moved on to the next one already.