Really frustrated with the EA.

[mrsnec]

bit of background, desperate to sell. Swallowed a 45k loss on doing up a property. It's value is about 120k. It's now on the market for offers over 90, we owe 85 on it.

7 sales have fallen through. The last one because the buyers couldn't get a mortgage.

Agents just bullied us into accepting an offer of 87. We've asked again to check out their credentials but it turned out they haven't got an aip either. Apparently 87k is their absolute maximum yet they have a deposit of 50k? If they have a 50k deposit and no aip how is 87 their maximum? The agent knows we'd have to borrow to cover fees at that level and didn't push for more and why are they getting us to accept offers from people without funds in place is this the norm?

We've said we're not taking it off the market until they have their aip.

With the last lot, that bit took 5 weeks and in that time the agent had put a sold board up and we had loads of cancelled viewings ad they forgot to take it down. We're not in the UK and are having to rely on friends keeping an eye on the place.

We've already sacked 2 other agents for being incompetent!

I totally empathise. We are in exactly the same position - offer accepted a while ago and the purchaser doesn't have a mortgage agreed at all. We're now close to losing the house we want to buy because it's all taking so long!

Nightmare timpani, we don't have that problem as we had to move ages ago to suit a buyer we lost. It worked out ok in the end as we now live in our inlaws investment property and made the mistake of telling the ea our circumstances which means buyers can do whatever they like as there is no chain. My dh is suffering terrible anxiety over it all and its causing a lot of friction between us.

The agents are certainly not working for us in our case and I get sick of reading that on here.

I really hope you don't lose that house you love and that everything works out for you.

Anyone else have experience of this? When we bought the house we couldn't even view it without an aip so I'm just wondering how anyone can make an offer these days regardless of their financial position?

I would be worried as there is now this "affordability test" which is holding up mortgage applications. I have heard that there is no such thing now as an AIP, you can only apply for a mortgage once you know what house you are buying.
Your buyer should however be able to apply for a mortgage, however as I have said there are huge delays with mortgage applications at the moment, they are taking weeks to complete. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Not a problem Have, you were just confirming what I already knew. We have heard about the affordability test. The fact that these buyers have a 50k deposit and are only being mortgaged for 37 is quite irrelevant imo.and doesn't mean they'll be processed any quicker.I won't be celebrating until we exchange contracts and that's a long way off. The ea thinks we should be celebrating just because the buyers got an appointment with the bank to discuss it!

We're still keeping it on the market for now is that the best thing to do?

An aip doesn't take that long, unless there's a reason why you can't get one! It took me four days to get an appointment (that suited me) and I was given one there and then (without my husband, although would point out we'd previously had a joint mortgage with the same company).

We had to wait for an aip on our sale and agents still showed people around our property until we knew an aip was available. If agents insist on putting up a sold board again, then you insist you want an aip in a certain timescale. Also, that the agent makes a note of anyone who has enquired about your property in the meantime and contacts them if it falls through.

Yes, I would keep it on the market if I were you.

Due to the banks changing the mortgage affordability testing, many lenders will now only give an agreement to a specific property. The banks can take quite along time to get an agreement to a buyer and even longer to get loan papers issued. Virgin, Clydesdale, HSBC, Accord and Barclays are particularly slow.

and why are you letting your agent bully you into accepting an offer? Stand up to them. Tell them to go back and do their job and get an acceptable offer.

Gosh, I'm on the other side of this situation so you're giving me a real insight to how the vendor must be feeling. Perhaps my side as a buyer might help?

Tuesday I get an email from an EA telling me about a house that has dropped its asking price by 30k to 250k. I tell them we'd rather wait to view it after we've seen our Mortgage Advisor next week (the earliest we could see her) and get our AIP first but the EA was v v keen to have us see it ASAP. So we see it Wednesday. Love it. We say we'll make an offer after seeing the MA. The EA is again keen for us to offer ASAP. So yesterday we make an offer but say that it is of course contingent on getting an AIP next week (we have a v big deposit and looks likely we'll easily get it but with the new rules you can't be sure). The EA says they'll pass it on but asks us to come in to qualify our offer (and probably try to sell us their mortgage services). I didn't think we'd get an answer until after that but today, they call to say the vendor has accepted our offer assuming the finances are checked. They'll not take any more viewings but of course someone who's seen it could make a higher offer.

Hearing your side makes me think that the EA has been pushing the vendor hard to accept our offer - perhaps they're near the end of the contract?

Thanks everyone. I know the buyers are using tsb for their mortgage. Don't know why the ea. Thought we needed to know that. We accepted the offer because my dh is worried we won't get another one. He is so desperate to sell it we were even considering going into ne to get rid.

The house does have a history but it's all been put right and we have got the right paperwork and the price reflects all this.

Missmysttic, your theory has crossed my mind. There is no end to our contact but I know with so many failed sales ( most of those due to buyers finance) they must be desperate to offload. We are considering mystery shopping them to find out how they are marketing the place. In the process of finding someone to do it though as we're abroad and don't know many people with local accents so dh thinks it'll be obvious what we're doing and the ea will guess and get annoyed. The house is in the Black Country. We all have very strong southern accents. The only reason we haven't sacked this agent was the other 2 we had weren't even getting us viewings and had no local knowledge.