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Original poster

Estate Agents wants proof of funds to buy property!

63 replies

Patsy10red · 22/02/2017 20:57

We have put in an offer on a property which has been accepted. The EA.,
who we have not yet met is a very patronising chap and seems to think that a woman should be baking and cleaning and not dealing with a house purchase. He has now asked for proof that the funds are in hand.

Am I legally obliged to comply with his request?

Having sold a property eighteen months ago we are in the fortunate position of being cash buyers. However, the funds are not in one account
but several so that if the banks/building societies fail we would not lose our funds.

When we sold our house we did not request proof of funds, we believed the buyer.

Am I just angry because of his condescending attitude?

Help!! Any advice and info will be much appreciated.

OP posts:
MaryPoppinsPenguins · 22/02/2017 21:19

I bought 9 months ago and am buying again now and we had to prove the funds both times with the offer.

Lunenburg · 22/02/2017 21:20

How do you provide this evidence without disclosing Account Numbers etc?

I would be very nervous showing a complete stranger details of Bank Account(s) containng large amounts of money.

Surely that is an enormous security risk !!

BillyButtfuck · 22/02/2017 21:20

And when you sold your house if it was through an agent, they would have seen proof of funds - they obviously aren't shared with vendors due to data protection but most agents will say they have seen them, or it's assumed in most cases.
You aren't legally obliged to but plenty of agents and vendors won't entertain offers
which aren't financially verified.

wowfudge · 22/02/2017 21:21

What is someone going to do with your bank account number? Without the other info that goes with it, the most they can do is pay money into it, surely?

BillyButtfuck · 22/02/2017 21:21

Lunen you could cover over account details and photo copy/ scan. As long as it has name and address.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 22/02/2017 21:24

It's not just cash buyers who have to provide evidence they can honour their offer. First time buyers would take their decision in principle from the mortgage lender in with their proof of deposit funds.

Redglitter · 22/02/2017 21:25

You don't need to show a bank statement my bank are providing me with a letter

ohidoliketobe · 22/02/2017 21:28

Totally normal.

Part way through a sale/ purchase myself. Estate agents dealing with my sale won't/ wouldn't even let people view without proof of funds/ mortgage in principle. When I made an offer on the house were buying, I had to present mortgage in principle to the estate agent before they would send me the sale memo when it was accepted.

It's seriously not personal. Purely to prevent time wasting for viewings or allowing sales to get to a certain point and then chain be broken due to people not being accepted for mortgage. Is something else bothering you to get this reaction

Elledouble · 22/02/2017 21:30

We had to show proof. We also had to provide a letter from my dad to prove that the money he'd transferred me was in fact my money - a bequest he'd invested and held on to for me from years ago. So that they know it's not a loan that's going to affect our ability to repay our mortgage.

ohidoliketobe · 22/02/2017 21:30

Surely that is an enormous security risk !!

Estate agents look after multiple sets of house keys for viewings. If they were remotely that way inclined they could have a field day rummaging through people's personal possessions.

flippychick · 22/02/2017 21:30

We're buying at the moment. The EA hasn't asked for proof of funds, but obviously the solicitor and mortgage provider have.

My frustration is that all correspondence from both the EA and solicitor has been addressed to 'my partner's name + miss flippychick' (we're not married and have different surnames) despite the fact that:
a) I have organised everything, they have never spoken to my partner
b) My name has been first on all forms and letters
c) Our deposit is sitting in an account in my name
d) I am the main earner
The mortgage provider have been addressing to 'miss flippychick and my partners name'. I haven't been able to work out if the estate agents and solicitors are just using archaic etiquette or if it's sexism, but it's been winding me up

VacantExpression · 22/02/2017 21:36

Surely its no more of a risk than writing someone a cheque? And you're showing an estate agent you trust to handle the purchase of a property, not putting it on the front page of a newspaper.

43percentburnt · 22/02/2017 21:36

www.propertymark.co.uk/working-in-the-industry/member-requirements/money-laundering-regulations/

This link mentions the fines estate agents have incurred for failing to fulfil money laundering regs.

The agent is doing his job properly by obtaining proof.

43percentburnt · 22/02/2017 21:46

Regarding security imo The biggest risk is not checking a potential buyer has cash/mortgage agreed prior to a viewing not giving the estate agent a copy of your bank statement. Anyone could say 'I have cash'.

I don't fancy a random stranger wandering around my home figuring out entry/exits, where burglar alarm sensors and my valuables are. Yes a burglar may provide an agreement in principle or a cash statement but it's a lot of effort for them.

Its a shame agents normally only request proof at the point of offer not prior to viewing.

SquinkiesRule · 22/02/2017 21:58

Our conveyancing solicitor had all the proof of cash for us, we told the EA that the solicitor had our proof and he could ask him if he wanted proof we were cash buyers. He never asked again.

MissDuke · 22/02/2017 22:05

We have a cash buyer buying ours and the EA requested proof of her money being available prior to marking our house as sale agreed. She brought it in the very next morning. We just made an offer on another property and were asked to show them our mortgage AIP. Definitely normal!

MissDuke · 22/02/2017 22:06

43 I genuinely never thought of that!

specialsubject · 22/02/2017 22:10

The proof of finance is to show you aren't a timewaster who will cost others money.

May be worth being a little bit less over sensitive.

Bluntness100 · 22/02/2017 22:13

We bought s couple of years ago, predominantly a cash buy with small mortgage on top and yes we provided proof of funds to our solicitor who I assume then either provided to the sellers solicitor or the estate agent. It's nothing to do with the fact you think he's an arsehole. You can provide to your solicitor if you prefer.

micah · 22/02/2017 22:13

I wish our EA had been that thorough £10k do do what, exactly?

As it turns out they didn't have the funds readily available, and on the day of exchange informed us that they only had 3% deposit, not the usual 10%, as had been agreed and contracts drawn up for.

EA just shrugged and said 'well we didn't know either", despite presenting them as buyers needing to be in ASAP it took 5 months ffs I thought it was what I was paying them for, to check this sort of stuff.

I'd have found another buyer had I known they were going to pull that stunt.

Nyancat · 22/02/2017 22:18

I would be cautious about if you have cash funds significantly in excess of your offer I don't know if I would trust them not to use that information to try and put pressure on you to increase your offer. On the other hand the way round that is to be very firm at sticking to your offer and refusing to go any higher. Or alternatively provide to your solicitor and they can confirm to EA

OhTheRoses · 22/02/2017 22:20

We've paid cash for the last two houses and both times our word has been taken. I think the agents' words were "are you being serious you don't need a mortgage for this property". Mine "yes, really - we've sold through Savills the last couple of times - do you want to give them a call. Oh, and do you want me to get the bank to write to you?". Estate agent - would you mind, for the sake of due diligence. I know they phoned Savills, agent told me he enjoyed the call but was cagey so they didn't steam in for an increased offer. These things work two ways.

NoShitShylock · 22/02/2017 22:22

Completely normal - the estate agent works on behalf of the vendor and in checking your funds verifies your position and this protects their vendor.

m0therofdragons · 22/02/2017 22:25

We had to prove funds 10 years ago. Completely normal and makes total sense.

Equimum · 22/02/2017 22:38

We have just accepted an offer in our house and placed an offer on another. The morning after we verbally accepted an offer, our EA called to say that he had spoken to the buyers FA and they had confirmed that they should be able to get the mortgage. Similarly, the morning after we had our offer accepted, we had an email confirming the offer had been accepted, and stating that the EA had consulted with our FA that we already had a mortgage in principle that would cover the cost of the house.