EA pushing us into using their mortgage advisor

[TheGratefulFred]

Me and my DH are first time buyers. We’ve seen an independent mortgage advisor, got some great advice and a mortgage agreement in principle. We’ve found a property we love and have put in an offer. EA asked for proof of our affordability - AIP and proof of our deposit savings, which I sent to them. Apparently it’s between us and one other interested buyer (no idea if that’s bollocks, but anyhow).

I got a call from the EA this week saying that the only thing that made our offer look “weak” was the fact we haven’t seen their financial advisor for mortgage advice. That we are less likely to have our offer accepted unless we meet with them, as it shows we’re not as serious about our offer.

This has made me really angry. We have proven we are financially able and have the funds ready. I understand EAs are businesses and need to promote their services, but I’m quite annoyed that they are basically heavily implying that we won’t get the property unless we see their advisor. Surely this is some kind of blackmail?! I don’t want to see their advisor - the fee is double the price we’re paying ours, and as I said we’re very happy with our advisor.

Is this normal practice for EAs? I’m worried that if there is another buyer who has used their services, they will promote them to the seller even though we have put in a good offer and clearly have the funds ready.

Basically I want you all to reassure me that they are talking shit and if we don’t get the property it’ll be nothing to do with whether or not we met their advisor! Surely the seller doesn’t give a shit?

Go and see the advisor and then continue as you were. We had to do this even though we had our mip and had chosen our mortgage.

Is their fee for the advice or mortgage arrangement? We had no fee for the advice, just if they arranged it.

EA’s are dicks, is it Douglas Allen by any chance?

Apparently they are known for it. They did that to us and the guy just couldn’t add up, even with a calculator. When the EA followed up and asked what we thought of their guy and if we would use him I told him in no uncertain terms that we would be using a financial advisor who actually understood maths thank you very much.

I’m never moving again!

It's just an interview i think
I know it's a waste of time but if you want the property, go, pass the test, then tell them you're not using them

Book a second viewing when the home owner is in, take the aip and proof of deposit with you. Make your offer directly to the owner whilst the agent is there, or direct to the owner if you do an unaccompanied viewing.

Did you put your offer in writing to the agent? Have they rejected your offer? Are you in London?

Gummy fee is for them brokering a mortgage I think. Nearly £500, our advisor fee is £240.

43percent offer was made on the phone and also confirmed in writing when I sent the supporting financial documents. Offer hasn’t been rejected yet, apparently they are still thinking it over.

When an EA tried to pull this stunt on us, our financial adviser phoned them an challenged them on it. They backed down and denied saying we has to see their adviser.
Lying bastards, all EAs.

They are actually prohibited from doing this. If you google Section 6C of the Ombudsman's Code of Practice they are not allowed to treat your offer differently because you have declined the use of their services.

They are not allowed to present your position as less favourable just because you have sought independent advice.

If they continue to push the issue I would suggest to them that you contact the seller directly with your offer and let them know that their agent is preventing offers being put forward appropriately.

Then you potentially just have to waste an hour or so of your time rather than pay them. I do like lovely's way of getting their advisor to call them though. We did it ourselves so has nobody to threaten them with unfortunately.

We had to do this even though we had our mip a

No you didn't HAVE to. The estate agents are just after extra commission.

@titchy they didn't get it though, we told them we weren't going with them before going to the appointment. It was the fastest way to ensure our offer went through on the house and we needed speed as I was very pregnant at the time and planning a home birth. If we had more time we would have told them to do one.

The Estate Agents are targeted on selling other services. Ignore their pushiness they just want to ensure that they meet their monthly KPI targets.

Yes, ours said this to us too, despite also having an AIP. We played along, it was useful as our AIP was from our main bank, and we hadn’t seen anyone else, but in the end, they couldn’t find us anything better anyway, and wanted to charge us nearly £1000. So we laughed and laughed and laughed and walked out!
Got the house though!

second viewing at a time when the owner is likely to be there. 7 pm on an evening is likely to be unaccompanied.

We were pressured into seeing the EA in house broker and was told it was a 2 hour appointment -I refused on the basis that we had a broker, I put him in touch with the EA and authorised him to provide what they needed. Funnily enough one short phone call from him and we no longer needed a two hour appointment with the EA....

Ours tried this. We refused, they argued, we detailed our circumstances (unusual and make it tricky to acquire a mortgage for us) and said we’d go direct to the house owner with our offer and would lodge a complaint with the relevant Ombudsman. Don’t give in to their appalling sales tactics.

Just ask your advisor to call then to confirm all is ok, and would they like that in writing?
Their advisor will be able to tell them the maximum you can go upto, so they will then push for you to increase your offer on the house!

If I was a seller I'd not even bat an eyelid if you had a different mortgage advisor - id perhaps put a note through the sellers door tipping them off that they're suggesting your offer isn't as firm even tho you're FTB which puts you in a good position

An estate agent tried this with us as well. Very horrible company, they even said we have to use their in house solicitors as well. I can’t understand how we’ll have a free mortgage advisor and decide to go for one where we have to pay over the odds. We just told them to do one and went to view another property with a different EA the next day and these ones accepted our offer the same day and only just asked for a copy of our AIP.
2 days later the other EA called us (apparently, there was no competition, looks they were just saying that to make us scared) but too late though. It’s a buyers market where we are so was definitely not falling for that.

This really horrifies me. I am a Scottish EA and we have an adviser. You can use him if you wish but no pressure. He doesn’t charge a fee either as he will get a kick back from the lender once everything has gone through. The English way is horrific.

Happened to my FTB dd.

She saw the MA, then found online exactly the same 'best' mortgage he'd offered, for 2 or 300 less in fees.
She told him and he said he'd match it.

She used the 'in house' solicitor as well, since had no personal recommendation, and I have to say that although I was very anti at the time, the whole thing was wrapped up so quickly - offer accepted to getting the keys in just 6 weeks.