Viewings with MiP only?

[LazyFace]

Just trying to find something out: is it generally required to have a Mortgage in Principle before viewing properties?
We never asked for this from anyone when they looked at our house and I just spoke to an agent (wanting to book a viewing) who advised 'I should have my finances sorted' before enquiring.
I'm by no means a time waster, most information is available online and we've only ever viewed houses we've seriously been considering.

After Covid our EA is only accepting viewings from those with a MIP in place to avoid time wasters. They obviously want to minimise the risk of spreading Covid-19 so only those deemed serious are allowed to book viewings.

I’m sure it varies between agents though.

I accepted an offer on my property this week. EA was insisting that viewers had their mortgage in principle before viewing. With such high demand for properties in my area combined with limited capacity to view owing to staff on furlough and social distancing, I think it's understandable that they're keen to filter out time wasters. You can get a decision online in 10 minutes and I don't think it involves a full credit check so think it's easy enough to get a decision to get over that hurdle.

It’s normal to have a decision/agreement in principle before viewing at the moment. It takes 15-20 mins online and doesn’t leave any mark on your credit file, you’re not obliged to go with that lender when it comes to actual mortgage application. It just shows the vendor that you are proceedable.

Thank you all.

I thought this was standard practice - didn't realise it was a post-covid thing. I wouldn't have dreamed viewing properties without having an agreement in place. No point in viewing if I'm not even sure of what I can borrow.

I've viewed four houses with three agents over the last week. No one has asked us. I don't want to get one because worried about it impacting my credit rating. They've asked about my circs but beyond that nothing.

I had to provide a decision on principle to one agent before viewing

They don’t impact your credit rating.

Just make sure the estate agent doesn't insist that you see their mortgage advisor and that a MIP comes from them....some are real sharks in pulling this one.

Our EA wouldn't allow anyone to view without proof of funds at the required level. One women who wanted to view got very shirty when she was told that she had insufficient funds (about 70k less than our asking price) and so there was no point in her viewing our house.

Hi there. Really interested in this thread. Husband and I have been looking for a house for about a year. Big housing shortage in the area, so we have been told by the estate agent that we should sell quickly (property identical to ours on same street sold in 6 days a few weeks ago). But the same housing shortage means we are having real difficulty finding a house as not many houses are coming on the market (like maybe 1 every 4 weeks). On top of this some estate agents won’t allow viewings unless we’re proceedable (even though they know we live in a sought-after area). A friend of mine recently decided to sell before searching in order to become proceedable but it didn’t work out for her. She found a buyer but just couldn’t find a suitable house to move to, and as the months went on she had to tell her buyer that it might be a long time before she could move out. Buyer then pulled out. My friend still hasn’t found anywhere but is loathe to go on the market again and sell before searching because she’s worried that if the same thing happened again (property coming on and off the market), it will make her house look like it’s not desirable. This, plus our own experience in not being able to find a house we like, has kept us from putting our house on the market (also I believe that if you find a buyer, their mortgage offer normally has a time limit). So basically we get very frustrated when we get told we can’t view certain properties because we’re not proceed able. We don’t have family we can move in with, say if we sold our house but had nowhere to go. And there’s not much rental property in the area and we wouldn’t fancy doing this anyway with the kids etc). Feeling a bit stuck to be honest!

I have been looking for a while for another house. My finances are in place. Personally I think all EA should be asking for MIP pre viewing. I sold a property a year ago and stipulated no viewings unless there was a MIP or evidence they had the means. There are too many door kickers and time wasters. I'm finding it now while I'm viewing. Sellers accepting offers and waiting for people to get a mortgage sorted then 6 weeks down the line the house is back on the market.

We’ve just bought & no-one asked us for any evidence of a mortgage in principle but we were asked if we had one & if we’d sold our house. On the whole most agents wanted us to be proceedable (or at minimum our house on the market with viewers lined up) before viewing. This was deemed a Covid thing by the agents to avoid people with no intent of buying going into people’s homes.

Who are these time wasters and what do they think when they organise viewings for something they either cannot afford or have no intention of buying?

What sort of people would go out in the middle of CV19 anyway?

We sold our last house to a couple who were wealthy enough to not have to sell their other house (the agent did check this). They also arranged a survey very quickly to show they were interested which was a good tactic.

Its worth checking because my sisters agreement from early summer was withdrawn this week (after they made an offer on a house) and the new one included monthly payments of 25% more over the same term. The difference of several hundred pounds means they had to pull out of sales. Lots of people who havent rechecked their agreement still stands in recent weeks are likely to be caught out.

@Bgp22 I’m in exactly the same predicament as you but for different reasons - we are midterm on our mortgage with a temporary drop in earnings (without being very outing, guaranteed to increase) so we can port but can’t reapply at the moment. Also have fairly specific requirements for schools. Need the right house to be on the table before we can sell ours. Absolutely no guarantee of it coming up. So we’re stuck in a house that doesn’t suit us, but which would be snapped up in days (as close to certain as it’s possible to be!), but unable to go anywhere else because the market we want to move in to is even MORE competitive than where we are now and unless you’ve sold already or can offer stupid money over and above home report value, you’ve no chance. Before this crazy mini-boom we’d have been fine, normal way of doing things round here, but totally different story now.

Prices are ridiculous in some areas. I have found that due to the government tax incentives EA are now thinking they can add that onto the valuation on properties. I've put offers in on a couple of properties good offers only to have it accepted and then the seller allows someone to gazump higher. Ironically they go in with no funds to buy and no mortgage in place. The houses have gone back on market. I've been re-contacted by EA when the sales have fell through but I've told EA I'm not interested. If any seller accepts my offer then allows gazumping I walk away. The houses in question are still for sale now. If a seller allows gazumping once it happens again. There are a lot of houses on the market that are resurfacing back for sale due to this.

I live in a touristy area and people think they want a second home and spend time viewing lots of pretty cottages, mine included, I suspect many of them don’t buy anything. When I was selling my last one people admitted it was £40k over their budget but hoped it wasn’t as good in real life as it was in the photos. Rant over! So these viewers do exist.

@Itllbeaninterestingchristmas EA need to vet buyers more as these door knockers stop genuine sales. I phone on Friday as a property that ticked all boxes had come on market. Ten viewings were booked so I'm now waiting. I'm wondering how many of the ten were genuine.