It’s not unreasonable to expect to have to provide documents to show you are porceedable such as mortgage in principle and evidence of deposit. Usually a memorandum of sale won’t be issued until these are shown and identify checks done.
As someone buying, ensure you have all this ready and printed to hand over and take it in on the day your offer is accepted. Delays can result in the property still being shown and another offer accepted....fair enough in my view, until the point memo of sale is issued because all paper work has been shown that you’re proceedable. You’d be amazed how many people make offers and aren’t proceedable....,haven’t even applied for mortgage, haven’t got a deposit or haven’t got. A buyer on their own property etc etc. As a seller you wouldn’t want your property taken off the market if the person offering is one of these unporceedable people who go around making random offers they can’t follow through on. Therefore, as a serious buyer you just have the evidence ready and he and it over ASAP if you expect to be taken seriously and to have the property marked as SSTC or Under Offer.
As a buyer, it also makes you look more serious and more likely to get viewings or have your offer accepted if you can tell the agent that you have the mortgage in principle, have a buyer and have your documents ready to show these things, plus proof of funds.
Basically, buyers need to do themselves a favour and strengthen their position with this documentation. Too many are clueless and not ready with the paperwork and then wonder why their offers aren’t taken seriously or the property remains on the market and a higher offer or different seller is accepted, even when they make a lower offer. Being porkceedable and a serious proposition is worth a lot and people will often accept less to have someone in that position who is likely to complete, rather than a time waster who will be dropping out in the next few weeks when they can’t get a mortgage or realise their savings aren’t big enough for deposit etc etc.