Estate agents dirty tricks? asked to speak to their financial adviser after making offer

[Artygirlghost]

I view a property last week and made an offer today. The property has been on the market for a month or so and the agent stated that the owner was keen to sell and would accept an offer so I made a fair offer but below asking price.

Now they want me to speak to their mortgage broker/financial adviser to get me ''financially checked'' so they can ''put me in the best financial light'' to the buyer and are saying that they are doing this because of the current state of the mortgage market which I am finding really off-putting.

I already told them I had my own mortgage broker (who already arranged the mortgage on my current property) who I trust and that most of the purchase is from the sale of my flat anyway.

Should I :

• speak to the adviser but simply state that I am financing the purchase from the sale of my property and leave it at that. I have no intention of sharing anymore financial details than that at this stage
• refuse to speak to the adviser and ask them to pass on the offer as they are legally obliged to and risk them not doing that.

I am really disappointed in them because they had so far been really good when it came to viewings and this is one of the biggest and most well-known estate agents in the areas where I am looking.

Any advice?

I am seriously considering giving up on the buying process in England and purchasing somewhere else...

Sorry typed too fast...this should read ''I viewed a property''...

Standard procedure for them to offer. Just say thanks but no thanks.

The Estate Agent is engaged by the seller to get rhe best possible deal for them - they are not working for the buyer.

Tell them you are not interested, ready have a mortgage broker and you'd appreciate confirmation (give a timescale if you want) that they have passed on your offer to the seller as they are obliged to.

Decline their offer. If you’ve got a mortgage agreed in principle then this should be enough. They’re chancing it I reckon

I fell for this. I loved the house and it went to offers. They said it was compulsory to be financially checked by their financial adviser. I provided everything I was asked to provide then he rang to tell me about some mortgages with decent rates that I'd be eligible for. He'd also spoken to my current lender about porting my mortgage. I found it very underhand and felt a bit conned. I stopped answering his calls and emails when I was outbid.

Refuse refuse refuse - they work for the seller not you.
Suddenly seller is aware that you could theoretically borrow xyz more....

@RM2013

95% of the purchase will come from the proceeds of my sale which is completing by the end of the month.

So I was going to get my broker to find me a mortgage once of the sale was complete should I need one and so did not bother with a mortgage in principle at this stage (as it would be something like £50,000).

I did not expect to find a house I liked so soon.

I think I am just going to say that the purchase will be financed by the sale of my flat, which I have mentioned to them several times, and that this is what they should tell the buyer and that I expect them to pass on my offer.

Then they can turn me down if they have any issue with that.

@Artygirlghost I think the EA have to pass on all offers made. Definitely stick to your guns and tell them you don’t need their financial advisor. Good luck with your purchase

To be fair if you’re only trying to mortgage a timy bit of the property you might struggle to get a mortgage as LTV is so low. A lot of lenders won’t bother as they’re unlikely to be lending you the money for long enough to get a return on their investment.

I think it’s fair for the EA to check you are in a position to actually buy this house as it comes across like you think you can just walk into a mortgage which might not work out in reality.

We’ve all seen the threads where the chain breaks a few weeks before completion where the buyer tries to get a drastic last minute reduction as they can’t actually afford the house and the EA didn’t screen them out before the offers stage.

Having said that under FCA rules you shouldn’t be obliged to go with any specific mortgage broker but it would be reasonable for you to give the EA your mortgage agreement in principle and proof of funds so they know you’re not just dreaming.

Thia is parr for the course and extremely common practice and has been for decades. Ive been denied viewings after refusing an appointment with an estate agents mortgage advisor . It's very annoying and it's a disservice to sellers, who would probably be oblivious this is happening. You have a mortgage in place and don't need to be financially vetted by an estate agent.

I’m sure it’s illegal to push you into this. There was something in the news about it the other day. Tell them to do one and go with your own. They are not working in your best interest.

Yup here you go
inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/property-and-mortgages/estate-agents-unlawfully-blocking-house-sales-to-boost-profits-1961559

@PeekabooAtTheZoo
''To be fair if you’re only trying to mortgage a timy bit of the property you might struggle to get a mortgage as LTV is so low. A lot of lenders won’t bother as they’re unlikely to be lending you the money for long enough to get a return on their investment.''

I actually already had a tiny mortgage before on my current property without any issues and the broker I spoke to two weeks ago also confirmed it would not be an issue again this time.

Just say no. Although our mortgage broker is one that we originally found through an estate agent and he's brilliant and we've since used him for several subsequent mortgages.

@PeekabooAtTheZoo 'so they know you’re not just dreaming.''

That's a bit uncalled for...

I would think any vendor would love someone who is pretty much a cash buyer with a sale that is about to complete without any issues and who is not in a chain in this climate.

You don't have to soeak to their Advisor but you will need to show proof of financial capability to buy the property

@tunthebloodyalarmoff

But it is a chicken and egg situation.

I would expect the buyer to first confirm that they are happy in principle with the offer I submitted then I will be happy to immediately provide proof of finance.

I am not going to share all my financial details at this stage to a random mortgage adviser if the buyer is not even aware of what I am offering.

We had this on our first property. We'd already sorted with our financial advisor what we could borrow and what mortgage we were going to take out and told the estate agents this. They said we just had to sign a few things as it was shared ownership, when we sat down he'd printed off all the mortgage forms and filled in our details and expected us to just sign them. It was so underhand especially as our financial advisor had done all the work, we did put in a complaint as soon as we completed.

I had this, the EA said they wouldn't pass any offer to the vendor unless I have details to their financial adviser. The financial adviser vetted me in a dodgy way ie if it was a check it wasn't a thorough one, they didn't check anything, I could have told them anything. But I was honest, told them how much I had as deposit as a ftb etc.

What then happened is they passed my financial info to the EA. Including my ltv amount. And then I was told I was rejected by the vendor who wanted someone with a higher ltv. So i was rejected on info they shouldn't have had in the first place. It was a data protection breach. And felt incredibly unfair. Plus I felt violated - suddenly the vendor, some random person in my area but who knew who I was, had my financial info.

I wouldn't go with an EA who does this again.

Slightly different perspective here. The same thing happened to us. We had a super pushy estate agent who said his client would only be interested in our offer if we met with the estate agency’s mortgage broker who his client “knew and trusted”. We all knew it was a nonsense but we loved the house and there wasn’t anything else on the market. We very reluctantly agreed to a 45 min consultation. We were pleasantly suprised to find the financial adviser was actually very knowledgeable (20+ experience in the mortgage market) and actually we went with her and she worked really hard for us.

It is annoying to have to suck up these ridiculous hurdles but you never know 30/45 mins and you might have a pleasant suprise!

They need to check your financial eligibility which you will have to do to their solicitor soon anyway...

It's very annoying It's illegal and you can report them to the FCA. Let them squirm.

But OP you do need to provide proof of funds which either come from a valuation of your property for sale which is an overestimate as you may not get that much for it and need to cover conveyancing etc., or mortgage in principle for the shortfall. So many purchases are falling apart at the moment because of mortgage issues that the seller can't risk that more than they are risking anyway. The EA are CFs and should be going about it differently and should pass on your offer with your financial position as it currently is (unvalidated) though, they are legally required to pass on all offers.

I was personally messed about by 3 buyers in a row who were downsizing and therefore would not require a mortgage. Because they could and were frankly window shopping, putting in an offer and then thinking about it for weeks and ghosting the EA. In the end I went with someone who required a mortgage rather than risk that nonsense a 4th time.

They legally have to pass on your offer. They also can’t say that by using their financial services you’re more likely to secure the house whether it’s implied or they won’t put your offer forward as favourably. They have legal responsibilities.

It was a data protection breach.

These need reporting by everyone it happens to, or nothing will change.