Can I view properties without my mortgage in principle?

[Imagineit]

Saw a broker today, I have an idea of how much I could borrow and want to start scoping out properties that are in my price range just to gage what my money will get me. If my options are all dire I will consider altering my hours at work to get a bigger mortgage but I can't know until I start looking.

What do estate agents ask for before they give you a viewing? I can't remember from when we did this a few years back

I'm sure the broker I enquired with gave me some sort of generic document indicating what I could borrow - so, not an agreement in principle from a specific lender but something I could show agents if needed. In the event I ported my old mortgage anyway and didn't borrow more, but I definitely had something I could waft at agents.

The market isn't hot at the moment so estate agents are unlikely to be too fussy. But it's only a 10 minute job to get an agreement in principle online and will give you a better idea of what you can afford so I would do that before phoning estate agents anyway. Then you can say you have an agreement in principle.

Trying to get a viewing. I am a FTB, cash buyer. And the flat I wanted to view is for cash buyers only. But the estate agent asked me to send him my bank statements to prove I had funds. It's very sensitive information to share it. If I see different properties with different agencies, should I sent bank statements to all of them? It's ridiculous! I am not sure I will make an offer after viewing, but already share so sensitive information with so many unknown people.

The trouble is, so many people who are viewing properties at the moment aren't really in a financial position to proceed. So. Agents will be getting fed up with waster buyers' time and buyers will be insisting Agents do proper proceedability checks before allowing viewings.

I feel the same way, but I'd rather view places then not. My computer allows me to black out any information I want on PDFs via a 'retract' tool. You could retract all personal information EXCEPT money coming in, and your name on the statement, and the balance, and that should be enough for them.

Depends totally on your area I think, I'm a FTB and have an AIP but no one has asked to see it. I've been viewing properties.

We were never asked if we had a mortgage in principal when viewing properties (but we already owned a house)

We were never asked if we had a MIP last time we bought ( 6 years ago) but 1) we already had a house 2) we knew we could easily get a MIP if necessary ( which we did, the day after we saw a property we liked and subsequently bought)

Do you need to be doing actual viewings? I would probably get an idea of properties in my current price range on Rightmove. If they were all looking a bit naff then I would look at the higher price ones to give some indication of whether I was in the right ballpark for what I wanted.