Hang on-a solicitor let you exchange without seeing actual proof of funding?! Unbelievable (figuratively, I’m not disputing your claim).

Look, just because people haven’t had to doesn’t mean it’s the right way to do things.

The solicitor funding bollocks is all after the offer is agreed (subject to contract). No agent ever had any knowledge of our funds when we bought a couple of years ago.

Does anyone know if this stuff happens in Scotland?

Accept that all EAs are duplicitous, and out for their own interests, it’s far easier then you don’t expect better. I congratulate my cats when they don’t steal chicken if I leave it out, my Mrs would be offended if I did say the same to her, but I judge them by different standards.

Don’t expect estate agents to operate in your best interests, they operate in theirs first, and by extension their clients. Most EAs will have in their contracts they will check buyers viability, if they combine this obligation with a chance to sell to the gullable then happy days all round.

It’s pointless anyway, because at best they can go for their own DIP, which as already said is a waste of time as there are no credit checks, no valuation etc, if you have the time then go, otherwise refuse and make it clear that you will never buy their products and you are can pass any credit check or affordability check they throw at you.

EAs do not have to satisfy the same regulations as solicitors as they don’t handle your cash, and as a result have to fulfill money laundering so will normally give in if you push it. If they insist they think you are borderline, and you can’t convince them, then you have to decide if the house is worth a visit to the EA.

And if you think that your credit worthiness (as in having a big DIP), will mean that you will pay more, you probably shouldn’t be negotiationing without your Mum present. Best deals are won by rich tighwads, not people on the edge of their borrowing limit.

Scotland is different because acceptance of offer is the equivalent of exchanging here so you’d be mad not to have funding in lave because once your offer is accepted-no going back.

No gazumping in Scotland…

Little update for those going through the same situation:

Went into the office was assured of independence and they could loose their job if information was passed to agent, no response to how could I prove it anyway?

Politely refused to provide any financial details other than the MiP details (yes I did give the upper amount which I didn’t really want to, but stated I wouldn’t be borrowing that much due to LTV). Spent 30mins looking at deals none of which were better. Then very strange conversation where the independent mortgage advisors tells me there are 2 other higher offers on the table, and if I was any increase available as they think I won’t get the property. Now, what has this to do with the advisor? Should they not know this information?

Anyways, my wife spoke to the EA to give a best and final offer, and mention she did not approve of the practise of forcing us to see their advisor before passing on our offer as it was against regulation. She was passed to a chap who was said to be the branch manager (*) who then proceeded to have an argument with her saying she was getting ‘in a twist’ and that I had been unhelpful and obstructive and they had not seen any figures to FQ us…..this did not go down very well with the missus.

She wanders into speak to our current EA (who are very good), who happen to be 3 doors down, who instantly state this is illegal practise, and that infact the person she spoke to was not the branch manager. So she is now complaining and thinking about raising it with the NAofEA.

This is a well known national chain, with 3 highstreet brands, who if I understand it right are actually owned by the ‘independent’ mortgage company…

What a absolute crock of shit.

Basically no way our offer will be put forward in a good light though after my wife’s helpful intervention.

I’ll be putting a letter through the vendors door stating the situation and currently only just resisting naming and shaming the EA on here and any other bit of social media I can find….

Thanks, dbg, I appreciate the Scottish system is different, I wondered if this kind of dealing might happen earlier in the process.

there are 2 other higher offers on the table, and if I was any increase available as they think I won’t get the property.

Wow!

You have no way of knowing if the other offers even exist, going by the conduct of the EA so far. Definitely contact the vendor in the nicest possible terms to confirm your offer and make sure they’ve received it.

It amazes me that there is no ombudsman responsible for what is far and away nearly everyone’s largest purchase. A voluntary association doesn’t really cut it…

The problem is, the Vendor may not care unless they want a fast sale….after all, the EA is trying to achieve the highest sales price possible for them…something that they will want.

Total codswallop. They’re just trying to get business from you by any means they can. They know you’re serious and want to try any trick in the book to possibly get you to pay thm to get a mortgage offer that you already have. Just explian to them that you have a long term relatuonship with your trusted IFA and would feel bad breaching that bond of trust.

There is an ombudsman. The Property Ombudsman. Also just about every EA is also a member of one of 6 or so trade bodies easily of whom have a code of conduct.

You can complain to them also.

The OfT rules refer to discrimination against purchasers for not taking additional services and not the EA carrying out their professional (used loosely as this is EA’s we’re talking about) duty.

Checking someone can actually buy the property falls very much under professional duty…

The problem is, the Vendor may not care unless they want a fast sale….after all, the EA is trying to achieve the highest sales price possible for them…something that they will want.

Oh no they’re not. The estate agent is paid by commission so they want a sale. Their commission varies so little between offers that they have no interest whatsoever in securing a higher price for the vendor.

The only way to do that is to modify the contract slightly to include a £2k bonus (or whatever you want) conditional on them achieving the asking price.

Flaperon – Member
they have no interest whatsoever in securing a higher price for the vendor.

You DO actually see what gash that is?

Agents regularly selling houses at higher prices get more new clients, they can advertise % sales above home report value, reputation, repeat business and so on. Not to mention the slightly higher commission. If they can make £100 more by making a few more phone calls they’ll do it, logically so.

You DO actually see what gash that is?

Agents regularly selling houses at higher prices get more new clients, they can advertise % sales above home report value, reputation, repeat business and so on. Not to mention the slightly higher commission. If they can make £100 more by making a few more phone calls they’ll do it, logically so.

Not total gash.

An extra £100 = £10000 rise in sale price (roughly).

On a million quid ish house, that might take minutes – on £100k flat, it’ll take a while.

Don’t kid yourself that they act for the vendor, they are in it for themselves…

We sold and bought a few months ago, we neither gave any proof of finance nor requested any from our buyer, at the time of making and accepting offers. I had no idea that happened these days.

Why on earth would you take your house off the market not knowing that the buyer could actually afford it?

Genuine question.

Say you found out 6 weeks in that they couldn’t and didn’t have a mortgage offer. You’re back to square one in marketing it and quite possibly losing the house you’re buying due to the delays and taking a hit on your sale price because the new offers are lower.

I’m in the process of selling my mums house and whilst we provisionally accepted an offer I wouldn’t take it formally off the market until the buyer had an AiP.

I’m in the process of selling my mums house and whilst we provisionally accepted an offer I wouldn’t take it formally off the market until the buyer had an AiP.

What would you do with a cash buyer?
There are many reasons why a sale could fall through with lack of finance being just one.
We took ours off the market for a cash buyer. Sometimes you just have to trust people. Old fashioned I know. It took a little longer than anticipated but came good in the end.

I’d want proof still and a cash buyer can still provide that through bank statements etc.

No, I wouldn’t trust anyone with that kind of money at stake. Note our purchaser is 80% cash.

I can understand needing to provide evidence of a mortgage in principle after an offer has been accepted. Pretty sure that’s how I’ve done it in the past.

Never heard of an agent demanding to see all your financial details before even passing an offer on though – deeply fishy.

Was it Fox and Sons estate agents?

To pass an offer on-no. To formally recommend it and to take the it off the market – yes

If you lost £10k because you had to re-market and found out that the reason the sale fell through was because your EA didn’t even check the purchaser could actually go through with the deal you’d be wanting that £10k off them sharpish.

This happens, I’ve seen the claims…

Bad news, bring in your own Broker and then report them after you purchased the House.
Good Luck

Why on earth would you take your house off the market not knowing that the buyer could actually afford it?
Genuine question.
Say you found out 6 weeks in that they couldn’t and didn’t have a mortgage offer

Isn’t this where the solicitors come in? The buyers solicitor must have the buyers mortgage details and has professional standards to uphold. Wouldn’t be in their interests to continue if offer wasn’t in place.

I’ve not gone through any ‘proof of mortgage’ process when I’ve bought anywhere. i’ve been asked, and given an honest answer, but there is a huge conflict of interest in the estate agent (whose job is to get the highest price for the seller) knowing exactly how much the buyer can afford.

There are all sorts of other ways the buyer can waste time and drop out. As soon as solicitors involved and searches start the buyer has costs so there are lots of incentives NOT to try to buy something they haven’t got funding for.

You could be some weeks down the line before solicitors get involved and the other people interested in your property may have found something else. You could be put back a couple of months and lost the house you’re buying as a result.

It’s absolutely the EA’s job to vet (not sell them shit they don’t want-that is absolutely wrong) potential purchasers to weed out the time wasters.

Proof of ability to purchase falls well within this. Don’t forget their professional duty is to the seller not the buyer.

/flounce

If anyone else on here has underwritten estate agents, studied what exposures there may be to a professional negligence insurer, is aware of what professional duties apply to various trades, seen claims from EA’s etc then feel free to discuss if you disagree with this.

I know-experts and who needs them etc.

/flounce over

And note the behaviour of the EA at the OP’s meeting is entirely unacceptable but generally speaking even if an EA does know you can afford more they can’t force you to make a higher offer.

I thought this was how it worked (at least it was how it worked for us)

– Offer made
– Offer accepted
– Solicitor instructed
– Paperwork sent to EA, house listed as SSC

Doesn’t have to be in that order. House can be listed STC as soon as offer is accepted.

Indeed the buyer may stipulate for their offer to stand the house must be taken off the market immediately.

just show them one bank statement of whatever account has the deposit in and the agreement in principle.
just because it adds up to more than the asking price means nothing.

then just play hardball and dont budge from you final offer. i wouldn’t have wasted my time seeing the in house broker. i would have dismissed that straight away and just told them ‘no thanks i have a product in place that i have no intention of changing’.

i’m not a seasoned property buyer but it doesn’t take long to work out estate agents are a bunch of lying ****s. mine tried to run me up but i just said ‘no i’m done here now as thats my max and whatever you say has no way of increasing that offer unless you want to stick your hand in your pocket and chip in’

deal done.

I’ve only ever wanted to buy twice, and have only had to place two offers.

The first time we went through this ‘recommended financial adviser’ BS. I don’t think it necessarily effected our purchase process, but it puts you in a much weaker negotiation point if you hand over all the details on what you can ‘afford’.

I’m pretty sure the second time of trying my offer was never passed to the vendor. We were told that our offer had been rejected despite being higher. I don’t think it was the vendor who made that choice, it was part of the agents ‘selection of suitable purchasers’ process – apparently that is legit if the vendor signs up to it. I guess most would assume is standard practice, and don’t question it. The house was sold to the agents brother instead :s