EA wants to qualify me before passing on any offer

housesitter

I'm seeing some properties this weeken. FOr one of them the EA has already said that any offer would be subject to me coming in for a chat so that they can qualify me to see if I have the means to pay for the property.

Surely this flies in the face of this:
The Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) (No. 2) Order 1991
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1991/Uksi_19911032_en_4.htm
The failure by an estate agent to forward to his client promptly and in writing accurate details (other than those of a description which the client has indicated in writing he does not wish to receive) of any offer the estate agent has received from a prospective purchaser

One could argue that the delay in obtaining qualfication stops any offer being passed on promptly. Alternatively (and it seems the EA industry thinks this) they are obtaining "accurate details".


Surely my financial situation is absolutely nothing to do ith the EA? It's between the vendor and myself if I can afford the property and our solicitors should matters progress that far. The EA is merely a go between. I'd prefer to talk to the vendor directly myself anyway so there are no mixed messages or chinese whispers.

I can understand the vendors want for genuine buyers, and appreciate that there are some losers who make offers on properties they have no hope of affording. However, since the EA also has an in house mortgage advisor, one assumes this is merely a fishing expedition for business.

If I refuse, I assume the EA may pass on the offer but no doubt with a reccomendation and suggest that I'm being "difficult" for keeping my privacy.
I suppose the advice from you guys would be to just put up with it ?


NB: I can afford the property, however I see it as a conflict of interest letting the EA know just how much more than the offer I'm making they might think I can afford. Once they are aware of my finances, potentially, roll on the fake offers and what not in an attempt to bid me up.

Thanks

NoDebtForMe_2

Hi
I see your last point. When I wanted to put an offer in for a new build I was told I needed to speak to their IFA to see if I qualify. This was merely a quick chat on the telephone as to income and if I had any other debts. They got basics and worked from that. They didnt do any "official" checks at this point and said yes we could go ahead and put in an offer. They just took our word for it. Not sure if it would be the same practice with an EA though. My point in telling you this was that I went through this and still managed to negotiate a substantial amount off the house and I would have got a mortgage a lot higher than their original asking price anyway so it made no odds in this case what I could afford to what they accepted. Im sure others will advise you further as this was just my personal experience.
Sarah x

mlz1413

Re the link you have copied in about undesirable practices, I assume the EA could agrue the 'prospective purchaser' part as you maybe a prospective wannbe rather then purchaser until they have qualified you.

Some vendors do not want to deal directly with buyers and may have requested the EA qualify all buyers before putting the offer in.

I'd go and have a chat with EA about what is needed and what is desired and by whom, say that you don't want to see their mortgage advisor and see how you feel about the EA's afterwards. You can always go back for a another viewing and talk to the vendors direct.

Richard_Webster

The seller would be very cross with the estate agent if the sale fell through because he didn't check you out. If you think about it for a minute you will see that the EA is not doing his job properly unless he does this.

The EA's financial people will try to sell you a mortgage - but you don't need to use them. If you don't want to get involved with telling them any of your financial details, then use your own IFA and say that he has advised you that you can get the mortgage you want and let the EA speak to him - or get a "certificate" from a lender to say that you are good for a loan of £X.

In some market conditions it is important not to let the EA and the seller know how much you can afford, in case you want renegotiate the price following survey etc. In these conditions, whether you can afford it or not isn't really relevant to this, as affordability isn't the criterion - it is often your mere existence as a credible buyer. Moral or not, if you want to find some reason for knocking the price down further you can often get away with it.

spuds_2

I would guess that (a) they want to get you in to sell you a mortgage and/or (b) the seller has been messed about by someone who made an offer but couldn't get a mortgage in the end.

Your last point is valid though - could you get your lender to give you a letter with a lower amount on it, as Richard suggest? Either way, don't offer more than the property is worth to you.

housesitter

Thanks for the advice peeps.

I have discussed mortgages with my bank and I have a ceiling which is not an unreasonable offer in the curent climate and is beyond what I'd be offering anyway. I asked them for a print out of this but they suggested it would be meaningless as they had not done credit checks etc so was not official.

The EA is asking info regarding my deposit amount and salary. FTB status, renter or owner etc.

Unfortunately, contacting the buyer is difficult but not impossible as they do not live at the property any more.
I'm specifically targetting empty property so I'm unlikely to be affected by the chain and may well benefit from distressed sellers.
Of course, as I could tell the agent, there are plenty of other EA's and houses and perhaps they shouldn't be so difficult either.

Hectors_House

housesitter wrote: »

I'm seeing some properties this weeken. FOr one of them the EA has already said that any offer would be subject to me coming in for a chat so that they can qualify me to see if I have the means to pay for the property.

<Snipped>

We found this in recent months when looking at properties.

One place turned out to have so much damp running through the ground floor it looked like a swimming pool so we didn't go to the appointment.
Then we found a house we really likes (we've just got the keys! :j ) so made the appointment to see their mortgage advisor.

They turned out to be way more expensive on everything so although we got a mortgage in principle with them when it came to our offer being accepted we went elsewhere for everything.

The way we looked at it was that it was no great deal to play along with them if it was the only way we'd get to view the place. And despite the EA not getting any of that other business from us they couldn't have been more helpful towards us.

Good luck with the viewing.

haras_nosirrah

Offer qualifications are standard in most EA's at the moment. They will usually ask for some evidence either through a recent agreement in principle letter or evidence of cash in the bank. The reason for this is in a market where prices are falling and buyers are scarce it can be a real problem if the buyer is not able to get a mortgage. With rates and criteria changing so quickly there are buyers wandering around with mortgage promises that are out of date (especially when 100% and 95% mortgages were disappearing) and imagine if the vendor sold the property to you for 160k, a few months later they find out that you can't buy the property and the vendor eventually sells it for 140k. Imagine if you were selling your house and the agent found you someone who couldn't afford it - would you be happy with them or would you have ticked the box requesting that all offers be qualified?

We have had one of these in our office this week where a young lady offered on one of our properties and she was up against another buyer. She refused to be offer checked as she had her broker. We put the offer forward but explained to the vendor that she wouldn't be offer checked, it was his decision to accept the buyer. 3 weeks later she has phoned up in tears because when the survey came back she discovered that the lender she has gone with won't lend on her property (flat above a shop) if she had come in and told me who she was using as a lender I could have told her that she couldn't use that lender and saved her the survey fee. I am now trying to save that sale.

Just go in with some kind of evidence, have a quick chat and politely refuse their assistance with the mortgage. They can't force you to use their mortgage advisor but sometimes their knowledge of the property could help.

becky2011

I had an offer accepted on a house about 2 weeks ago. Savills the estate agents marketing the house wanted to speak to my mortgage broker before she would take the house off the market.
My mortgage broker said that the agents wanted to know that I have a AIP(which I did) and who the mortgage lender was. My broker also said due to data protection he could not give them any more information. They were happy with that and promtly accepted my offer.

pinkshoes

housesitter wrote: »

The EA is asking info regarding my deposit amount and salary. FTB status, renter or owner etc.

Could you not just tell the EA that you have a 25% deposit (or whatever you have... if it's over 10%, you shouldn't have a problem getting a mortgage), and are not borrowing any more than 3x your joint salaries (as some banks won't lend over 3x joint salaries now, so this is a sensible limit)?

I would dislike telling the EA how much I actually earn, as that means they know how much you can feasibly afford, and might trick you into upping your offer.

NoDebtForMe_2

pinkshoes wrote: »

I would dislike telling the EA how much I actually earn, as that means they know how much you can feasibly afford, and might trick you into upping your offer.

Yes but really it isnt anything to do with how much you can afford but how much you are prepared to pay isnt it? They are two completely different things. I can lend loads more than I need but I arent going to put myself into the position of lending the full amount and having a tighter budget to live off because of it. Even though more money is available doesnt mean you are going to pay it and can easily walk away still.
Sarah x