Estate agent saying we have to use their mortgage deals

dan536

Hi,

Hopefully someone can answer a couple of questions for us. The situation is as follows:

We are first time buyers who have had an offer accepted on a house. The sellers are buying a repossessed property and so we are the only people in the chain.

We have told the estate agent we are going to HSBC on Monday to sort the mortgage.

He has told us that this cannot happen as the deal must go through quickly (28 day rule on repossessed properties and apparently HSBC are taking up to 12 weeks to sort mortgages) and so we must use their mortgage guy who has found a deal for us. We have been told by HSBC that it should take 5-6 weeks.

Several problems here as far as we are concerned. Surely this 28 day rule on repossessed properties cannot be set in stone - after all the companies involved must know how long some things can take.

We simply don't want the deal being offered by the estate agent, it's a tracker and we would like the HSBC 2yr fixed deal. The alternative fixed from the estate agent is 1% above the HSBC rate, therefore, more expensive.

Now - the questions are:

1) Is the estate agent spinning us a yarn in order to get the deal done quickly AND get us to use their mortgage deals
2) If we don't use them and go with the HSBC AND go past the 28 days, will the sellers lose their repossessed house? This may well mean we don't get theirs I asssume.

We are not happy to be pushed around and will (rather unhappily) pull out of the whole thing if we can't get our mortgage with the HSBC - but would rather we can find a way round the situation. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks very much, Dan.

richardvc

I have no expertise in this so please get advice from someone who does know what they are talking about. But my twopennyworth is....

1. You're not buying a repossessed a property, your vendors are. They may have to move quickly but if you are not in a position to move that quickly then they shouldn't have accepted your offer (I assume they know you cannot complete in 28 days ?)

2. No-one can force you to use their own services, you need to shop around and don't be bullied.

3. I smell a rat here, if you are unsure, don't be forced down the road to exchange.

4. I would get the facts sorted asap

brit1234

No it is not right. Seems they want the commision on the mortgage.:mad:

hazybubbles

The estate agent can't force you to use their mortgage so just say no.

Obviously it would be good for you to try and help the people you are buying from to meet their deadline but it is THEIR deadline not yours. They are fully aware of it and should make arrangements to bridge the gap in finances if you are unable to complete by the end of the 28 days.

If you decide to go ahead with HSBC make sure they are aware of the deadline and get your solicitor to regularly harrass them to get it through quicker.

The estate agent is only so desperate for you to use their mortgage advisor because they will get a nice bonus for the referral

Ulfar

No you don't have to use their mortgage broker. If they try and insist ask them to confirm this in writing, they won't. Trading standards would be very happy to see you if you did have a letter to this effect.

Your vendors are buying a repossession and it will remain on the market until they exchange. The bank will want them to complete as quickly as possible, if another buyer comes along that can complete quicker you end up with a contract race.

The time limits are not your problem but theirs, where there is a chain involved even a really small one buying a repossession is difficult. What would happen if you pulled out.

Do not be pressurized into doing things too quickly as it is very easy to overlook something, this could be very expensive for you later whether it is something physically wrong with the house or something legally.

dan536

You have said exactly what we feel. Thank you.

They're the ones buying the repossession (exactly) - they even made us wait 2.5 weeks before accepting our offer while they waited to see if their offer on the repossessed was accepted. At no point during that time were we made aware that it'd need to move through in 28 days, otherwise we might have got things moving earlier.

It just happens that the seller is also a friend of the estate agent dealing with both properties - so I assume they're getting pushy in order to get the deal through for their mates.

I'm certain they realise we can't guarantee a completion in 28 days - who can - except the estate agent who is telling us they can get a mortgage agreed with them in a week apparently. Even so - who's to say that the searches etc.. on the solicitors side of things won't take longer?

Hopefully, more people will say similar things. It's just incredibly annoying.

dan536

Ulfar wrote: »

What would happen if you pulled out.

Our thoughts too - we know for a fact that there are only 2 other offers available to them - one that's too low and the other that's more than the asking price but from a couple who haven't even sold their house yet. Ours is £500 over the asking price, so pretty good.

We are their only option currently. It's seems it's either us, at our pace - and we will try to move it as quickly (but safely) as possible. Or someone else, which, unless they're cash buyers, will still take longer than 28 days.

Zelie

Might be worthwhile going back for another viewing and then happening to mention it to the vendor. Of course you'll be awfully sorry that you "have" to get a mortgage via the estate agent because you don't want to do that and would the vendor find it easier if you just backed out now to allow them to get another buyer.... I'm pretty sure if my sale was at risk cos one of my mates was sodding around I'd be smacking them upside the head for it.

Person_one

I bought a repo and it took about 45 days.

The companies that manage the reposessions seem to try to scare people with the threat that they'll pull out at 28 days and all solicitors/survey fees etc will be lost. In reality the only way this could happen is if a higher offer is accepted, and whether it would be accepted at a late stage in the game is questionable, as a sale progressing and near completion is often more valuable than an offer with nothing to back it up even if it is a bit more money.

None of this however is your problem, and the estate agents are completely out of line trying to force you to use their services. They may think that as FTBs you will blindly believe everything they say, we had a lot of that attitude!

dan536

Thanks again all,

Luckily we do have another viewing booked in for Saturday. Might just be worth mentioning the situation, just in case the stories for either side don't match up.

Good to hear that another repo sale took longer to go through. We can't understand how 28 days can be the absolute limit. Surely - if we happen to take 6 weeks and get the sale going through, that's a whole load beter than it taking 4 months because they need to find other buyers. Especially in the market at the moment. Not to mention the imminent election.

While we're FTBers, having been in sales myself (although now a teacher) and my wife who is still in sales, we're probably not the pushovers they were hoping for. Well...my wife isn't anyway.

Alias_Omega

Find a deal else where, and if the estate agent lender can match/beat it, then go with it.

Then when it takes longer than 28 days you can blaim him.