Estate Agent got very snarky...

jockosjungle

Its mostly to get people to view houses I think, how are they offering them to you? If its in an e-mail they probably get all properties in a pricing bracket.

If you're unsure about a house and are likely to bid on othere houses with that agent, rjust make sure you stick to your guns, as in if you say you'd only pay £260k, then make sure you don't come back with higher offers.

I'm pretty sure an EA knows the difference between what you can afford and what you want to pay, in many cases they want a sale (not selling a house for £265k is worse business than selling one for £260k).

betmunch

Another point to remember is that just because the EA knows you can buy at 300K doesnt mean that you have to. make your offer and stand firm. it could go like this:

You: I'd like to offer 275k for that house
EA: Great, I have spoke to the vendors and they cant accept less than 285k, thats well within your budget so shall I tell them we have a deal?
You: Nope, sorry I am offering 275k. Did you tell them thats the most we will go to?
EA: I told them your offer was 275k but I know you can go to 300k so I suggested we met in the middle to make a deal.
You: Oh dear, I only offered 275k for the house, you better go back and tell them thats the final offer
EA: But you can go to 300k!
You: But I am not going to......
EA: !!!!!!, and heres me breaking all the rules to get a sale!

Obviously a bit tongue in cheek, but so what if they know what you can go to.

geoffky

have a look here in 2003 that was going on then...http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/10_october/29/money_programme_mortgage.shtml and still is going on..

tommy75

The ONLY reason an EA try's to pressure you into seeing their financial adviser is to find out your annual wage and the maximum amount you can borrow from a bank so to exploit as much money as they can from you.

DVardysShadow

Fly_Baby wrote: »

Thank you so much for the detailed response to my questions.

I am still a bit confused: the EA knows my budget anyway. And if I say that I can afford up to, say, 300K, then what's the point in pushing me for more if I just cannot get a bigger mortgage?

If the house is on at 270K and I am offering that and reluctant to pay more - then again, the EA knows that I can afford up to 300K.

What's the solution then? They will need to know what my budget is anyway, before starting to offer me any viewings.

The answer is that you do not tell them your budget, you tell them that you will consider houses with asking price between X and Y. And you leave a wide margin between X and Y, but filter more accurately for yourself.

Orpheo

jockosjungle wrote: »

Hmmm, I've had the same problems as the OP and in all honesty I think there is a little blame on both sides (more on EA though).

If what you say is true and you told the EA that you'll sort yourself out, it is fair enough but not really very helpful to anyone. What you should have said is "I've already got a mortgage in place from <my bank>, I've got a signed mortgage contract here saying what they'll lend me. If you had got that from either the Post Office or HSBC on a 10% fixed, a mortgage adviser cannot beat the quote, you could also then have said that.

We got bullied into a mortgage interview with a part market guy in Entwistle Green, really forced us on a hard sell (we only went in to enquire about a house advert in the window we couldn't read).

When I actually found the house I wanted, I did the whole market MA in the local EA after we'd agreed a price. Wanted to see if he could beat my quote and he couldn't.

I am very uncomfortable about using an inhouse MA, I imagine they'd make sure you paid the maximum you could (often they demand to put bids in for you).

Just make sure next time that you have an AIP in place, that way you do have the funds and they cannot insist you see their adviser, they cannot anyway but they can also tell you to get lost when you put a bid in

R

Who am I obliged to be helpful to? What makes you think that I don't have everything in place that I need to have in place in order to proceed? I don't have to prove anything to anyone until I am ready to make an offer. I certainly do not accept any obligation that I must prove to an EA that they can't beat my mortgage quote. I said "no", end of. They may well be able to beat my quote, but, as alluded to in my OP, in opening up my financial position to them I am giving them the opportunity to exploit that knowledge to extend my borrowing to the limit. I know what my borrowing limit is, I will not be borrowing anywhere close to that amount. I have other things to consider in life, such as saving to contribute to my daughter's higher education.

I am in no hurry to rush in and buy the first property that I see, here in Lincoln there are a lot of suitable properties for sale, the prices are dropping very rapidly and I intend to view them at my leisure. Let's just say that I am confident that, with nothing to sell, a deposit in excess of 50%, expected mortgage borrowing of about 2.5x single income and an unblemished credit record from 13 years of home-ownership**, an AIP will not be difficult to arrange. Yes, I have already broached the subject with mortgage lenders, but considering that most AIPs expire after 30 days, and that I expect, unless we see "the" house for us tomorrow, to be househunting for several months, clutching an AIP with me wherever I go at this stage seems to be putting the cart before the horse.

I think from the subtext of my original post, you might come to the conclusion that I do not allow myself to be bullied by EAs.

**I use the term "home ownership" for want of a more accurate term. Mortgagees are not truly home-owners. I will own my home when I have repaid the mortgage debt.

Orpheo

Fly_Baby wrote: »

I am still a bit confused: the EA knows my budget anyway.

None of the estate agents through which I'm viewing know my budget. All that thay know is the maximum asking price of houses that I would like to be notified of. If I gave EAs access to my budget then they would see that I can potentially borrow about 60% more than I intend to. We are a small family, 2 adults and 1 daughter aged 12. We do not "need" anything more than a 3 bed semi. We will not make the mistake of maxing out our borrowing, neither by choice nor via EA manipulation.

Orpheo

betmunch wrote: »

Another point to remember is that just because the EA knows you can buy at 300K doesnt mean that you have to. make your offer and stand firm. it could go like this:

You: I'd like to offer 275k for that house
EA: Great, I have spoke to the vendors and they cant accept less than 285k, thats well within your budget so shall I tell them we have a deal?
You: Nope, sorry I am offering 275k. Did you tell them thats the most we will go to?
EA: I told them your offer was 275k but I know you can go to 300k so I suggested we met in the middle to make a deal.
You: Oh dear, I only offered 275k for the house, you better go back and tell them thats the final offer
EA: But you can go to 300k!
You: But I am not going to......
EA: !!!!!!, and heres me breaking all the rules to get a sale!

Obviously a bit tongue in cheek, but so what if they know what you can go to.

You are correct. And this is how I would respond had I been foolish enough, in the first instance, to give the EA enough information about my budget to approach negotiations from such an angle.

jockosjungle

Estate agents have a duty to the people whose houses they are selling, what I said was that you had nothing in place yourself to prove to anyone (even yourself) that anyone would give you a mortgage - well all you had was your own opinion on that you could get a mortgage. As I have found from my own experience and to be fair more recent than 13 years ago, all estate agents will want you to see their MA. They will want some idea that you have actually considered how you can get a mortgage, all I needed to say was I had an AIP from HSBC and didn't need to see a MA, all you could say was that the EA was pulling a fast one - its obvious I'm sure even to yourself that you do need to see somebody about a mortgage.

I said you didn't have things in place to be able to proceed, because you say as much in your original post and in this latest one.

Congratulations on not being bullied by EA's, however I would say at the very least you need a decent working relationship with them. I'd read some of the threads here on timewasters, you may well not be, but someone who doesn't have the funds available and refuses to take steps, doesn't sound like someone desperate to buy a house.

If a new house came onto the market and it would suit you, do you think an EA would say "hmm, who should i call first, I know the person who has no proof of a mortgage funds and was rude to us!"

ALso a HSBC AIP lasts 3 months, also at no point did I show anyone how much I can borrow until I'd agreed a deal for the house, they were just happy I had an AIP

Orpheo

jockosjungle wrote: »

Estate agents have a duty to the people whose houses they are selling, what I said was that you had nothing in place yourself to prove to anyone (even yourself) that anyone would give you a mortgage - well all you had was your own opinion on that you could get a mortgage. As I have found from my own experience and to be fair more recent than 13 years ago, all estate agents will want you to see their MA. They will want some idea that you have actually considered how you can get a mortgage, all I needed to say was I had an AIP from HSBC and didn't need to see a MA, all you could say was that the EA was pulling a fast one - its obvious I'm sure even to yourself that you do need to see somebody about a mortgage.

I said you didn't have things in place to be able to proceed, because you say as much in your original post and in this latest one.

Congratulations on not being bullied by EA's, however I would say at the very least you need a decent working relationship with them. I'd read some of the threads here on timewasters, you may well not be, but someone who doesn't have the funds available and refuses to take steps, doesn't sound like someone desperate to buy a house.

If a new house came onto the market and it would suit you, do you think an EA would say "hmm, who should i call first, I know the person who has no proof of a mortgage funds and was rude to us!"

ALso a HSBC AIP lasts 3 months, also at no point did I show anyone how much I can borrow until I'd agreed a deal for the house, they were just happy I had an AIP

You seem to be selectively reading my posts. I try to make words count.

Thanks for the wisdom of your recent experience. But, to be fair, in the last 13 years I have bought and sold 3 times. Selling to rent in January of 2009.

Most AIPs last 30 days.

I actually bank with HSBC, I know that they will give me a mortgage, but I will not choose them. My previous mortgager, the Halifax gave me an AIP that lasted 12 months - not their normal procedure**; the 12 months has just expired.

I am not a timewaster. We are using our time carefully to choose the right house where, circumstances permitting, we will be spending at least the next 10 years. Probably the next 20.

I am ready to proceed and I have never been rude to an estate agent. I have impeccable manners. Asserting my choice not to see their mortgage adviser is not rudeness. The EA getting angry because I refused was rude.

Thank you, but congratulations aren't required, it wasn't such a great achievement, I just said no. Simple really.

I do not need a working relationship with an EA. They are not working for me. Nevertheless I communicate with people who aren't working for me all the time. EAs included. We exhange words, I view houses, they ask for feedback, I give it, job done. When the time comes that I am ready to make an offer and if that offer is accepted, then the EA will have to develop a relationship with my solicitor.

I am getting plenty of interest from EAs. Heck, this week I even had an EA phone me to tell me that a house that I viewed and rejected several weeks ago had received an offer. What strange behaviour. I had put the house well and truly out of my head; I didn't quite know what to say. Perhaps he was bored wanted someone to talk to?

**this was subject to continuation of my previous mortgage product, which, unfortunately I had to take a £1k hit for early redemption. They allowed me the option to port the product within 12 months and be refunded the £1k penalty.