Estate agents' hard sell on mortgages etc..

moneysavingplumber

My wife and I are buying a house for the first time and have done all the right things with regard to mortgages, including using Experian's and Moneysupermarket's tools to check availability, as well as having a preliminary chat with London & Country. What we're struggling with is some of the agents selling the properties that we like are becoming almost beligerent about us talking to their 'mortgage adviser', in addition to trying to push conveyancing quotes onto us as well. I'm actually getting the impression that we can expect a less than efficient service from them (almost to the point of obstruction it would seem) if, as I have so far, refuse to let them broker our mortgage. Anybody else have this experience?

Cannon_Fodder

Pretty common. Just be firm but polite. Say you are sorted for a mortgage. Express a willingness to go knock on the vendor's front door, if they don't oblige you with an official viewing...

Cannon_Fodder wrote: »

Are they NAEA members?

6. Submission of Offers

Discrimination
6c By law you must not discriminate, or threaten to discriminate, against a prospective buyer of the seller’s property because that person declines to accept that you will (directly or indirectly) provide services to them.

Continues http://www.naea.co.uk/uploads/COP/OEACodeSales Part 2.pdf

rickbwfc

My ex girlfriend started work as sales negotiator for an estate agent. She's got £30 commission if anyone agreed to their financial services.

moneysavingplumber

Cannon_Fodder wrote: »

Pretty common. Just be firm but polite. Say you are sorted for a mortgage. Express a willingness to go knock on the vendor's front door, if they don't oblige you with an official viewing...



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Thanks for that. One this morning was wittering on about being able to provide an 'agreement in principle', which I assume isn't worth anything? The undertone from all of them is that we won't have any credibility with a vendor unless we have this supposed 'agreement'.

Cannon_Fodder

An AIP is no guarantee, but it is an indication. At point of offer, it would be sensible to have one, so that if the vendor has two offers they can weigh up the relative merits of the offers.

Some threads on here have people only getting an AIP after their offer was accepted, even though its not the ideal method - in case something unexpected crops up and prevents them from progressing. It does seem that some vendor's who have had no offers for a while will accept an offer without AIP, as being better than no offer at all.

Go and get an AIP, to wave in front of EAs, it may help your bargaining position as well.

moneysavingplumber

I'm quite surprised, as it's the one thing L & C never mentioned or offered, simply that we could go no further until we had a property to make an offer on. I take it that not all brokers offer an AIP?

Thanks.

dunstonh

I'm actually getting the impression that we can expect a less than efficient service from them (almost to the point of obstruction it would seem) if, as I have so far, refuse to let them broker our mortgage. Anybody else have this experience?

Estate agent mortgage advisers have the worst reputation out there. They should be avoided at all cost (apart from the independent agents with independent brokers - its mainly the chains that are the problem).

I got the hard sell approach one and I said no. I was pushed a bit more and was told they would not recommend my offer to the vendor unless I saw the mortgage adviser first. They went on to ask my occupation. I lied and told them I was an enforcement officer for the FSA. The person went pale and backed down.

I'm quite surprised, as it's the one thing L & C never mentioned or offered, simply that we could go no further until we had a property to make an offer on. I take it that not all brokers offer an AIP?

L&C are not interested until you have a property. That has been their position for a long time. Its to stop time wasters. Different mortgage advisers will have a different position. A local independent is likely to be more flexible and interested in dealing with you than a national firm that is spoon fed clients because of they are promoted on a consumer website.

betmunch

Best advice is to tell them you are all sorted but will do a comparison with them when you find the house you are after.

Weather you do the comparison or not is up to you but it should keep them quiet!

I would suggest getting the comparison is a good idea, but dont sign for anything until you have checked all your options, then go back to whoever gave you the best rate, it could well be the EA advisor.

If you feel that they are being obstructive because you have turned down their services then write to their head office to complain. The market is so poor right now they should just be happy they are getting a viewer!

ItMightBeUsefulOneDay

moneysavingplumber wrote: »

What we're struggling with is some of the agents selling the properties that we like are becoming almost beligerent about us talking to their 'mortgage adviser'

Please do yourself a favour and DON'T talk to their "independent" mortgage advisor. Remember the EAs work for the seller of the property, not you. Their job is to obtain the maximum price for that seller (at your expense) and gaining details of your financial situation is a big help (to them) in doing this. They'll know your maximum price and push you to that.

There is no legal (or moral) obligation for you to make their job easier. Get your mortgage broker to provide a statement to the affect that you are good for the money. Make it absolutely clear to them you will NOT be using their advisor and if they don't pass on your offer you will make it direct to the seller with a note on their behaviour.

moneysavingplumber

Thanks everybody. I'm going to take dunstonh's advice and contact a local independant. I'm highly sceptical that the EA's in-house adviser could come up with anything competitive, the staff member trying to push me across was talking about simple 'per month' savings they were able to make, and seemed a bit lost when I started talking about the overall debt cost and selecting a higher fixed rate for the first five years to decrease the actual debt and then re-evcaluating, and started replying with that famous refrain of 'absolutely!'.

betmunch

ItMightBeUsefulOneDay wrote: »

There is no legal (or moral) obligation for you to make their job easier. Get your mortgage broker to provide a statement to the affect that you are good for the money. Make it absolutely clear to them you will NOT be using their advisor and if they don't pass on your offer you will make it direct to the seller with a note on their behaviour.

Absolutely spot on advice here, except for one thing: Your making it a battle.

Much easier is to hear them out then do your own thing once the offer is accepted.



Also, with regard to the in house advisor knowing what your top price is. This is irrelevant, (ignoring the breach of the DPA or the conflict of interest issues) you offer what you are willing to pay for the property, not what you are able to pay for the property.