Estate agent trying to push me to meet with mortgage broker

Green_Jelly

Hi,
I have recently seen a house for sale and have contacted the estate agent about a viewing, which they have duly arranged.

However, they are pushing for me to have a meeting with a mortgage advisor, so that he can suggest mortgages and also so that he can check my financial situation.

The person I talked to at the estate agent said that it was a service that they offered to their vendors to check the financial position of potential bidders.

Now, I have put a number of offers on properties in the same area over the past few months, and not once has an estate agent tried to do this to me (this is the first time I have had any dealings with this specific agency). Other agents have certainly asked what my financial situation is, and I have always given them an honest assessment of it.

I do have an agreement in principle, which more than covers the value of the property and which I would be happy to show to the estate agent.

On that basis, if I like the property and do want to put an offer in, I am tell them about the mortgage in principle (and show it to them if they like) and politely, but firmly decline this attempt to get me into a sales pitch with their mortgage advisor.

Whether they will downplay my offer to the vendor, I suppose is down to them, but I refuse to be manipulated like that.

I'm not sure if I should name the estate agent here, but I did wonder if any other people have had similar experiences.

Would be interested in any thoughts you have.

princeofpounds

Well, you are right. Tell them that you know they have a legal duty to pass on a written offer. Tell them that you do not wish to disclose your full financial position to a person in their office as it might prejudice negotiations. Tell them that you already have a great mortgage offer and he will not be able to beat it. Tell them a simple 'thanks, but no'.

If they argue, ask them if they did not hear what you just said properly

And if they threaten to downplay your offer, tell them that if you feel they are being obstructive you will approach the vendor direct and inform them of your concerns.

Cannon_Fodder

Say "thank you but no thanks". You certainly don't want the vendor knowing your full buying power...

Is the agent a member of an EA organisation? They may be covered by a Code of Conduct, such as;

http://www.naea.co.uk/uploads/COP/OEACodeSales%20Part%202.pdf

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. Discrimination includes – but

is not limited to – the following:

SimonMrGreenWard

I'd bet it's a CountryWide agent. Ignore what they say, they have no right to ask to see any information prior to even viewing.

I'd not even show them an agreement in principle as they know what you can go to in price.

Green_Jelly

SimonMrGreenWard wrote: »

I'd bet it's a CountryWide agent. Ignore what they say, they have no right to ask to see any information prior to even viewing.

I'd not even show them an agreement in principle as they know what you can go to in price.

I looked it up and, yes, they are one of the agents listed on the CountryWide site.

If I do put an offer in, I'll see what they say and if I am suspicious of them not putting the offer to the vendor, or downplaying it, I may well put a note through the vendors' letterbox, just confirming to them that I have put the offer in.

Thanks for all of the input so far, and looking forward to any further thoughts.

moneysavingplumber

I had all this nonsense from the agent we're buying through. A quick mention of Section 6C of the Ombudsman's Code of Practice for Residential Sales soon put a stop to that. The particular staff member that pushed that little too much and was the subject of my complaint now seems to avoid dealing with me, which I consider a bonus! They have since forwarded an offer which was accepted (although it's now the vendor exasperating both us and the EA), and we are now on as good a set of terms as anybody can ever be with an EA.

Ankatden

Had this happen adn met with their "adviser", she was a clown, my offer was £5k higher BUT EA gave recommendation to Vendor to sell to other party as they knew him, emailed vendor but still sold to other party. EA's manager quite obnoxious.

2 months later (was 2008) the EA's office shut down and made me smile driving past it.

Green_Jelly

Right, I saw the house today and spoke to the agent about this.

They said that they will only put offers to the vendor if I have met with their mortgage advisor.

They tried telling me that no vendor would accept an offer without an agent doing that, which I laughed off and explained that I had put in plenty of offers with plenty of estate agents, and had never had a situation like this.

They also said that they did it because it was in their contract with the vendor, that they would vet all offers in this way.

Now, the only thing I wasn't sure of, is whether a vendor could contract with a vendor that they would only be sent offers that have been financially vetted by the agent.

Reading the naea code of practice it does say (section 6a):

"By law, you must tell sellers as soon as is reasonably possible about all offers that you receive...unless the offer is an amount or type which the seller has specifically instructed you, in writing, not to pass on"

So, could a contract that the EA suggests is in place, constitute an instruction to not pass on offers that haven't been "vetted" using their process, and would that allow them to get around the law?

Just to clarify, they haven't said that they will downplay the offer, but that they flat-out won't send it on.

Any further input would be greatly appreciated.

olly300

Green_Jelly wrote: »

Right, I saw the house today and spoke to the agent about this.

They said that they will only put offers to the vendor if I have met with their mortgage advisor.

They tried telling me that no vendor would accept an offer without an agent doing that, which I laughed off and explained that I had put in plenty of offers with plenty of estate agents, and had never had a situation like this.

Try and go back sometime this week, and see if the vendors are in. If they are explain politely what their estate agent is saying.

If they are not in put your contact details on a note saying who you are i.e. when you viewed the house and you want to make an offer. Also add that you have a mortgage in principle from and name the bank. Put it through their letter box.

Make an offer verbally and in writing through the estate agent without seeing their mortgage advisor.

Wait 24 hours and put a note through the vendors door stating that you have made an offer through their estate agent and you hope they have got it.

The estate agent acts for the vendor however if they refuse to pass on offers then they are not acting in the vendors interest.

Ankatden

Green_Jelly wrote: »

Right, I saw the house today and spoke to the agent about this.

They said that they will only put offers to the vendor if I have met with their mortgage advisor.

I would meet their adviser and be polite you already have an agreement in principle, satisfies EA requirements, never know IFA could get you a better deal than currently you are on.

Why does everybody assume that the deal they quoted for by someone else is always the best one and can't be bettered ?

Question is do you want the house ?

Green_Jelly

Ankatden wrote: »

I would meet their adviser and be polite you already have an agreement in principle, satisfies EA requirements, never know IFA could get you a better deal than currently you are on.

Why does everybody assume that the deal they quoted for by someone else is always the best one and can't be bettered ?

Question is do you want the house ?

The problem is that until I provide financial information (EA told me I would need to provide at least the AIP plus details of where the other money is coming from) to that mortgage broker, they are saying that they will not put an offer forward.

Should I have to do that? It would seem to undermine my negotiating position. And, are they allowed to do that?

Now, I can understand that they might say "we'll put it forward, but we'll say that we only have your word for the agreement in princinple".

However, am I really to believe that, in a situation where I put in an offer that is 25K more than the next best offer, the vendor wouldn't want to even be informed of that offer?

Seems to be that they are not acting in the best interests of the vendor, and that they are trying to push me into, either taking a mortgage out with them, or at least getting their hands on my financial details.

At the very least, I shall be contacting the vendor, to ensure he knows what is going on, and also contacting the Property Ombudsman (as they are a member of that scheme).