Estate agent won't allow viewings until after a mortgage interview!

jozbo

Bl**dy Douglas Allen do this too

clg86

We had this problem too. We argued the toss with an EA as we had already been to see several mortgage advisors and knew exactly what we could afford, but they refused to show us around without going through their advisors first. 4 houses potentially lost a sale due to this.

However, the EA we eventually bought a house through was also a complete tool, so they all have their bad points...:)

DVardysShadow

ILW wrote: »

I am just saying that negotiating on a basis of what you can afford is just daft. Any decent saleperson will pull you apart on that one.
The standard reply being "if I can show you a way you could afford the higher price we must have a deal then". Gotcha.

As in "see our Mortgage Adviser so we can find a way of you affording it". Not only does the Mortgage Adviser look at the mortgage offer, they look at the salary if they can.

I would agree with your point that using what you can afford as a reason to say No is daft. But seeing the Mortgage Adviser actually moves the negotiation into just that arena.

tawse57

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Tell the EA to FOAD then write to the vendors and tell them.

FOAD? Fly on a dragon?

sammyjammy

tawse57 wrote: »

FOAD? Fly on a dragon?

Fck off and die?

maninthestreet

ILW wrote: »

I am just saying that negotiating on a basis of what you can afford is just daft. Any decent saleperson will pull you apart on that one.
The standard reply being "if I can show you a way you could afford the higher price we must have a deal then". Gotcha.

...and the standard reply to that is 'Why would I want to pay more for it than I know it's worth?'

newhome4us

GMS wrote: »

Knock on the vendor's door and explain the situation. Arange your own viewing if necessary. May be a negotiating point on price if no estate agents in the loop. Up to 2% EA fee to be knocked off. Cannot see how the estate agent could claim their commission when they flatly refused to introduce you to the vendor. Surely this is them foregoing their arrangement?

Where does law stand on this?
Our EA is also a real pain in the b** and has made the whole process of negotiating drag on, blaming it all along on vendor being unavailable, not having information and so on, whereas when we viewed the house vendor was very open about things, when it was possible for them to do so as EA was on our back constantly and has insisted all viewings have to be arranged with him being present!!
As the property is most deff overpriced and it's been on market for ages, I'm more and more inclined to approach seller directly and try to negotiate with them rather than agent - I think they are being missled by this agent anyway as the asking price is overinflated because this agent charges more than others and therefore in order to get seller satisfactory price they are upping asking price to start with. The seller would be better of withdrawing their property from this agents list and going it alone... can we gently suggest this to them ?

DVardysShadow

newhome4us wrote: »

... Our EA is also a real pain in the b** and has made the whole process of negotiating drag on, blaming it all along on vendor being .....

The seller would be better of withdrawing their property from this agents list and going it alone... can we gently suggest this to them ?

If you are not the seller, then the EA is NOT your EA!

You can suggest almost anything you like to the vendor, there are no laws restricting you here. But beware that if the vendor is under the thumb of the EA - or is using the EA to avoid contact with punters such as yourself - then your approach could be counter productive.

powerone

newhome4us wrote: »

Where does law stand on this?
Our EA is also a real pain in the b** and has made the whole process of negotiating drag on, blaming it all along on vendor being unavailable, not having information and so on, whereas when we viewed the house vendor was very open about things, when it was possible for them to do so as EA was on our back constantly and has insisted all viewings have to be arranged with him being present!!
As the property is most deff overpriced and it's been on market for ages, I'm more and more inclined to approach seller directly and try to negotiate with them rather than agent - I think they are being missled by this agent anyway as the asking price is overinflated because this agent charges more than others and therefore in order to get seller satisfactory price they are upping asking price to start with. The seller would be better of withdrawing their property from this agents list and going it alone... can we gently suggest this to them ?

If the estage agent has introduced you to this property on behalf of the owners then you cant go around them and avoid their costs. I think this lasts for 12 months after.

If you found the property without the need of the estage agent all is okay.

Al the estate agent will do is sue both of you for breach of contract. They introduced you that is their job.

DVardysShadow

powerone wrote: »

If the estage agent has introduced you to this property on behalf of the owners then you cant go around them and avoid their costs. I think this lasts for 12 months after.

If you found the property without the need of the estage agent all is okay.

Al the estate agent will do is sue both of you for breach of contract. They introduced you that is their job.

Estate Agent can indeed sue the buyer, until he is blue in the face or gets declared a vexatious litigant. But he will get nowhere. As I already pointed out, he is the buyer's agent and there is no contractual relationship between the buyer and the estate agent, unless the buyer takes conveyancing or financial services - and even this would not give the EA grounds to claim on the buyer.