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

quantic

This exact thing happened to me, made it very difficult to put in low offers from that point onwards, the EA knew that me and my partner could afford much more than we where offering so did not put some of our offers forward. I then requested that they gave us written confirmation of every offer we made, this helped somewhat.

namratasnv

quantic wrote: »

This exact thing happened to me, made it very difficult to put in low offers from that point onwards, the EA knew that me and my partner could afford much more than we where offering so did not put some of our offers forward. I then requested that they gave us written confirmation of every offer we made, this helped somewhat.

I think written conformation is much more beneficial and it will be worth in terms of making some offers.

http://www.connecticutwebuyhouses.com/

housebuyer_abc

timmyt wrote: »

SOLUTION:

you tell the estate agent that you are writing to the owner of the property informing them that you wish to view the property but that their agent is only accepting viewings from people who get their mortgage through them...which is putting lots of people off, and is simply bagging the estate agent extra commision from any mortgage they sell.

that threat, or even doing it, works a treat

good luck OP.

Do you know it is putting "lots of people of"? Or is it in fact only putting of the OP?

Either way I agree with the sentiment but if you are going to put something in writing make sure you stick to bald defensible facts and not generalisations to make it sound worse than it is

DVardysShadow

namratasnv wrote: »

I think written conformation is much more beneficial and it will be worth in terms of making some offers.

http://www.connecticutwebuyhouses.spam/

I have been watching you for weeks. I always thought you were a spam moron.

steve1980

A simple solution.

If you live in the area, post a note through to both the vendor saying that you wish to veiw the property but the estate agent will not let you unless you speak to their mortgage advisor.

You'll be amazed how quickly the agent calls you to arrange an appointment.

googler

A solution. E&W adopts the same buying/selling system as Scotland, one element of which is;

Offers are submitted to selling agents by solicitors acting on behalf of buyers. 99.9% of solicitors ensure that their buying client has finance in place, because if they don't, the solicitor is wasting their own time. Offers received are, therefore, generally assumed to be on behalf of clients who have finance in place.

zappahey

googler wrote: »

A solution. E&W adopts the same buying/selling system as Scotland, one element of which is;

Offers are submitted to selling agents by solicitors acting on behalf of buyers. 99.9% of solicitors ensure that their buying client has finance in place, because if they don't, the solicitor is wasting their own time.

Surely the fact that the offer is binding once accepted is more relevant than any time wasted.

I suspect the solicitor would be negligent if they did not ensure the buyer could finance the purchase.

Mrs_Money

Just to update - relatives eventually viewed the property - liked it and put in an offer- was then told that they would have to have the dreaded mortgage interview (3rd time now) BEFORE the offer was passed on to the vendor. Tut, Tut - more flouting of the 1979 Estate Agents Act!
For the record - the estate agent was Cubitt & West - winners of the Daily Mail's Best Estate Agency in Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex! Not sure why they were awarded this - and 2 years running as well!

Horizon81

I've recently faced this from agents - well, not in terms of viewings but in terms of offers - refusing to take any offers seriously until you agree to a mortgage consultation with their 'amazing in house specialist', however as long as you provide a Mortage Agreement In Principle they usually back off. It's fair enough that the seller wants to know that you have the funds in place to proceed but I definitely think it's a conflict of interests (not to mention bullying and a waste of time) at this insistence on seeing their adviser and telling them every detail of your financial position.

Mrs_Money

The trouble with having to prove a Mortage Agreement In Principle with paperwork is that my relative's lenders have advised against this as these MAIPs only last 3 months and each time they do a new one they do a credit check and according to the lender, this is not a good idea (to have multiple credit checks, that is) and it probably takes most people longer than 3 months to find themselves a new home. They've filled in all the forms, proved income etc and have a verbal mortgage offer from the building society, but no paperwork to "prove" it!
There must be a rash of silly buyers out there that are not really serious for this to be happening so widely.