Tried to make an offer today but....

DVardysShadow

Southend1 wrote: »

This is exactly why I suspect the mortgage advisor just got all funny with me!

Can anyone tell me what the "qualification" process actually involves. e.g. credit check etc?

Sorry, to get back to this question, it should only be a matter of proving that you have a mortgage offer and enough funds tomake up the difference between your mortgage offer and the offer price. Under no circumstances should the agent make a credit check and you should not agree to this. Nor should you show them any offer in principle.

DVardysShadow

MissMotivation wrote: »

You have misunderstood what I wrote. I said minimal information, i.e an AIP.

Asking for wage slips, contracts etc is invasive and unecessary I agree.

An AIP is not minimal. It is downright invasive. It crosses the boundary between establishing that the buyer can fulfil their offer and knowing how much you can screw out of them.

Agents only have legitimate grounds to verify that a buyer can meet any offer which is agreed in principle. They have absolutely no reason WHATSOEVER to know the buyer's top limit.

Southend1

Update: Just rang agent to chase him up. He said he had heard from the vendor 20 minutes ago and hadn't had time to call me back.

Apparently he passed on the offer and she "hasn't said yes or no". She has 2 viewings tonight and wants to see how they go. So I said that I have other viewings lined up too (true!) and I'll leave the offer open until 17.00 tomorrow and if I haven't heard by then will call to check but assume its a no and continue looking.

The "qualification" wasn't mentioned.

I'm going to confirm my offer in writing to the vendor and post it by hand tonight. Just to make sure she has definitely received it. Then I'll pop a copy of the letter in to the agent.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice so far!

penguingirl

We never showed the EAs on either of the 2 properties we had offers accepted on our AIP and refused to see their mortgage advisors. Both EAs asked to see our AIP and we said that after an offer is accepted we would get our solicitor to email them confirming that we had funds (deposit and AIP) and also that we would book our survey ASAP (i.e. that week). In reality we never did either of these things for the second property as the first one became proceedable again (and we exchanged within 24hrs of putting an offer on the 2nd house so hopefully didn't mess them around too much, eek!). Also I think that EAs forget that one day buyers will become sellers and I know I certaintly won't use the EA we bought through because they were so rude and aggressive (and downright useless!). I'd like a way of checking if vendors are proceedable...

Fingers crossed for you OP!

Southend1

penguingirl wrote: »

I'd like a way of checking if vendors are proceedable...

Fingers crossed for you OP!

Me too!

Thanks penguingirl!

MissMotivation

PJD wrote: »

And the only way they're going to have a chance of getting that measly £50, is by passing them on! Dear oh dear, you're really not helping your cause are you.

You said "passing them onto the Mortgage Adviser" not "forcing them to sign up for a mortgage". I wasn't aware I had "a cause"


At least we agree on something! It's the only thing they give a flying **** about, hence the hatred towards them.

If you are going to quote me then at least use the whole quote.

I reply to threads on these boards to give advice about things that I know about and to educate and help posters.....I don't expect to be flamed for just telling people the way things work. If you don't agree with my posts then fair enough, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. But these offensive remarks are in no way helping the OP are they?

Southend1

MissMotivation wrote: »

I reply to threads on these boards to give advice about things that I know about and to educate and help posters.....I don't expect to be flamed for just telling people the way things work. If you don't agree with my posts then fair enough, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. But these offensive remarks are in no way helping the OP are they?

Please don't let's argue on my thread!

I just want to say thanks once again to everyone for all your kind advice today - and that includes you MissMotivation: even if I didn't necessarily agree with you, I still appreciate the time and effort taken to help me.

:beer:

DVardysShadow

Acidic_Camel wrote: »

Just to throw in my recent experience...

When we got our AIP we were told explicitly by the bank (two, in fact) that the estate agents would request it if we had an offer accepted. At some point you will have to show it to the EA because they will need the proof that you can pay what you claim.

The 'risk' that the vendor will raise their offer after seeing the AIP won't go away, surely? They will need to see it before you sign the contract and they can still raise their asking price up to that point - the invasiveness aside, your position as a buyer is no better I would have thought? Possibly even hurt as the vendor gets the impression that you have something to hide.

Personally, I agree that it's a crap system, open to abuse, but I don't see how that's going to change any time soon.

Actually, I have never had to show an AIP to an EA. I don't think it is necessary and I think that the correct route is for the buyer's solicitor to advise that the AIP plus funds demonstrated by the buyer will cover the agreed price. It is not part of the formal process at the moment, but perhaps it should be. It certainly beats the sham 'qualification' meeting with the EA's mortgage advisor.

DVardysShadow

MissMotivation wrote: »

I reply to threads on these boards to give advice about things that I know about and to educate and help posters.....I don't expect to be flamed for just telling people the way things work. If you don't agree with my posts then fair enough, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. But these offensive remarks are in no way helping the OP are they?

Actually, I think you have overstepped the mark from advising and informing to advocacy of a position

MissMotivation wrote: »

I wouldn't bank on it, my Vendors would want to know that the person offering was qualified before negotiating on an offer.

Look, just offer what you want to and if it's declined then move on....no-one can force you to make a higher offer....even if you can afford to pay more.

It is certainly far from accepted here that vendors [or their agents] should be in a position to know about AIP's before a price is agreed. I would say it is indefensible and you should not be talking up your vendors' expectations on this matter - you should be telling them that qualification comes after negotiation. I say this having been in the position of vendor almost as many times as I have bought.

China2 wrote: »

This happened when we bought a little while ago. We had arranged our AIP through a independent broker already so we just gave the EA his contact details and said he has our paperwork and can confirm our position.

When we next saw the broker he told us that the EA had tried to get him to disclose the maximum amount of the offer. The broker refused and said he would only confirm that it covered our offer amount.

So I see exactly why you are concerned and definitely wouldn't show them! Was your AIP through a broker? in which case you may be able to do something similar.

This is exactly why qualification should not be carried out before a price is agreed. It is a breach of professional ethics if the in-house advisor tells the agent how much money is at the disposal of the buyer and it is particularly brazen of an agent to ask the buyer's own independent advisor to breach his client's confidence in this way. It is evidence, if evidence is required that Agents cannot be trusted with AIP information.

As an aside, this affects FTB's the most, because their mortgages are almost always 90% ish and they are naturally less experienced in dealing with agents. Anywhere else, the buyer can probably do some smoke and mirrors with savings, debt and equity in their present property.

MissMotivation

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Actually, I think you have overstepped the mark from advising and informing to advocacy of a position

Ok, so you disagree with me, lets just leave it at that now. If you have a problem with the way that I and hundreds of EA's operate then that's your prerogative, but, hand on my heart I can say that I am doing the best for my clients. I also know that once the deal is done that sale is less likely to fall through because the buyer can't get a mortgage.

I've said twice now that this is not helping the OP....if you still have an issue with the advice I am giving the take it to PM.