Estate Agent won't put forward my offer until I talk to their mortgage people

Liesje

Dear all,

This is the first time I have used this forum and I have been overwhelmed by your responses so thank you very much.

I had a few problems logging back in hence why I have only replied now.

I went back to BS last night to 'show willing'. I met with their financial advisor and told him what I'd told the EA - that he could call my broker who would confirm my eligibility to put forward my offer but that I was not prepared to divulge any further information about my finances, especially as he was working in an open plan office. To my surprise, he completely backed down when I told him this and didn't try to push it any further. He didn't seem that interested in calling my broker though, saying he'd look into it the next morning, which confirms to me this was all about cross-selling.

Meanwhile, apparently my offer had been put forward to the vendor, further giving weight to the argument that they had to do this despite any boxes supposedly being ticked re financial vetting.

I am quite shocked that the EA blatantly lied to me. I am a first time buyer and so far have had a terrible impression of the industry (I recently pulled out of an offer I made because another EA, W.J. Meade, refused to take the property of RightMove - again, citing company policy!!!) Although this has ended ok i.e. my offer has been put forward, I had to waste an evening going out to the area where the house is to keep the EA sweet (I figured there was no point getting on the wrong side of her given she was my principal access to the seller - I did consider sending a letter to the vendor but the house is currently vacant so I'm not sure when it would get picked up).

@Mandi: Bairstowe Eves aren't members of NAEA but thanks for the tip - useful to know.
@firsttimetom: my flatmate is very sceptical also of there ever being a box which the vendor has ticked...

In summary, thank you all very much.

mo9999

Just to assure you that not all EA's are the same, there is a box which the vendor can tick or which can be electronically ticked which asks for any prospective purchaser to be finacially qualified. Most vendors do want this service, however, this does not give the EA or their Mortgage Advisor the right to insist on meeting with you.

As an estate agent, the good practice that we follow is that we will put all offers forward verbally and in writing within 24 - 48 hours (depending on working hours) to the vendors (copy to the applicant) and the outcome of the offer will also be notified verbally and in writing.

The exceptions to this are unless if we are instructed in writing by the vendor to not put offers forwards without detailed financial verfication, the typical examples include repossessions sales and other corporate sales, although sometimes we do get this request from a vendor. In coporate cases, these will be in the instruction pack, in the case of a vendor we insist that this request is put in writing to us in addition to the ticking of any boxes.

We would love for a purchaser to meet with our Mortgage Advisor and we would always offer a purchaser this service but it is not required that you have to speak to the mortgage advisor and certainly not have to see them. If a purchaser can provide proof of how the funds will be obtained covering the whole purchase price, including deposit, an Agreement in Principal (AIP) and bank statement is usually sufficient (although our some of our vendors impose variations on the requirements). Please bear in mind that some lenders do not provide an AIP and we are able to accept written confirmation from a number of sources that the funds will be available e.g. confirmation from your financial advisor, solicitor, bank etc.

I am sorry that you have endured this experience, it really does not represent all estate agents. For your information, there are 2 different types of Bairstow Eves estate agent offices, the ones wholly owned by Countrywide and the franchised network. You can ask this branch which one they are and you have every right to ask them for their complaints procedure which will be different depending on what type of office it happens to be.

Although BE are not part of the NAEA, they belong to The Property Ombudsmans redress scheme and are bound by the code of practice. Should you wish to complain you will have to follow the complaints procedure which may ultimately see you having to go to The Property Ombusman. I have tried to attach links to The Property Ombudsman website and as a newbie I am not allow to include a link in the post, however, I am sure you can easily find the website using any search engine.

Good luck with your offer.

mandi

http://www.oft.gov.uk/about-the-oft/legal-powers/legal/estate-agents-act/

DVardysShadow wrote: »

http://www.oft.gov.uk/about-the-oft/legal-powers/legal/estate-agents-act/handling-negotiations

Informing clients about offers

You must give your clients written details of all offers received from potential buyers. This information must be passed on promptly. It can be sent by hand, post or fax.
You should keep a written record of all offers that you receive.
If your client tells you in writing that it isn't necessary to pass on certain offers, you don't have to write in those circumstances. For example, this could happen if the client doesn't want you to write with offers below a specific price level.

OK, it is not the legislation itself, but you would think the OFT would get this right. Certainly the agent in this case has got its position covered.

Are you agreeing to agree yet?

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Read your quote very carefully. There is no Estate Agency Act.

DVardy your not an EA are you ? you quoted from the OFT site the above link which is from the Estate Agency Act & then deny that it exists ?

FireWyrm

Liesje wrote: »

I am quite shocked that the EA blatantly lied to me.

Get used to it...happens allot.

Liesje wrote: »

I am a first time buyer and so far have had a terrible impression of the industry

You have heard the jokes right?

Liesje wrote: »

(I recently pulled out of an offer I made because another EA, W.J. Meade, refused to take the property of RightMove - again, citing company policy!!!)

Ah, now there you're wrong. They arnt obliged to take it off the market until it's sold and you're exchanged. You can request, bargain and threaten, but at the end of the day, they dont have to do as you ask.

Liesje wrote: »

Although this has ended ok i.e. my offer has been put forward, I had to waste an evening going out to the area where the house is to keep the EA sweet

No you didnt. All you had to do was be firm but polite with the EA. You will not divulge your financial position and other than a note from your lender telling him you're good for the money, that's all you have to do. I would have told him to stick his regulation and walked. You're not buying a can of hairspray here, this is a negotiation and it's full of games...that's half the fun.

Liesje wrote: »

(I figured there was no point getting on the wrong side of her given she was my principal access to the seller

No she isnt. There was nothing stopping you walking right up to the front door and aproaching the vendor directly. All EA's do is 'advertise' your property. Other than that, they have absolutely no say in the sale at all and you can refuse to speak to them if you wish.

Liesje wrote: »

- I did consider sending a letter to the vendor but the house is currently vacant so I'm not sure when it would get picked up).

Perhaps....or you could have asked either neighbour for information. They are often quite willing to tell you what the EA wouldnt.

FireWyrm

gaokongni wrote: »

The cheek of these people! EAs are glorified bulletin boards and should mind their own business, which is advertising. They have zero say in the house sale beyond whether you have a pulse

If you're going to quote my original post word for word, please be kind enough to put it in quote marks....

DVardysShadow

FireWyrm wrote: »

If you're going to quote my original post word for word, please be kind enough to put it in quote marks....

I believe this one is a spam moron.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/member.php?u=1693005 - you can check the posts from there.

one post every 2 minutes from first post, 20 mins ago. Probably trying to build up credo to post links.

Edit: Yes, found spamming in a post at 0848

Loopgames

Speaking from the other side of the fence:

We sold our property through BE and we chose to tick 'that' box too. And frankly I found it perfectly logical to ask potential buyers to be vetted by the agents. We weren't informed of the position of these buyers except that they were vetted and reliable.

I would personally find other buyers who don't want to be vetted potentially time wasters even if they weren't. It's just something one assumes - rightly or wrongly .

We successfully sold through them and were happy with the process.

BTW so far DVardy seems to know their stuff on this matter imo.

RobertoMoir

DannyboyMidlands wrote: »

I had the same request from an EA but politely told them to get stuffed. A few weeks later they tried again but with the line that I needed to be vetted to get on their "preferred buyers list". I declined again. A week or so later they had given up completely and were begging me to view properties.

"preferred buyers list" eh? I'd have been inclined to tell them that they needed to stop sticking their oar in where it wasn't wanted if they wanted to be on MY "preferred selling agents list". Seems like they folded quick enough anyway.

JimmyTheWig

Loopgames wrote: »

We sold our property through BE and we chose to tick 'that' box too. And frankly I found it perfectly logical to ask potential buyers to be vetted by the agents. We weren't informed of the position of these buyers except that they were vetted and reliable.

I would personally find other buyers who don't want to be vetted potentially time wasters even if they weren't. It's just something one assumes - rightly or wrongly.

Yes, it all sounds perfectly reasonable, doesn't it...
... Until you realise why the estate agent is doing it.

MissMotivation

Can I just amend your initial paragraph to

"I am sorry, I forgot you undertake years of training to become a good estate agent"

I may not have had to have passed any exams but they fact that many EA's choose to undertake training and gain qualifications shows that there are truly some conscientous EA's out there so, personally, I find your comment about us not having an ounce of intelligence extremely upsetting.

I treat Solicitors with the respect that they deserve, whether that is good or bad as some of them can the cause of many sales falling through!

"Money for old rope"......well bearing in mind that I have to be an administrator, a sales person, a negotiator, a peace-keeper, a counsellor, a photographer, an IT person, a Manager, an analyst and in many cases...a friend...all for considerably less than 2% (more like 1% these) I would ask you to reconsider this.

Also please bare in mind that a Solicitor will probably deal with a case for a maximum of 6 months, whereas it can sometimes take years of work for us to complete ours......if people wish us to charge by the hour instead of a fixed fee than I'm more than happy to do this!

Credit-Crunched wrote: »

I am sorry, I forgot you undertake years of training to become an estate agent.

The level of estate agents I have dealt with, and they are many, are simply pushy sales people with not an ounce of intelligence between their ears mounted on their 'Next' shirt and tie combo set.

When you look into their world, remove the smoke and mirrors it is a very very simple and basic occupation and stating anything other is just compounding your onslaught of lies!

You treat the solictors dealing with the cases like they are the fools and talk to them like sh*t, however they are more intelligent and posses more skillfull attributes than your whole profession.

So please drop the act and admit that you guys get paid money for old rope, and careful what you wish for. I can see a huge increase in private house sales in the future.

Maybe 2% was generous, however its a damn sight more than the skilled and trained solicitor is getting