Sellers Agents Mortgage Advisor

fiji_dave

I have an agreement in principle for a mortgage and have made an offer on a property. The Estate agent marketting the property has asked that I speak to the mortgage advisor that they always use and recommend. The agent said that they do this as a matter of course to "vet" people and ensure that I'll be able to meet any offer I put in.

Frankly this worries me. I spoke to the EA today and they said they would get their mortgage advisor to call me later on. I wasn't at all happy about this for several reasons....

Firstly, i already have an agreement in principle. I can and will happily give them the name of the mortgage advisor who has said they will confirm I can raise the necessary funds.

Secondly. Im in an open plan office and if I'm going to talk finances I want to be able to do it at a time of my own convenience when I can find somewhere away from the prying ears of colleagues!!

Thirdly - and this is the most important - I feel that this is a way for them to gauge just how much I can actually afford to pay and they'll use this information to keep the price of the property as high as possible. For this reason alone I'm reluctant to speak to their advisor. After all, what I can afford to pay and what I'm willing to pay are not necessarily the same thing!

Am I entitled to tell them I'm not willing to speak to their advisor until such time as a price has been agreed (if indeed it gets that far)? I can't see how they can argue against this as they'd still get the info they want (confirmation of my financial state) but at such a time as would be useless to them in negotiations.

Am I being paranoid?

fivemice

I'd be sticking with what I felt comfortable with and if the seller didn't lie it, then the seller wouldn't be getting my sale.

spunkeyrich

Its a way of getting you to speak thier morgage adviser so they can make some extra money out of you. I would just say you have it sorted out and offer the name of your current adviser. It should in no way influence the price of the home you have agrreed at as the info should be confidential anyway between morgage adviser and agent and seller.
The agent has probably got a target of a certain number of morgage referals he has to do per week, they may say they are independent morgage adviser but why recommend someone if they are totaly independent?
However, they may be able to let you know about an exclusive deal so maybe worth listening to if you want to, but in no way should you feel that you would lose the home if you dont, and make a point of that as its against the law.

rich

dunstonh

Dont see them. You dont need to and its purely a sales exercise.

They want to take the commission for the mortgage, life assurance, home insurance etc and the estate agent is paid a share of it.

The mortgage adviser could be very nice and very efficient. However, the law of averages suggests that they are only interested in sales as its a one hit service. It they dont sell to you now, they wont be able to again.

Tell them you have your own adviser and you dont want to see another one. Forcing you to see them would breach FSA "TCF" rules.

fiji_dave

Cheers for the advice guys.

I don't mind talking to them after the price has been agreed, they claim to be "whole of market" advisors - that's a good thing isn't it..see I have been reading the MSE webpages!. Alhough a quick look at their website has confused me, it says "we don't normally charge a fee, but depending on your circumstances a fee of 1.5% may be charged"

Is it me or is that just saying "We won't charge you...unless we do!"

Anyway, until a price is agreed I think I'll steer clear.

mobile-advice

I'd avoid altogether. Even if you agree a price for the house, nothing is definate until exchange.

There is zero obligation to speak to them; just refer to the Code of Conduct at the Ombudsman of Estate Agents.

Doozergirl

fiji_dave wrote:

Alhough a quick look at their website has confused me, it says "we don't normally charge a fee, but depending on your circumstances a fee of 1.5% may be charged"

Is it me or is that just saying "We won't charge you...unless we do!"

I think sometimes they don't make enough commission based on the work they do if you only take out a small mortgage, or if you're a bit of a problem case.

Whole of market is a good thing and you should have seen one already! You're doing everything else right

Like everyone else has said, it's all about commission, it's not about telling the EA how much more you can afford.