Is the agent being illegal???

thecutestlittlefish

Hello

I read this board all the time and everyone always gives great advice! So I hope someone can help!!

I am a first time buyer and have asked an agent to put forward an offer on a house I am interested in, the problem I have however is the agent will not put an offer forward until I see that agents company mortgage advisor. I have already explained I am dealing with a mortgage advisor who is arranging my mortgage but they are refusing, can they do that??

lynzpower

not bairstow eves by any chance is it ?

Yes, th answer is, all offers should be put to the vendor. If you have arranged a mortgage elsewhere get your broker to call the EA and advise them that your mortgage is AIP.

To be honest, many EAs do this as there are a LOT of timewasters out there you would be surprised, who have said they have a mortgage arranged, but have nothing of the kind . A short call from your broker should clear this up

thesaint

They are not acting 'illegally' whether the vendor has specified this condition is doubtful.

Is it possible to go and see the vendor directly?

lynzpower

My understanding is BY LAW every offer on every property has to be put to the vendor in writing.

AndrewSmith

They are in breach of the Estate Agency Act whereby all offers must be put forward to the vendor in writing.

This is something that I encounter quite often.

As Lynzpower rightly says, get your own adviser to call the EA to verify that you are in aposition to proceed (without offering them any financial information of course).

papermoney

I had this recently too. I put an offer on a house and the agent said they couldn't put it forward until they had seen me in person. I explained I have a IFA but it made no difference - apparently it was their policy.

The agent I spoke to in the end admitted that their figures to see their inhouse mortgage adviser was low and they needed to boost it up.

I went in and said to the bloke that there was no point in trying to give me a mortgage quote as it was sorted and gave him the number of the IFA. They said they couldn't ring him so I got the IFA to fax a letter stating I could afford the property (but didn't state how much I could actually afford).

It was such a waste of my time though.

thesaint

I have only had the good fortune to deal with an estate agent once in my life.

I've never sold a property before, but as I understand it, A vendor can say " I do not want to be notified of any offers under x amount" or any other caveat that they care to add.

I await correction if I am wrong.

barnaby-bear

lynzpower wrote: »

My understanding is BY LAW every offer on every property has to be put to the vendor in writing.

True, UNLESS the vendor has specified parameters on the offer, e.g. don't bother telling me about anything under £150k, if you offer £145 the EA can refuse, provided instructed by vendor.

AndrewSmith

But the issue here is not one of the offer necessarily falling below a threshold set by the vendor which, granted, is perfectly acceptable.

The issue in this thread is whether the EA is allowed under the EA act to refuse to forward an offer because the purchaser has not seen their mortgage adviser.

The simple answer is no, they are not allowed to do this.

lynzpower

AndrewSmith wrote: »

But the issue here is not one of the offer necessarily falling below a threshold set by the vendor which, granted, is perfectly acceptable.

The issue in this thread is whether the EA is allowed under the EA act to refuse to forward an offer because the purchaser has not seen their mortgage adviser.

The simple answer is no, they are not allowed to do this.

good Im glad you said that Andy, I was thinking I was going mad there! :cool:

thesaint

AndrewSmith wrote: »

But the issue here is not one of the offer necessarily falling below a threshold set by the vendor which, granted, is perfectly acceptable.

The issue in this thread is whether the EA is allowed under the EA act to refuse to forward an offer because the purchaser has not seen their mortgage adviser.

The simple answer is no, they are not allowed to do this.

The 'issue' is, is it illegal? The answer is no. Naughty Yes.


You stated

They are in breach of the Estate Agency Act whereby all offers must be put forward to the vendor in writing.

Is this correct?