Estate agent's mortgage advisor

Rooney1b

I am starting viewings to buy a property and I have agreed with one estate agent that I will see their advisor to discuss mortgages (I think he said they can give me an agreement in principle). But as soon as I got off the phone I wondered if this was a mistake - if the estate agent knows how much I can afford, bargaining may be more difficult. Or are their supposed to be "Chinese walls" between the sales negotiator and mortgage broker?

Should I go to the appointment, but only for a discussion, and not give any information? Or be careful about what I say?

Or should I cancel it?

mothershipton

i think most people will tell you to cancel, due to the points you make! you dont need to make excuses

ACG

The points you raise are exactly the reasons why estate agent mortgage advisors should not be trusted.

Your just one client to them, the estate agent provides a steady stream of them so their loyalties are going to be with the estate agents.

dunstonh

Estate agent advisers have a very poor reputation (small independents excluded). Most estate agent advisers are tied agents of one insurer (frequently using the fact they can use multiple lenders to give the impression they are whole of market in all areas). They tend to go heavy on the sales pitch as they dont have to look after you for repeat business or servicing.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

The only purposes of an AIP at this stage can be:

to check your credit (a credit report does this without a hit on your record) and/or establish

and/or

establish your purchasing power (I always feel more comfortable once the used car salesman has analysed my bank statements and payslips :rotfl:)

and/or

Make you feel tied to that agency



If you don't know what house you want, you can't know how much you need to borrow and (unless you have weak credit - in which case you don't want them to know - and feel a need to 'test the water') an AIP at this stage is totally unprofessional.

This is a subject that gets me on the soap box every time I'm afraid.