Estate Agent - Requesting Documents

[Deleted User]

Hi,

The estate agents that is selling the property I am currently purchasing has asked for proof of my mortgage in principal offer, which I have no issue of providing, but they have also asked for copies of my bank statements showing that I have the deposit available too - is this normal?

I would expect the mortgage company, financial advisor or maybe my solicitor to request this but not the estate agent that is representing the seller.

Any advice

Thanks

bluesbell

I had the same issue, ignore them and don't let them bully you into providing these personal documents.

Why would you tell the agents how much money you have or can borrow? Remember the agents are working for the vendor and trying to sell for the highest fee.

Be firm, tell them to do one until the offer is accepted, then, when it is, show the documents to your solicitor and get him or her to send an email to the estate agent comfirming your ability to proceed.

My solicitor did this within 30 mins of offer being accepted, agents removed the house from the market within the hour.

Road_Hog

bluesbell wrote: »

Why would you tell the agents how much money you have or can borrow?

Because the seller needs reassurance that the buyer has the funds to purchase. The quickest way to get yourself excluded from the purchase is to refuse to provide these documents. So I hope the OP thanks you for your advice.

I'm currently selling, at two offers of the exact same price (my minimum price), one with a 10% deposit and one with a 50% deposit. Which one do you think I'm proceeding with? Here's a clue, the one that I feel will have the best chance of the survey/mortgage offer going through.

And this is what the EA recommended. Another litttle gem that they mentioned, was that if they had two buyers with the same offer, one going with home buyer survey and one going with basic valuation, they'd fast track the basic valuation buyer because home buyer surveys are a nightmare these days.

jbainbridge

Home buyer surveys are a nightmare? These people wanting to check the house before they buy it ... words fail me.

ValHaller

Road_Hog wrote: »

Because the seller needs reassurance that the buyer has the funds to purchase. The quickest way to get yourself excluded from the purchase is to refuse to provide these documents. So I hope the OP thanks you for your advice.

I'm currently selling, at two offers of the exact same price (my minimum price), one with a 10% deposit and one with a 50% deposit. Which one do you think I'm proceeding with? Here's a clue, the one that I feel will have the best chance of the survey/mortgage offer going through.

And this is what the EA recommended. Another litttle gem that they mentioned, was that if they had two buyers with the same offer, one going with home buyer survey and one going with basic valuation, they'd fast track the basic valuation buyer because home buyer surveys are a nightmare these days.

Do unto others as you would be done by.

Jonbvn

Road_Hog wrote: »

And this is what the EA recommended. Another litttle gem that they mentioned, was that if they had two buyers with the same offer, one going with home buyer survey and one going with basic valuation, they'd fast track the basic valuation buyer because home buyer surveys are a nightmare these days.

Sound like you have something to hide? Suggest you direct your buyer to this thread.;)

Road_Hog

jbainbridge wrote: »

Home buyer surveys are a nightmare? These people wanting to check the house before they buy it ... words fail me.

Well, the house I'm selling, I bought 20 years ago. What the surveyors put in these days, is clearly to cover themselves from a legal view point.

ValHaller wrote: »

Do unto others as you would be done by.

Oh, like you mean the previous buyer that dropped his offer price by £15K on the day that we were meant to exchange?

Here's a question, if you were selling a property and had two buyers offering the same price, one who just wanted a quick valuation and one that wanted a more indepth survey and the former was likely to mean a faster sale, which would you go with?

Jonbvn wrote: »

Sound like you have something to hide? Suggest you direct your buyer to this thread.;)

Nothing at all, in fact I had a structural engineer's report done on the house and I've told the EA that any serious buyer can have a copy of it.

How many sellers offer a free copy of a recent structural engineer's report?

My point is, that the seller needs to know that the buyer is in a position to buy, which includes finance. Plus surveyors these days seem to exaggerate their report to cover themselves. If you read the surveyor's report and the structural engineer's report, you'd think that it was two different houses.

ValHaller

Road_Hog wrote: »

Do unto others as you would be done by.

Oh, like you mean the previous buyer that dropped his offer price by £15K on the day that we were meant to exchange?

No, that is do unto others as you have been done by.

Never thought I would be on here dishing out Victorian morality ...

giraffe69

To provide the information wanted via the solicitor is one thing. To do it via the Estate Agent who may have an interest in directing you to services he can offer is another. I can understand why the seller wants to know that a buyer can proceed quickly but that is not really the point. Would you make an offer for a car and then show the salesman the bank account details the money is coming from?

Prothet_of_Doom

I work in the automotive industry, where we have an open book policy with our suppliers. We do this so we know how much they can afford.

Show the estate agent your bank statements and you are showing him what you can afford.

Kynthia

If you only want buyers who would show all their personal, private and financial information to your EA and who will only have a valuation done rather than a proper survey when buying such an expensive asset, then you only want daft buyers. Daft buyers may come with their own set of problems and quirks later on in the process.