Buyers Estate Agent fees

kevin63

I know the mortgage market has tightened up somewhat but just had a strange experience upon trying to submit an offer on a property I've found.

I discovered a property being advertised on Zoopla and range the estate agent. Booked a viewing yesterday and then tried to submit and offer via phone today. I was told that to submit an offer I have to come into branch... first alarm rang.

Anyhow I went into branch to jump through hoops and was told that if I want to submit an offer I need to speak to their mortgage advisor, get a mortgage in principle and have my solicitors on file. I was then told this would cost £125 now and £125 on completion.

I can understand they want to weed out the time-wasters but is this commonplace now? The house is up for sale with a second agent so tempted to ring and submit my same offer through them.

Just wondering if anyone has experience with this? Last time i went through London & Country courtesy of MSE and they were great. I can find local solicitors too thanks to MSE solicitor compare tool.

Just feel like the estate agents are fleesing me for more cash. I've just had a phonecall also saying theyve had a second bid now so i need to submit a final offer by 4pm today.... The house has been on the market for a year I find this hard to believe.

Look forward to replies.

kingstreet

The fees are for using their mortgage service, which is entirely optional.

You would be advised to obtain an agreement in principle from a lender before you offer and last I heard L&C don't like doing this; preferring to get you at the point you've agreed a purchase, so they can go straight to full application.

Annie1960

EAs are specifically prohibited from acting in this way. The are breaking at least two parts of their code of conduct as far as I can tell from what you say.

1. They are not supposed to put pressure on you with short deadlines.

2. They are not permitted to insist you use their mortgage adviser, solicitor or anyone else. The only exception to this, according to the Ombudsman, if if the vendor insists on this. If this is the case, then the EA is supposed to put this information in the particulars for the property. Is there anything of this sort in the particulars?

3. The MUST pass on any offers to the vendor (unless the vendor has told them in writing not to, and as a recent vendor myself I can't imagine that many vendors would do this)

Do you really want the property?

1. If so, then read the Code of Practice so you satisfy yourself that what they are doing is wrong. Link below.

2. Ignore their conditions, and put your offer in writing to them (email is fine). If you still doubt they will pass it on, then post a copy in the letterbox to the vendor.

3. Check the EA's logos on their website/in their office to see which Ombudsman they belong to - by law they must belong to one. If they get stroppy tell them you will report them to the Ombudsman.


http://www.tpos.co.uk/downloads/TPOE27-1%20Code%20of%20Practice%20for%20Residential%20Estate%20Agents%20(Effective%20from%201%20August%202011).PDF

Good luck with this. As I'm dealing with EAs at the moment, I know many of them are fine, but you do get some who are really pushy and it's very off-putting.

kevin63

Thanks for the speedy replies guys.

I just ran the property though Zoopla using the actual address and it looks like it's listed with another 2 agents (not sure if this is a good or bad sign but it has been on the market since Aug 2013) and I've picked it up from the most recent listing. I was sneaky and rang one other agent it's listed with pretending to not know anything of the property. I enquired about previous offers and said they can't disclose any prices but that there are numerous offers on the table at the moment so they don't expect it to be listed long.... at least I know the offer situation is cleared up (hopefully).

With this in mind, I think i'm going to increase by bid my 1k. Not much in the long run of things. Once i've got them on the phone also, I will enquire about the fees and tell them I can do the mortgage / solicitor side of things myself. At least I know the buyer now has my offer as I do not fancy paying those fees when L&C don't charge a penny.

Thanks guys

kevin63

kingstreet wrote: »

The fees are for using their mortgage service, which is entirely optional.

You would be advised to obtain an agreement in principle from a lender before you offer and last I heard L&C don't like doing this; preferring to get you at the point you've agreed a purchase, so they can go straight to full application.

Thanks Kings - Was just about to ring L&C over the mortgage in principle. Will see how the estate agent reacts when I ring up with increased bid and enquire about their fees and how I dont need that service.

Kind regards,

kingstreet

Estate agents don't charge buyers fees for estate agency services.

Their mortgage services may be fee-charging, so it's highly likely that's what you're being expected to pay.

Try the "my uncle works for the FCA at Docklands" line and ask for a terms of business and key facts illustrations before you'll commit to anything and see what the response is...

Mojisola

kevin63 wrote: »

I was sneaky and rang one other agent it's listed with pretending to not know anything of the property. I enquired about previous offers and said they can't disclose any prices but that there are numerous offers on the table at the moment so they don't expect it to be listed long.... at least I know the offer situation is cleared up (hopefully).

And you believed them? It's been on the market since August and suddenly people are fighting over the property?

I'd take anything that gets said with a pinch of salt. They are working for seller (and themselves) so if they can make you believe you're competing with other buyers, you're more likely to increase your offer.

DaftyDuck

Well, my offer, in writing - with a copy to the vendor direct - would be £XYZ,250, or £XYZ,000 if they insisted on charging what I believe to be rather suspect fees for accepting an offer.

Alias_Omega

Halifax last week gave us a MIP free of charge...

Not the best rate, but something on paper to enable us to look. I expect a broker to be able to smash the rates down for us.

kingstreet

Alias_Omega wrote: »

Halifax last week gave us a MIP free of charge...

Not the best rate, but something on paper to enable us to look. I expect a broker to be able to smash the rates down for us.

Yes and a soft search and not greatly reliable, particularly for those who may have had credit issues at previous addresses.

Fine for those with a standard "vanilla" credit history.