Waiting for offer but EA pestering us

Tulli · 24 November 2014 at 10:20PM

Hi

Wonder if someone could advise.

We have submitted an application with Natwest and now have a 5-7 day waiting period.

We offered on a house just over 2 weeks ago and immediately got things going in terms of instructing a solicitor and proceeding to a full mortgage application after initially getting the AIP. Natwest key illustration took 5 days to get to us and it was only after having received it could we then submit our payslips etc. We did this the next working day. So as far as we are concerned we have done what is being asked of us straight away.

Now the EA are suggesting we pay for our surveys etc with our solicitor despite not having a mortgage offer through so as to speed up the purchase a bit in other areas while we wait for this offer. They also suggested an exchange of contract before Christmas and I'm
not sure how realistic this is either.

Initially I was hesitant as I did not want to throw money down the drain if there was no guarantee of a mortgage but now thinking if it takes ages to get this offer through should I be progressing things along with the solicitor so as not to cause delays. Natwest have said there is a bit of a backlog at the moment with mortgage applications.

What should we do? I know the EA are being pushy but should we take that risk of paying for the surveys without a formal mortgage offer?

(We sold our house in October and our buyers are also pushing for us to exchange contracts as they are ready to do so, so we are being pressurised from both angles)