FTB - Using EA Mortgage Advisor

lavalamp1

Hi All,

I am new to the forum!

I am a First time buyer looking to purchase a property. It is on the market for 285k and I have offered 278K. The EA has requested that I visit them in the branch to confirm my identity and to ensure that I have the funds to secure the house, so I assume my payslips etc. I am looking to secure a direct mortgage with Santander and I have had a telephone interview with the advisor where I was advised that to obtain a DIP I would need to visit them in the branch for an appointment which could take up to a week. She advised that in the meantime if I find a suitable property then I am welcome to pass on her details to the EA to confirm that I have been in touch to organise my mortgage. So essentially right now I do not have a piece of paper stating my DIP.

What bothers me is that the EA are requesting that I see them in the branch to verify my ID and to bring along all my documents to ensure I am financially able to purchase. Is this normal? Will they try to sell me a different mortgage?

Santander are offering good rates at the moment, what are pros and cons of using an in-house mortgage advisor? I understand the EA uses countrywide.

Any advice is appreciated.

ACG

They are likely to jump on the fact you have no DIP. In all honesty as much as I do not like estate agents I can see why they would make a fuss about this.

As it stands you have no idea whether you will even pass their basic requirements. You may be in a great position but you may find you have a financial associate who is dragging you down or something at a linked address etc.

You may find their broker can offer to get you a DIP with santander or beat what Santander are offering. The definite cons of seeing THEIR broker (rather than your own or the bank directly) is that you are presumably telling them your financial details. If they have not yet accepted your offer you may find if they can see you can afford more and it impacts upon negotiations of the purchase price.

As someone on here put it - its like playing poker with your cards showing.

lavalamp1

Thanks for your reply ACG.

Within the past 2 months I have been issued a DIP by Barclays / Woolwich but have decided not to go with them as their rates seem to be a lot higher. I have an excellent credit score and dont see any reason why I should be declined.

I am happy to see whether they can offer me a better deal but in all honesty I am willing to offer the asking price if need be for the house as I have offered 7K under.

Just worried that these brokers will try to sell me something very sly and once I am tied in with them it would be very hard to leave.

betmunch

lavalamp1 wrote: »

in all honesty I am willing to offer the asking price if need be for the house as I have offered 7K under.

Exactly why you don't want to be seeing the in house advisor.


I would be inclined to take the Woolwich DIP along as proof you have the money lined up, you don't have to use them if you don't want to.

amnblog

Do not open up your full financial situation to the Estate Agent - it is none of their business.


It is sensible for them to check if you are in a position to purchase - as Betmunch says, your DIP from Barclays will satisfy that requirement.

There are a number of reasons why you should not use their in house adviser which have been explored on the forum many times before.


You should be aware that if they should not try to pressurise you into using their associated services.


Whether or not you want to use a service from Santander where you have to wait a week to give up your time to go into branch to be quizzed for a couple of hours is a different question.

lavalamp1

Ahh okay. I guess showing the Woolwich DIP would show the EA that they are willing to lend to me although I would be going with Santander. Do you think they would be insistent on seeing the Santander DIP, as I assume I would need to pass on the banks details to the EA?

It is abit of a pain to get an appointment with Santander right now but I so hope I dont lose out on the house just for a piece of paper, which technically banks are not legally obliged to honour.

ACG

Take the woolwich DIP and proof of deposit showing the amount they need for the price you have offered and you should be fine.

You could just say your cousin/uncle/brother or someone is a broker or works for Woolwich so your going through him/her? It will probably reassure the agent you have a good decent contact and will make their broker back off?

lavalamp1

Ok great. In terms of proof of deposit, this will be coming from my parents who will be releasing equity from another property to raise the cash. With that in mind, what sort of proof would be needed?

amnblog

Or you could just tell them there is my proof of agreed funds - now leave me alone.

lavalamp1

Would this be a letter signed by my parents showing the proof of deposit or would this need to come from the bank they are releasing the equity from?

ACG

Just tell them deposit is coming from parents.

That should be fine - although agents can very, some are very flexible, others are very money financially driven.