Estate Agent insists we use their Financial Advisor

BabyButton

We've sold our property and then found another property we liked. Went and viewed it and decided to put an offer in.

The Estate Agent selling the property then insisted we speak to their Financial Adviser before they passed our offer to the vendor. They claimed that the vendor had asked them to vet potential buyers etc.

We already had a Mortgage offer in place and told them we could provide the relevant paperwork to prove this. We also had a solicitor in place too, but they didn't want those details.

We were told we had to at least speak to their advisor on the telephone and they persisted on ringing us etc.

Is this wrong? Should Estate Agents be doing this?

We put a complaint in to them, in writing, but they've responded as if we've complained because our offer has now been rejected and somebody else's offer of the full asking price was accepted on the same day. They've sent us their Complaint Procedure - should we take it further, as we feel what they are doing is wrong.

AdrianC

It's hardly rare.

They're under an obligation to the vendor to ensure that you are proceedable - but how they interpret that is up to them. If you refuse to even speak to their adviser, then they'll simply tell that the vendor that you did not provide them with the financial information they asked for to ensure you were proceedable... Bingo, the vendor will choose a different offer, where there's a choice.

Obviously, if you use their services for mortgage or legals, then there will be commission to them.

The easiest solution is simply to play along, spend the time with the advisor, then don't take them up on whatever deal they offer.

What you forget to mention is whether your offer was also full asking price, or higher - it's entirely possible the vendor would have chosen that other offer anyway.

LdnFtB

It's a bit scummy tbh. Quite often the chinese wall between the 'independent' financial adviser and the estate agent is thinner than a partition in an HMO and they'll be able to work out if they can extract anything more from you offer wise.

Keep your cards close to your chest and refuse to deal with them IMO. If they won't accept an AIP from a high street bank then that's a bit of a red flag for me.

davilown

If I remember correctly that's against the charter they supposedly work to. You dont need to even speak on the phone to their FA. Put your offer in writing and drop it through the front door of the house you want to buy explaining that you have a AIP and the EA is reduaubg to out the offer to the vwndor

lewishardwick

Had exactly the same thing.

Had a quick chat with their mortgage broker, advised that the broker I was using is a personal friend and not charging me any fees. They agreed they couldn't get a better deal and gave the nod to the estate agent.

5 minutes. All very polite and straight forward.

NeilCr

The title of this thread is wrong, surely

It doesn’t sound like they are insisting on you using their financial advisor. They’ve asked you to talk to them

Why not?

If, after you’ve spoken to them you are still uncomfortable come back here/seek advice. As Lewis indicates it may be simply sorted in the phone conversation.

As my OH says don’t meet trouble half way

Fiesto88

If you want the house enough, do what they ask. Listen to their spiel for a minute then use the stock lie that your best friend’s auntie’s dog-walker’s son is a Broker and he’s waiving his fee and has already secured you a satisfactory AIP.

If you still feel bad enough about it after the sale completes, complain then. The house buying process is fraught enough and it pays to keep everybody involved sweet - you never know when you’ll be relying on them to keep things moving along.

chappers

Nah go and knock on the vendors door and tell them that they're not passing on offers, then go and knock on a few more of their vendors doors and tell them too.
Decent estate agents don't need to do this. these scummy desperate parasites need weeding out of the market. If your relying on ancillary sales and commissions, you're not selling enough properties then.
The normal procedure is you want to put an offer to the vendor, you do that through the EA, the vendor then asks how proceedable they are and the EA investigates. Speaking with the EA's FA doesn't establish anything it's just a ploy

SG27

Is it wrong? Yes! But there is just the standard underhand tactics that EAs use. Go and see the advisor just to meep them sweet. Just dont give out a y financial details.

SG27

NeilCr wrote: »

The title of this thread is wrong, surely

It doesn’t sound like they are insisting on you using their financial advisor. They’ve asked you to talk to them

Why not?

If, after you’ve spoken to them you are still uncomfortable come back here/seek advice. As Lewis indicates it may be simply sorted in the phone conversation.

As my OH says don’t meet trouble half way

Because if you go in there laying your cards on the table you may find offers being refused if they believe you can pay more. EAs are the agent of the vendor. They are being paid to extract as much money from you as possible.

NeilCr

SG27 wrote: »

Because if you go in there laying your cards on the table you may find offers being refused if they believe you can pay more. EAs are the agent of the vendor. They are being paid to extract as much money from you as possible.

Or you may not

You don’t have to lay your cards on the table. You make the phone call to see what they have to say. Then you seek advice if it’s problematic.

Sometimes people over complicate things (especially with dramatic thread titles)