Estate agent asking to see proof of deposit/AIP/bank statements/payslips

Gingka

Hi all,

Thank you for stopping by!

I made an offer on a property and the EA said that in order to proceed with the next stage of the offer (ie. tell the vendor) he would have needed quite a big list of documents.

Apart from the usual ID/proof of address/etc, he asked for 4 months worth of payslips, bank statements (last 4 months), self-assessment tax returns (fair enough if self-employed), proof of deposit and agreement in principle.

I am due to see him tomorrow at his office (high street agent) and feel quite uncomfortable going out with all this pile of paper with sensible details on it, including bank details on the statements. Also, why would he need to see what my max budget is on the AIP? Surely to get the vendor to push for a higher offer?

Not sure what's the best thing to do, any help is greatly appreciated!:A

Thank you!!:beer:

kinger101

They should put the offer forward to the vendor first. Don't show them anything now. They're legally obliged for forward the offer to the vendor.

You can always put a note through the door if they don't forward the offer.

If accepted, tell EA you have solicitor sorted already as well.

D_M_E

All I would show them would be some form of ID, they don't need to see the rest.

Tell them everything else is with your solicitor who will confirm you can afford to pay what you have offered.

Think they will just use the info to elicit a higher offer - we've got someone willing to pay £XXX more than you, how far will you go? - out of you.

Gingka

Thank you so much - so all this "you need to pop into the office so we can basically see the paperwork and, quoting the EA-- this will just help us when putting your offer forward to the vendor" is useless at this stage.

Thing is, 1) I don't want them to see what the max budget is on the AIP 2) I don't want to have a 40 min journey on a train with all this sensible data with me!

Surely IF the offer is accepted THEN they can have a look at it?

Also, the EA booked me an appointment with the branch mortgage adviser for this? Eeeer?

Voyager2002

Do you in fact have an AIP for a mortgage? If so, ask the lender to give you some written confirmation that they are willing to lend x amount to you, where x is less than they are willing to lend but is adequate for you to proceed at the amount you offered.

The EA is working for the vendor, and has a responsibility to weed out people who make offers but cannot proceed with them. Some vendors ask EAs not to forward offers unless they have first established that they come from a serious buyer.

Bossypants

Gingka wrote: »

Also, the EA booked me an appointment with the branch mortgage adviser for this? Eeeer?

This will be why. The EA absolutely doesn't need to see anything except ID, proof of address and AIP at a stretch, but the mortgage broker would need to see bank statements and payslips too. They're not-so-subtly trying to get you into a situation where you show up with all the paperwork so that they can get you in with their in-house broker, 'since he just happens to be free while you're here and you have all the paperwork with you anyway'.

Depending on how annoying you find this and how badly you want the property, you can refuse or just go along with it (you still aren't committed to taking a mortgage through them, no matter what documents you bring).

sheepy21

Don’t suppose they’re part of Sequence? Had the same rubbish with William h Brown, and I would never buy a house through them

Gingka

Not part of Sequence but another well known high street name.

I do actually have a valid AIP - there is room to stretch the offer and I am not keen on them knowing that.

Also, I definitely want to get financial advise with a qualified mortgage adviser but not keen on their internal broker - never asked for that! Why should I print half a kg of paper (being dramatic here) without even knowing if the offer is accepted? As someone above as said - if they are keen they can always have a word with the solicitor.

What is the best etiquette here to suggest the EA to put the offer through the vendor first? Thank you all!!

Andalya

As Bossypants says, they're just trying to get you on the hook with their broker. For what it's worth, you may as well get their broker to do the affordability stuff and show you some mortgages - most will do this with no charge. Get a quote and it'll put you in a great position to haggle with other brokers. We did that and managed to get them to the broker we went with to do it for free (they got paid by the bank we took the mortgage out with so they only lost our fee).

You have to pay for so many things when you're buying, so if you can haggle a free broker it's £3-500 towards something else, which I'm sure no one would sniff at!