Estate agent wants us to speak to their 'mortgage consultant'

hypnoticmonkey88

Hi all,

First time buyers here. Today I put in an offer on a house, which the estate agent passed on to the seller who accepted our offer.
We have a mortgage agreement in principle which covers the value of the house.
The estate agent have emailed an offer acceptance letter saying:
"As part of our qualification process, you will receive a call from our mortgage consultant as we are duty bound to financially qualify all offers."
They put this line in bold.
Do I have to speak to their mortgage consultant? I've done a fair amount of research into mortgages and I already have an agreement in principle. I think I can show that I financially qualify.
NB it calls them a 'consultant', not an 'advisor', nor a 'broker'.

es5595

You don’t have to speak to them, but they’ll be a bit funny about it. I suggest just repeating that you have an agreement in principle and if they’d like sight of it. 

chanz4

Just say no thank you

tom9980

They want some assurance that you can afford the property which is fair enough so speak to them, tell them under no circumstances will you be taking a mortgage or engaging their services but you understand that qualifying your offer is sensible then ask what they need to do so.

diggingdude

Just show them a copy of your mortgage in principle offer. That should be all they need. Anything more I would be leaving a note at the property and maybe putting on community Facebook pages that the EA is being unreasonable. This may not be the best advice, shame a Generally Meticulous poster isn't here to offer comment 

Carl2510

Do not go with there consultant I did when I bought my first house 3 years ago, and I got tied down to a 4 year life insurance fee luckily they made a mistake on there part so I got out of paying a fee.

lees80

Qualifying does not involve their own in house mortgage consultants. Politely decline. Your qualifying proof is your DIP from the lender you are going with. 

MovingForwards

Do you have a broker? If so, speak with them and give your permission for your broker to confirm you are good, then pass the broker details onto the EA and decline their offer of a meeting with the consultant.

m0bov

Get a letterf rom your broker and show them the DIP. Also let the sellers know they are bullying you and the sale is at risk.

AdrianC

What's the worst that'll happen? You'll spend half an hour, and might get a better mortgage offer.

ACG

The estate agent has a duty to their customer (the vendor) to ensure you are a viable buyer. There is no set way in how that can be done, but it sounds like they are using their position to generate more sales which is not what the process is designed for. 

If you do not want to use their broker, just submit your application in the interim. Most lenders are assessing paperwork within 2-3 working days at the minute, so if you booked it in for wednesday you could tell them that the application has been agreed subject to valuation and so no need to hand over your personal details to them.