Agreement in principle

Kop1906

Hello
I have had an agreement in principle approved for the amount I wanted online with Barclays. I chose Barclays because they had an easy online application form and they only perform a soft search. I have since spoke to an estate agent and mentioned I got a decision in principle with Barclays online and she said this wasn’t what was needed and that I needed to go and see a broker or go in branch so they can perform a (I assume hard) credit check. Is this the case? Is one agreement in principle better than another and do I need to go and see a broker?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Windofchange

An AIP is all you can get at the moment as you don't have a property that you are wanting to buy, so they can't run any sort of more detailed assessment of your ability to pay. All a broker or in branch person would do would be to do an AIP too. You sure you haven't misheard / misinterpreted? 

Kop1906

Thanks for your reply.
i assumed that was the case. I’m pretty sure I heard correctly as the person on the phone then tried to put me in touch with an independent broker that works at that estate agents so maybe she was trying to bring business to them. 

Windofchange

Ah, now it all becomes clear. Use our in house broker to ensure that you get the best advice possible, and then we will know you are serious. Yup. They are trying to maximise their profit from you. It's not to say that the in house broker will be any more expensive, or any more or less of a good bet than anyone else, but you can bet she is getting a kick back from the referral...

Kop1906

Yeah makes sense now. Thanks for your help!