Estate agent won't accept HSBC decision in principle as enough to take a house off the market

Cottontop

Hello! I'm all ready to buy a house, have my money sorted, nothing to sell, mortgage sorted through a broker, all ready to go. BUT! When I made my offer the estate agent would not accept HSBC's online decision in principle even though the broker contacted the agent direct on my behalf. The agent wants proof of a full application before they will take the house off the market. I'm concerned that they could accept another offer before they get the proof that my broker has made the full application (and I'd incur broker costs). Is this normal? Thank you!

K_S

@cottontop This is definitely not normal. The only thing I can think of is that the vendor had a bad experience and is now insisting on an unrealistic level of qualification.

[Deleted User]

most HSBC DIP's from brokers show as 'referred for additional checks'.  This is the same as an accept but will be looked at by an underwriter prior to offer.  They only show as accept if the income has been auto verified or the case is super low ltv.   The estate agent is being a numpty. 
I usually ask the HSBC BDM to reply to an email confirming the credit check has been passed and affordability has been met.    This puts it in the same line as every other DIP. 

Or just get the broker to submit the full app.   The way the HSBC system works, 95% of the info is keyed for the DIP and then only the property and direct debit details are taken to complete the application.  Turning a DIP to an App takes about 5 minutes if the broker is slow

Thrugelmir

Have you made your offer conditional on the property being removed from the market immediately? When did you make your offer? 

Cottontop

Thank you @K_S and @Deleted_User, that's really helpful. I'll try the email approach and hope that does the trick

Cottontop

Thrugelmir said:

Have you made your offer conditional on the property being removed from the market immediately? When did you make your offer? 

Hi and thank you @Thrugelmir
Yes I did, and I made it on Thursday. The agent is refusing to remove it from the market but says that marketing the property is on hold until Monday, which is their deadline for my broker to let them have proof of a full application.

Thrugelmir

Cottontop said:

Thrugelmir said:

Have you made your offer conditional on the property being removed from the market immediately? When did you make your offer? 

Hi and thank you @Thrugelmir
Yes I did, and I made it on Thursday. The agent is refusing to remove it from the market but says that marketing the property is on hold until Monday, which is their deadline for my broker to let them have proof of a full application.

That will be the vendors decision not the EA.  If one is going to impose conditions then one needs to be fleet footed. 

Peppermint90

My estate agent also wouldn't take the house off the market until they had a survey booked in, although I too had a DIP from a bank. Took a whole month for that to happen. I thought it was normal at the time. 

Cottontop

Thrugelmir said:

Cottontop said:

Thrugelmir said:

Have you made your offer conditional on the property being removed from the market immediately? When did you make your offer? 

Hi and thank you @Thrugelmir
Yes I did, and I made it on Thursday. The agent is refusing to remove it from the market but says that marketing the property is on hold until Monday, which is their deadline for my broker to let them have proof of a full application.

That will be the vendors decision not the EA.  If one is going to impose conditions then one needs to be fleet footed. 

You're right and I should have remembered that. Now I know what to do.

LRmortgage

HSBC app takes less than 10 minutes from decision in principle stage. Just ask the broker to hit the submit button. 

HSBC also instruct the valuation straight away, so that should keep the agent off your back... 

lonibra

Not normal at all. The agent says they have paused marketing. If I were you I would test that statement by giving them a call and trying to book a viewing.