Advice regarding estate agents and MIP

shivscape

Hi
I am a first time buyer looking for some advice (a bit new to the forum so sorry if this is in the wrong section).

I recently put an offer in on a property for sale, the agents asked me to provide a proof of deposit and mortage at the time of making the offer - which I thought seemed reasonable. I emailled a copy of my deposit in savings account statements, and a copy of my mortgage decision-in-principle, which I obtained from London and Country in about 2 weeks ago. I was emailled back by the agent today to say that whilst they were fine with my proof of deposit, the mortage decision in principle was not satisfactory for them as it does not include a full credit check. message from email below.

"We need you to produce a lender specific Agreement in Principle which includes a credit check for financial qualification purposes. Until you do I am unable to financially qualify the offer that you’ve made."

My understanding was that most MIP/DIPs will include a soft credit check to verify my identity and make sure I have not had a previous CCJ/bankruptcy, and that the formal application and approval happens once an offer is accepted and will typically include a lender checking payslips, current account statements and such. It seems to me like the agency are trying to get me to use their in-house mortgage service as the next part of their email says that they can arrange this for me if I can provide the payslips/bank statements for the last 3 months.

is this just typical estate agent pressure?

For information I am trying to buy the house for £215000 with a 15% deposit and an 85% mortgage, in England

kingstreet

Any decision in principle with a credit check should suffice. The point is, L&C only checks affordability and is therefore not what the EA is looking for... 

ACG

I agree with Kingstreet, what you have is not really an agreement in principle. It is just them saying they can help based on what you have told - unfortunately people do not always tell the truth. 

AFF8879

Why did you go via L&C and not directly to a lender (or via a broker) to a mainstream lender eg HSBC, Barclays etc? That’s what the EA is looking for. You can do them quickly for free on any bank’s website - no need to use EA’s in house mortgage services. E.g:

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/mortgages/decision-in-principle/

https://www.barclays.co.uk/mortgages/agreement-in-principle/

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/mortgages/moving-home/apply

Use a free comparison site to see who offers the best rate before choosing which to use (or ask your broker for their recommendation if you have any unique / specific circumstances)