Red flag? Mortgage broker trying to rush us into committing before potential BoE interest rate cut

dunstonh

The mortgage broker we’ve been dealing with was recommended by the estate agent selling the house

That explains everything.   The general rule of thumb is to avoid estate agent brokers unless it's an independent estate agent using local independent brokers.    Estate agent mortgage advisers have a very poor reputation and largely operate on a salesforce-type process, and have sales targets and sales pressures.

They also tend to be more expensive, especially on bolt-on products like insurance, referrals to conveyancers, etc.   And in this case, the mortgage adviser fee which is disgraceful at £1600 (unless they were fully refunding the mortgage commission).

readingroomred

dunstonh said:

The mortgage broker we’ve been dealing with was recommended by the estate agent selling the house

That explains everything.   The general rule of thumb is to avoid estate agent brokers unless it's an independent estate agent using local independent brokers.    Estate agent mortgage advisers have a very poor reputation and largely operate on a salesforce-type process, and have sales targets and sales pressures.

They also tend to be more expensive, especially on bolt-on products like insurance, referrals to conveyancers, etc.   And in this case, the mortgage adviser fee which is disgraceful at £1600 (unless they were fully refunding the mortgage commission).

In fairness it is a local independent family run estate agent who has recommended a local independent broker. But it’s clear it’s the fees that are the red flag more than anything judging by the feedback here. The person at the brokers we are dealing with really does come across as a bit immature if I’m honest so we’re looking at an alternative broker. 

Thank you so much for adding a comment, I appreciate all the replies I’m getting 

readingroomred

Thanks to everyone who commented. 

To update; The mortgage broker we chose ourselves (as opposed to one recommend by the seller’s Estate Agent) found us a much better mortgage deal overall with half the fees and a lower interest rate which meant lower monthly payments over the same term.

However, the estate agent (an independent local with a high street premises so not online) has now said as we’ve made an offer that’s been accepted we need to pay them a £300 purchasing fee to cover costs for money laundering checks and other work they’ll be doing. No mention of this £300 fee anywhere in conversations with them up to now and nothing in any emails from them or on their website. 

I should also mention the seller has accepted our offer but won’t take it off the market until we’ve confirmed we’re happy with the survey. 

The house needs a lot of work and the estate agent has assured us they’ve told us about everything that’s an issue or needs doing. 3 previous buyers have pulled out after surveys. The seller won’t get a survey done and everyone it seems is being sketchy about issues we’ve uncovered with the original build by looking at the Council’s planning and inspections docs 

So we’ve decided to walk away from what looks increasingly to be a money pit being sold by the sharp and shady. 

ACG

readingroomred said:

Thanks to everyone who commented. 

To update; The mortgage broker we chose ourselves (as opposed to one recommend by the seller’s Estate Agent) found us a much better mortgage deal overall with half the fees and a lower interest rate which meant lower monthly payments over the same term.

However, the estate agent (an independent local with a high street premises so not online) has now said as we’ve made an offer that’s been accepted we need to pay them a £300 purchasing fee to cover costs for money laundering checks and other work they’ll be doing. No mention of this £300 fee anywhere in conversations with them up to now and nothing in any emails from them or on their website. 

I should also mention the seller has accepted our offer but won’t take it off the market until we’ve confirmed we’re happy with the survey. 

The house needs a lot of work and the estate agent has assured us they’ve told us about everything that’s an issue or needs doing. 3 previous buyers have pulled out after surveys. The seller won’t get a survey done and everyone it seems is being sketchy about issues we’ve uncovered with the original build by looking at the Council’s planning and inspections docs 

So we’ve decided to walk away from what looks increasingly to be a money pit being sold by the sharp and shady. 

Surely they vendor is paying for the costs associated with selling the property - listing, photos, verifying the buyer etc? 

Its not normal to have to pay costs as the buyer. You can get your ID certified by your broker or the post office - that should be acceptable. 

readingroomred

This was the exact wording in the email the estate agent sent me:

“Please note that buyers are required to pay a Purchase Fee of £300 (inc. of VAT) to xxxxx & Co on offer acceptance, to process a new transaction.  This covers our work in putting the sale together, covers our anti-money laundering regulation obligations and carrying out the ID checks.  

 Our bank details are as follows;”

…And the bank details were then duly provided! 

ACG

I think you need to out them. 

The cost of putting the sale together falls on the vendor - thats who will be paying them a large chunk of money. The ID checks cost peanuts - I think for us to do an electronic ID check is about £5-6pp (it might be a little more or less, im not actually sure) and checking a bank statement takes about 2 minutes.... If that adds up to £300 I am in the wrong job. 

Yorkie1

If they only sent you that information after your offer was accepted, then this contractual term can't be retrospectively imposed. If it was made clear when you booked, or made the offer but before it was put forward to the seller, then it's slightly different.

readingroomred

Yorkie1 said:

If they only sent you that information after your offer was accepted, then this contractual term can't be retrospectively imposed. If it was made clear when you booked, or made the offer but before it was put forward to the seller, then it's slightly different.

Yes it was definitely only after the offer was accepted. The offer was accepted and 2 working days later we were told about this £300. No we won’t be paying them anything

readingroomred

ACG said:

I think you need to out them. 

The cost of putting the sale together falls on the vendor - thats who will be paying them a large chunk of money. The ID checks cost peanuts - I think for us to do an electronic ID check is about £5-6pp (it might be a little more or less, im not actually sure) and checking a bank statement takes about 2 minutes.... If that adds up to £300 I am in the wrong job. 

We are of the opinion that they for some reason think we’re very naive or unintelligent. We are both in our mid forties, have bought and sold houses a number of times before, have long standing careers in professional industries requiring a good understanding of business legalities and regulation. Nevertheless, we must either be giving off a strong stupid vibe or they just try it on with everyone. I’ve already told the estate agent we quickly walked away from the mortgage broker they recommended due to ridiculous fees way off the industry norm and secured a significantly better deal with someone we found ourselves and how we are not impressed with that experience. It beggars belief but still they try.