Buying a house

[TheRightStuff]

we went to see a house at the weekend and have put an offer in today.
The estate agent have said they can't pass the offer on to the buyers until we come in and sign a money laundering form and show them a form of id.
However, they also want to know the size of the deposit and the mortgage we are going to take out.
I spoke to the agent who are selling our house and they have said they should only be doing this once the offer has been accepted.
they want us to see the agencies financial advisor. However, if I tell him our financial situation they could then go back to the agent and tell him we can afford more.
Sounds a bit suspect to me.
The agency is a very well known and one of the largest in the UK.
I really am not happy about showing id, signing documents and speaking to an agency financial advisor without an offer being accepted.
What do you guys think?

[hugebrain]

simple solution

Why not just show your ID and sign the money laundering form but tell that them you already have someone else who is your mortgage broker?

Obviously, their guy would try to push the price up.

[where did my id go?]

Ask them on what basis they come out with that crap.

I thought uk agents had an obligation to pass on all offers - if not then they are not serving their clients. easily checked.

Explain that you know where the property is and will be dropping in to explain to their client that the agent is refusing to forward your offer.

[TheRightStuff]

Ask them on what basis they come out with that crap.

I thought uk agents had an obligation to pass on all offers - if not then they are not serving their clients. easily checked.

Explain that you know where the property is and will be dropping in to explain to their client that the agent is refusing to forward your offer.

the property is empty. Their mother died (not in the house) so that won't work.

[milanbenes]

I think they want you to buy a financial product from them, there's good money in selling financial products

Milan.

[Alf W]

I'd be asking them what the minimum deposit is that will be required and politely informing them that how you will be funding the rest of the purchase is none of their business. There have been cases where the financial services arms of Estate Agents pass on what you can actually afford to enable the Agent to bump up the offer so they make more money.

[TheRightStuff]

Also, how do I know what mortgage I should take out if I don't know what I'm paying for a house.
Surely the steps are :

put your house on the market

look for houses and put an offer in. Hopefully you sell your house before but often it doesn't happen that way.

Offer is accepted.

Look for mortgages and solicitor.

Sign money laundering, show id and some form of letter saying you can afford the house.

Or is that too sensible.

[Swiss Tony]

Hi you only need money laundering information: ID and a proof of address if you are looking to purchase anything that is regulated by the Financial Services Authority i.e. insurance, mortgages etc

As the property market is not regulated there is no need.

It does look a bit suspect; you do not need to sit down with the companies financial advisor before putting in a bid. You can get a mortgage in principle anywhere. Your bank should do it for free, and once the offer has been accepted you can go to the market and find the best rate. (or use a Independent Mortgage broker) It looks like they are trying to line up their front end and back end by using their own guys to sell the mortgage and insurance.

Also note you do not need to legally have any life / critical illness cover in place to have a mortgage. I would recommend that you do look into it but it is not a requisite. I have seen a number of people who have been ‘sketched up’ in this way and are paying silly amounts into policies they do not need.

[Sysman]

the property is empty. Their mother died (not in the house) so that won't work.

BTDT. Estate agents really love this one.

Think recruitment agents are bad?

In the 1980s I had the cash for a run down cottage (owner had died, family lived a long way away) but the agents did everything they could to stop me buying it. They wanted to sell to someone who needed a mortgage.

In the end it went to auction for a knock down price, but of course not until at least half a dozen folks had paid for surveys and mortgage arrangement fees just to find that nobody would lend on the property (no bathroom or WC, roof needed some work etc).

The builder who bought it did it up and sold it for about 3 times what he'd paid.

All snouts in the trough, I'm afraid. The family of the guy who'd died lost a lot of wonga.

I lost too. It was an ideal property for a young contractor who had cash reserves to pay for a renovation, worked away a lot of the time and therefore could have coped with the inevitable building mess.

[BrilloPad]

name and shame

This sort of thing happened a few times in the late eighties - in the current market agencies will try anything.