It’s been an interesting two weeks to say the least and if you read my last blog you’ll know I recently made an offer on a house.
In fact, the house isn’t quite what I saw myself buying, but after viewing more properties than I’d like to recall and bringing my mum along on the second viewing, she got me to see the property in a different light.
It needs work and it will probably be quite a task but I’m hoping it might be a good investment. They say you’re supposed to see a property as a home and not an investment although it’s hard to.
I mean, a similar house on the opposite side of the road is for sale at £10,000 more than the one I’ve made an offer on, so obviously I’m hoping that with a bit of cash and TLC, I’ll be able to increase the value of the property on the same scale, though I’m not pinning my hopes on it.
I’m digressing a bit though because what I really want to talk about is the position some estate agents can put you in when you’re looking to secure the house. To cut to the chase, this is what happened to me last week.
Playing on house-hunters emotions
I was already using my own independent financial adviser mortgage advice and obviously the estate agent has its own mortgage adviser in-house and wanted me to use its service. Just for a comparison, I met with their in-house bloke, but I did feel slightly pressured to use the estate agent’s adviser instead of my own.
Why? Well basically, I was told that if I arrange the mortgage through the estate agent’s mortgage adviser, the property would then be taken off the market straight away and there was a higher chance of the sale going through because they are handing the whole transaction and therefore can make sure it all goes smoothly. Obviously I, like any other buyer, want the sale to go through so I felt my emotions were being played with a bit and throwing this suggestion out there simply isn’t fair.
Of course, it’s totally illegal for the estate agent to say anyone has to use their mortgage adviser and that’s not what they were saying, but I did feel that if I didn’t use the estate agents mortgage service that the purchase of the property may not be smooth and someone may come in with a better offer and I’d lose the house in the time it took to get the mortgage arranged with my own IFA.
In the end, the agent’s mortgage adviser did find me a better mortgage deal but admittedly I fell for the estate agents tactics and felt under increasing pressure to use its mortgage service. Now, I’m not sure how widespread this is, but I’m guessing this wasn’t an isolated case.
Have you found yourself in the same situation? Have you felt similar pressures? Share your experiences here.
