Brokers - how big an issue is conditional selling at the moment?

Its a huge problem within the industry, impacting on not only buyers but sellers too. Buyers may not be getting the best deal which could be very costly to them, but also the seller maybe not getting the best buyer. We have had clients buy on completly different developments beacuse they were being railroaded into using a developers broker

Awful, it is truly a terrifying experience for lots of my first time buyers. I prepare them at the very first meeting for the devious tactics employed by some estate agents, from forcing them to seeing their broker as "our client wants us to check" even though I have prepared a decision in principle. To "you must use our conveyancer as it is quicker" no, its not, you just want your kick back as you have a KPI to hit!! Also, if you have a conveyancer working for both seller and buyer, is that not potentially a conflict of interest, whom are they protecting! The threats of "if you do not use our services, we cannot guarantee your offer will be accepted" is driving clients mad and they really feel the pressure from this tactic. Buying a home is stressful enough without this type of tactic being used. It is not all agents, as I know some great ones that treat clients with respect. To all the ones that do the above to my clients, I will call you for a chat or turn up at your office to talk about it as it is a practice that needs to be eradicated.

There are certain corporate agents who are renowned for this practice in our area and we find we have to educate every customer upfront of these kind of actions at the earliest possible stage. We have no issues with agents wanting to know that a client has been financially qualified which could be via confirmation from their broker or a copy of their agreement in principle. However, making it a condition customers have to physically attend a face-to-face meeting with their own in-house adviser prior to accepting a viewing request is not acceptable. Over how hot the property market was over the last 12 months many of these agents use this tactic to their advantage in which we heard stories from customers saying they are only allowing early viewings on a proposed property for customers who have been financially qualified by us or they will only accept an offer from someone who is using their own broker. Sadly, I'm sure many customers would have fallen for this trick due to fear of losing out on their dream property. As the housing market gets quiet you can already see what's around the corner for these types of firms. Profit margins reduced from selling fewer houses and an easy win to boost any profits are ramping up the pressure on buyers to use their advisers. There are a few tricks a potential buyer can use to stop this practice if they face it. Firstly, ask the estate agent to put that in writing via email. We'd highly doubt they'd ever do this due to the fear of their shady practices being used against them. Secondly, try and speak to the vendor of the house directly and inform them that the agent is stopping buyers proceed with viewings of the property unless they've used their firm. we can't imagine too many homeowners will be pleased their agent is stopping viewing and potentially impacting them getting the best possible price for their home. Thirdly, be fully prepared prior to any house viewings by making sure you have either obtained an agreement in principle or had a in detail chat with a qualified independent mortgage mortgage adviser prior to commencing house hunting.

This is very common, unfortunately, especially amongst corporate agencies. What brokers need to do, is educate their clients at the first meeting. They need to tell the client that as per section 18a of The Property Ombudsman, it is an illegal practice to force someone to use the in-house broker, or refuse to service the client for not using the in-house services. If feel if the clients challenged the Estate Agent, and make reference to the above, then this practice will be less

Fortunately, I have not had recent experience of this, but have heard plenty of horror stories from those who have. The best first action is, as Access FS have done, to write to the estate agent to politely remind them of their obligations under the TPO Code of Practice (assuming the agent is a TPO member), as many estate agents simply don't know the rules that apply to them. Once they are aware they are dealing with a client and a broker that know the rules, the tone of the interaction often changes. It should be interesting to see how the FCA's new Consumer Duty rules play into this area too; as if a broker is receiving leads from a source that they know to be getting agreements for meetings in a less than honest way, it places the broker in a potentially vulnerable position. My biggest issue is the lack of professionalism it smears us all with, having another broker saying your advice is not worth anything and they have to use them to get the house, is not a good look for any of us and does not give our clients a great impression of the mortgage world overall.

Conditional selling is the rotten apple of our industry. It's rife amongst the corporate estate agents who force buyers to use their advisers and often threatening not to accept an offer on a property. This can massively impact the buyers choice as their panels are reduced and brokers fees tend to be higher. The estate agents regularly get called out for this but act as they're ignorantly unaware. This needs to stop and some strong consequences passed by the regulator.