A Fool and His Money

 I've been saving since 2005 and I have recently inherited some money from my late mother's estate. A few weeks ago I tried and failed to buy a house. I saw a house that I liked and made an offer to the estate agent. Part of my offer was the fact that I was a cash buyer and that I was prepared to move quickly. The estate agent then asked me for "proof of funds". I didn't quite say "How dare you question my integrity? If I say I've got x hundred and y thousand pounds then that's what I've got you cheeky so and so" but I think it might have been strongly implied by the questions I asked and my reluctance to give her all my financial details. Anyway my first offer was rejected and I had to increase the offer to the point that I couldn't actually afford to pay for the house and the stamp duty. None of my protestations about how I was going to prove that I could afford the house went down very will with the estate agent. "My family's got lots of money, I'm sure my brother will lend it to me" and "I've got 200g of fine gold right here, shall I bring it to your office and show it to you?" seemingly aren't as good as what normal people have – which is an email from a mortgage company called "agreement in principle" and/or another house.]

I was up against one other buyer. I don't know how much they offered, but I do know that their offer was "structured very differently" and I know that the seller chose them. I know that the estate agent had to relay my offer to the seller, but she also had to advise them. I can only assume she included the fact that I was an oddball who was very cagey about his savings, couldn't actually afford the place, thought his brother would lend him some unspecified amount of money, and wittered on about gold bars. I'm not surprised that the seller chose the other offer.

 Richard "my word is my bond" B