Home Reports Scotland

debbieallan

We're putting our house up for sale and plannign to trade up. I'm astonished how little the estate agents and solicitors know about Home Reports. We decided to go with GSPC (in Scotland they are both estate agent and solicitor) who have commissioned a home report on 16 Feb. They said I needed to pay their registration fees and the home report fee upfront - which I did - about £650! Then they sent paperwork including their estate agent's contract. I've been delaying signing this in case I want to pull out after the home report is done, for instance, if there was a problem with the house or the valuation from the surveyor was too low. Do you think I'm OK right to stall the signing of the estate agent/solicitors contract? I know they'll chase me for it soon. Houses can't be marketed without a home report so I really don't think they should have charged a registration (marketing) fee at the same time anyway. They've already phoned to try and get me to have the photos taken. PS. The GSPC valuer gave a figure that was way too high and I might have struggled to achieve before the house price crash! So we don't really know what price to put on it.

googler

"We're putting our house up for sale and plannign to trade up. I'm astonished how little the estate agents and solicitors know about Home Reports."

How much do you need to know? It's not complicated.

"We decided to go with GSPC (in Scotland they are both estate agent and solicitor) who have commissioned a home report on 16 Feb."

That's when the surveyor's visiting your home? The GSPC is a collection of a number of solicitor/estate agents - you must be dealing with one firm within the GSPC.

"They said I needed to pay their registration fees and the home report fee upfront - which I did - about £650! Then they sent paperwork including their estate agent's contract. I've been delaying signing this in case I want to pull out after the home report is done, for instance, if there was a problem with the house or the valuation from the surveyor was too low. Do you think I'm OK right to stall the signing of the estate agent/solicitors contract?"

I think you're totally in the wrong. If it had been me, I would have you sign on the dotted line BEFORE commissioning a surveyor to do the survey. There's no way I would commit to doing any positive work without some commitment from you in writing. From the sound of it, you're saying that you've dropped £650, and if you don't like what the surveyor says, you're going to write this money off, and not bother putting your house on the market, having wasted both surveyor's and solicitor's time?

"I know they'll chase me for it soon."

I'm not surprised.

"Houses can't be marketed without a home report so I really don't think they should have charged a registration (marketing) fee at the same time anyway."

You're saying that an EA shouldn't sign you up to sell your house until after the HR has been done, and you've decided then whether or not you want to go ahead? How much time and effort do you want out of the EA for free?

"They've already phoned to try and get me to have the photos taken."

Again, how much are you going to get for free? You haven't signed an agreement with them, yet they're going to come to your house and spend time taking photos with no assurance that you're actually going to put your home on the market with them?

"PS. The GSPC valuer gave a figure that was way too high and I might have struggled to achieve before the house price crash! So we don't really know what price to put on it."

The surveyor will put a value in the report. Unless your home is extra special, it's unlikely that serious buyers will offer much, if any, above this figure, so the EAs valuation may well be a moot point anyway

dottylotty

I think you're totally in the wrong. If it had been me, I would have you sign on the dotted line BEFORE commissioning a surveyor to do the survey. There's no way I would commit to doing any positive work without some commitment from you in writing. From the sound of it, you're saying that you've dropped £650, and if you don't like what the surveyor says, you're going to write this money off, and not bother putting your house on the market, having wasted both surveyor's and solicitor's time?

googler WHY is this wasting anyones time exactly? OP has said she has paid £650 for this service so no-one is out of pocket

I agree with that you should wait til you have the report, and from what Ive read (am also in Scotland and continually thinking of selling!) you should wait anyway to see what comes back. For example if anything comes back from survey then you either have the choice to fix the problem then sell, and pay for another survey. Or cut your losses and sell with the problem being stated in the survey......hope that makes sense?

dottylotty

What you can expect...

<H4>When you ask a GSPC member to provide your Home Report.

1. Expert recommendations on market value.
2. Prompt instruction of the Single Survey and Energy Report.
3. Speedy delivery of the completed report.
4. Simultaneous marketing preparations to get your home on the market asap.
5. High quality presentation of your home.
6. On-line, electronic and hard copy distribution to qualified buyers.
7. Regular updates on progress.
8. Regular reports on buyers who have viewed your Home Report.
9. A range of payment options to suit your circumstances.

</H4>Taken from GSPC so they do state that they will simultaneously prepare your home for marketing.

However it says on the TSPC

2. What happens if the Single Survey identifies a significant problem with the condition of the house such as dry or wet rot? Does the seller have to rectify the problem?
   That is a decision for the seller. The seller may choose to rectify the problem or may for other reasons, market the house immediately. There is nothing in the legislation forcing the seller down one particular route. From the Single Survey report, the seller will at least be aware that there is a problem and have options to decide what to do about it.
4. which I take as waiting to see what the report shows up first before making a decision on wether or not to proceed with marketing your house

mitchaa

GSPC registration fee is for advertising your property on their website, i believe it's around a £200 fee and that will give you 1yr on the site.

You then have your home initially valued by the estate agent and it is then marketed on the website for whatever they have valued it at.

You then pay for your home report, and if you buy it through the estate agent you are using there is a very high likelihood that the valuation in the home report will match the valuation from the EA

So you shouldn't need to get the home report for an initial valuation. If the initial valuation is not what you expected and you didn't want to sell then you would obviously not go any further and fork out for the home report.

This is what i was told by a solicitor/EA in Aberdeen for the ASPC site.

googler

dottylotty wrote: »

googler WHY is this wasting anyones time exactly? OP has said she has paid £650 for this service so no-one is out of pocket

I agree with that you should wait til you have the report, and from what Ive read (am also in Scotland and continually thinking of selling!) you should wait anyway to see what comes back. For example if anything comes back from survey then you either have the choice to fix the problem then sell, and pay for another survey. Or cut your losses and sell with the problem being stated in the survey......hope that makes sense?

It sounds like the EA is actively preparing to market a house which may not come to the market and not getting paid for it; even if part of this fee is going to the EA, they're proceeding under the impression it's definitely going ahead, the owner isn't.

Regardless of whether or not money has changed hands, I feel it's time being spent - that the EA won't get back at any price - being spent on an apparently fruitless project, therefore by definition, a waste of time

IveSeenTheLight

googler wrote: »

It sounds like the EA is actively preparing to market a house which may not come to the market and not getting paid for it; even if part of this fee is going to the EA, they're proceeding under the impression it's definitely going ahead, the owner isn't.

Regardless of whether or not money has changed hands, I feel it's time being spent - that the EA won't get back at any price - being spent on an apparently fruitless project, therefore by definition, a waste of time

Maybe the EA's policies need to adapt to different options.
In this case the client (seller) wishes to receive the home report before they procede.
The supplier needs to adapt to the clients requirements