Remax- Sellers Beware

drex_123

I enquired about home report on a property i was interested in was told by remax i would be charged £35 for electronic copy & £49 for hard copy. I may be wrong but my understanding is they can only charge to cover resonable cost of copying & printing. If i was selling with remax i would not be happy about this they are charging extortionate rates for something that the owners have paid for & hindering a potential sale. Wonder what the owners of the house i was enquiring about would think if they new this put off a potential cash buyer

googler

... and you paid by cheque, credit card or paypal ???

Come on, there must have been more to the conversation! What did they say when you protested loudly? Or did you just walk out at that point?

Have you viewed the property, or did you just walk in off the street and ask for a copy?

drex_123

I was intending on booking a viewing and asked if it would be possible to view home report. When questioned about the cost they said it was to cover admin and yes i did walk out in disgust.

googler

..and did you go to view it?

chickmug

and did they offer you sight of their office copy if you sat in their office and read it?

Wickedkitten

Potential buyers are entitled to a copy of the HIP from you within the permitted period - ie within 14 days of the request or the date on which any payment for a copy is received. You can charge a reasonable amount to cover postage and copying costs.

In some cases you will not have to provide a copy of the HIP. These are where you have good reason to believe the person is not a serious buyer, does not have the means to buy the property or is someone the seller is unlikely to want to sell to. You should take care not to discriminate unlawfully though.

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?type=RESOURCES&itemId=1081597881&r.l1=1073858799&r.l3=1081564218&r.lc=en&r.t=RESOURCES&r.i=1081591201&r.l2=1081626981&r.s=e

Just ask whoever is advertising the property for sale for a copy of the HIP. This is usually an estate agent, but could be another business or individual.
They must give you a copy of the HIP free of charge if you ask for it. However, they may make a reasonable charge to cover the costs of copying and posting it.
You should get your copy of the HIP within 14 days of the request being made.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/BuyingAndSellingYourHome/Homeinformationpacks/DG_171800

Even if they didn't think the OP was serious, they could have just said no.

£35 for emailing it or copying it onto a cd-r and £49 for a printed copy are in no way reasonable.

chickmug

Wickedkitten wrote: »

£35 for emailing it or copying it onto a cd-r and £49 for a printed copy are in no way reasonable.

How much would you say is reasonable for each method.

It seems to me once on email there are no costs so should be free but copying what can be 50/100 + pages in colour has significant staff time and copying costs.

googler

OK, here's a brain-teaser; if the original report is in colour, and the agent prints it in black & white, has he or she complied with the law?

It's cheaper and quicker on most laser printers to print B&W

..and seconded, how much does this group think is reasonable for printing a paper copy of around 50 pages plus?

googler

"Even if they didn't think the OP was serious, they could have just said no."

It sounds from the OPs comments that the agents weren't even given the chance to say Yes or No to him/her, since it seems he/she stomped out of the office in a huff when told the rates ......

Mind you, since they quoted the rates, there's an implied "Yes, we'll give you the report" in their response, with the proviso that payment is due.

Wickedkitten

Pretty much all of the estate agents that we have had property particulars from charge £10 for printing out the HIP

WillowCat

I always request the HIP be e-mailed to me. Never been asked to pay.

I was however given the runaround recently on a house I viewed. I asked to have the HIP e-mailed to me before I made an offer, and was told (incorrectly) that I wouldn't be allowed to see it until AFTER I'd made the offer. I protested, saying that the contents of the HIP might well affect my decision on whether, and how much to offer. Eventually the agent admitted the property had been on market since Sept 2007 therefore no HIP was available. I requested a copy of the EPC (mandatory for ALL properties on the market since Oct 2008) but the agent claims they don't have the necessary passwords to access it.

I made the offer anyway, subject to seeing the HIP when available.

Surprise surprise my offer was rejected - and I still never saw that blimmin EPC (I just might have considered upping my offer if I'd seen it.....)