"Sellers pack"

ahll

I saw a program the other day and I am sure they said that this new "seller's Pack" comes in this June ! Has that date changed until next year ?

I was also wondering if you had put ure house on the market before it can in whether or not you had to then get a 'seller'spack" ?

Jorgan_2

ahll, the date has always been June 2007. You need to have the sellers pack in place before marketing the property. The pack for a freehold property is expected to be 100 pages thick, for a leasehold property it could be upto 250 pages thick, it can also be presented in an electronic format. How the 'average' man in the street is supposed to digest & understand this information, I don't know.

robwend

i have no idea what you guys are really talkin about as i skipped a few pages but did i miss a room fight? lol

sheffield_lad

Hi guys, I am currently studying to become a home inspector and can dispel a couple of myths. First of all the HIP (Home information pack), will use language which will be easy to understand not jargon. Secondly not all estate agents are against them around 30% of the students on my course are Estate agents who now realize that even Kirsty Allsopp cannot stop the outdated way we sell houses becoming history. Lastly think about 1st time buyers who often shell out £££ to find a house has a fault, they pull out and the next purchaser pays more £££ for the same survey to find the same faults how can this be right?

EdInvestor

Lastly think about 1st time buyers who often shell out £££ to find a house has a fault, they pull out and the next purchaser pays more £££ for the same survey to find the same faults how can this be right?

Hi howee,

Interested to hear what you say.Perhaps you could tell us a bit about what they are teaching you?

For instance what kind of "faults" do you think inspectors like yourself are going to be highlighting in the HIPs?

JennyW_2

I was watching an episode of Location, Location, Location last night on one of the sky channels. You can never tell what year they are filmed in as they are re-runs, however Kirsty started talking about these sellers packs and how soon they were to be introduced. The programme turned out to be from 2003!!!!

Jorgan_2

Howee, i think you will find a large number of estate agents will welcome certain aspects of HIPs, I certainly do, anything that speeds the process & makes things more transparent for all concerned has to be a good thing. On one side you have the government & Consumers Association (Which?) pushing through what they want and on the other the Council for Mortgage Lenders, Institute of Chartered Surveyors, Law Society, NAEA & other Estate Agents putting up relevant arguments & objections, many of which have been bulldozed aside. What many EA's dislike is the poorly thought system that is coming in.

As I am sure you are aware, the current proposals for HIPs state a standard enquiries form & fixtures & fittings form must be included in the HIP. However these can be left blank - How does that speed the process up or provide the proposed buyer with all the information they or their solicitor will require?

Best of luck with qualifying as a home inspector, we are going to need as many of these as we can get. Just out of curiosity, when do you intend to actually qualify?

sheffield_lad

EdInvestor wrote:

Hi howee,
For instance what kind of "faults" do you think inspectors like yourself are going to be highlighting in the HIPs?

Hi guys, it’s nice to see interest and sensible discussion on this subject. The Home Inspector (HI) will inspect and report on the condition of the house giving a rating 1, 2 or 3 to each area. They will spot damp, dry rot, wood worm and a whole host of other problems which could be affecting the house. I have only just started training but do not think there will be a problem with the amount of HI's on launch day 01/06/07. Current surveyors will jump on board once they realize this is going to happen. There may be issues to address as to what the pack provides (i.e. currently no valuation), however the fundamental way we sell houses will be changed for the better then improvements can be made.

PS I also think mortgage lenders will also recognize the pack when it goes live. Old institutions don't like change especially when it's good for the consumer but like the EA's and Surveyors they will come round to it.

EdInvestor

Thanks howee

The Home Inspector (HI) will inspect and report on the condition of the house giving a rating 1, 2 or 3 to each area.

Do you mean each room? Or the location of the property?

They will spot damp, dry rot, wood worm and a whole host of other problems which could be affecting the house.

Quite right too But what happens if they don't spot problems which are found later? No doubt you've seen how surveys now are covered in disclaimers and the judgments are all vague and full of caveats, so the surveyors can't get sued? Will the Hips be like that too?

Most surveys I've seen in the last 5 years (certainly the short ones) seemed to be basically designed to highlight small imperfections for price bargaining purposes.Will the Hips contain those aspects too?

So the asking price would already include any such small matters which often cause trouble on the point of exchange when people "try it on"? That would be a useful advance.

Will you inspectors have to pay out a lot for professional liability insurance?

MortgageBroker_2

There are a number of fundemental problems with HIPs but the biggest I can see is the Home Condition Report.

The Home Condition Report is not a survey and a Home Inspector is not a Surveyor. What person in their right mind would accept a property report that could be months old (no shelf life currently) when they are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds. You would be mad not to instruct an independent inspection. (EAs are not independent, they need to sell the house). Mortgage lenders will not accept the HIP home condition report and will require their own valuation, who will pay for this?.

So who exactly gains?

I am not surprised that EAs want HIPs. They are in the front line when people wish to market their property. EAs will want to sell their HIPs and tie people in to a contract to sell.

If HIPs DO come in, then the only good HIP is an independent one.