Is there a difference in quality / suitability of Home Reports in Scotland?

PPPingu

Hi there, we are looking to put our house on the market in Glasgow in the next couple of weeks.
Estate Agents are quoting £500+ for Home Report, but there are online options for about half that...:think:
Can anyone help me by letting me know if there are different standards of Home Report authors - will some mortage companies only accept reports by certain surveyors?

We are considering selling via online estate agent "Home Sale Online" (cant post link) £1000 all inclusive including Homereport, and they are on rightmove but I can't see any reviews or feedback on them, so a wee bit nervous about them...

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!:)

anderson8

i think generally if you go through the estate agents its more expensive. we got ours online, and its fine, the estate agent was happy with that.

googler

PPPingu wrote: »

Hi there, we are looking to put our house on the market in Glasgow in the next couple of weeks.
Estate Agents are quoting £500+ for Home Report, but there are online options for about half that...:think:

Thinks; Ever heard the term 'false economy'?


Can anyone help me by letting me know if there are different standards of Home Report authors - will some mortage companies only accept reports by certain surveyors?

Correct, mort cos. will only accept HRs from (perhaps national) surveying firms who are on their 'panel'. However, you can't determine whether or not your surveyor is on your buyer's lender's panel until well after you've ordered your report, so I'd recommend ensuring that your HR is done by a large, reputable RICS firm to maximise your chances.

We are considering selling via online estate agent "Home Sale Online" (cant post link) £1000 all inclusive including Homereport, and they are on rightmove but I can't see any reviews or feedback on them, so a wee bit nervous about them...

Even if you could post a link, I think they're down - I've tried all the google results from searching for them, and every one comes up 'page not found' - Hmmmmm

googler

Google has cached copies of some homesaleonline pages, but clicking on the 'current page' link returns 'not found'

I'd say they've either forgotten to renew their web site fees in the last week or so, or they've shut up shop.

If their site does come back up, I'd suggest looking at their listings in Glasgow, and counting how many. Then count those on the other major selling sites in the area (the last time I mentioned one in passing, the thread disappeared, so...) and see who has the most properties for sale. Where are the majority of the public likely to be looking?

PPPingu

Thanks for the responses, that seems a bit weird - I've just been back on their site (clicked through from google on www. homesaleonline .co .uk ) and it also works just typing it in URL bar.

They state their home reports are done by "Survey Scotland Ltd" and that all their surveyors are RCIS members - would this be enough to ensure that HR is acceptable to mortgage lenders?

PPPingu

googler wrote: »

If their site does come back up, I'd suggest looking at their listings in Glasgow, and counting how many. Then count those on the other major selling sites in the area (the last time I mentioned one in passing, the thread disappeared, so...) and see who has the most properties for sale. Where are the majority of the public likely to be looking?

Googler, thanks for your help, not sure I follow your instructions above from a wee map thing they have, there seems to be about 30-odd properties for sale around Glasgow (out of 140 for scotland)i've searched for one of these, and found it on rightmove which is where most people look nowadays?

googler

Yup, they're back up - I see they have 9 properties for sale in the whole of Glasgow City. This doesn't strike me as a significant number, and is unlikely to pique interest. I can see at a glance that there's almost 3,000 for sale with one group of agents, so the site mentioned would seem to be a small fish in a big pond.....

If your buyer is getting a mortgage with an English-based lender, they may find Survey Scotland off their radar. They may be more amenable to national surveyors. Scottish lenders may be OK with them, but you won't find this out for certain until you have a buyer, an offer, and their lender getting the HR at that stage.....

googler

PPPingu wrote: »

Googler, thanks for your help, not sure I follow your instructions above from a wee map thing they have, there seems to be about 30-odd properties for sale around Glasgow (out of 140 for scotland)i've searched for one of these, and found it on rightmove which is where most people look nowadays?

So they've got 140 properties for sale in the whole of Scotland? Why would anyone look at them, when there's thousands for sale elsewhere?

I don't think Rightmove is the first port of call for viewers/buyers in Scotland, it doesn't have the same market dominance as in E&W.

Ask around your friends and workmates - where would they look first?

PPPingu

thanks googler,
I went to rightmove and checked how many they have for sale through them, and they are listing 137, so although not a big player, it's got some business. I might give them a call to see what they are like over the phone.
Incidentally wasn't very impressed with the schedules, they looked like they had been done with MS Word in 10 minutes.
Other than more comfort with HR, what other benefits are there to traditional estate agents over this type of online company? we need to decide by the weekend, so i want to be fully informed (I have read the entire sticky on house selling, but more info can't hurt.)

rpc

Do people in Glasgow often use Rightmove to buy/sell houses? I would expect most business to go through GSPC so if you aren't advertised there then you will probably miss out on a lot of potential buyers.

I doubt any cheap online outfit would be signed up to the GSPC. 9 properties in the whole of Glasgow and only 140 in Scotland would be a massive turn off to me.

Normally, I would say to ask your solicitor about the surveyor being on lenders' panels but it sounds like you don't have one yet.

Depending on the sale price, £1000 for home report, commission and legals sounds far too cheap. On our recent sales, we are paying more than that in commission alone (0.7%) and that was the best rate we could get from a regular solicitor.

PPPingu

if you think £1000 is too cheap, there must be something wrong, it turns out that is for accompanied viewings - without that it comes in at £470 for the following.
<LI class=odd>Home Report <LI class=even>Advertising on major websites <LI class=odd>No commission on sale <LI class=even>Signboards & online schedule <LI class=odd>Photos, measurements & description <LI class=odd>Negotiations
The Home report will not include a "Mortgage Valuation Report", but i dont think that is essential (although I would probably want it as a buyer)
I called up and I can add text & photos to the schedule - I think they'll let me be as DIY on it as I want.
it's a big decision to make, and although the saving could be around £1k that is meaningless if it doesnt sell...
Incidentally, I've asked around, most people here use Rightmove & GSPC together (that's also my experience) as between them you see virtually everything on the market.