housenetwork - a review

Gixer77

One of my viewers was a no-show and didn't rebook a viewing. The first viewers put an offer in that was way too low, my manager for another £2k out of them which I was able to accept due to me getting a lower price on the house I want. However it'll be a week tomorwo that they agreed to buy, and they have yet to show any proof of mortgage, finance, or solicitors details

RentonB

Having read through the various posts on using an online estate agent, and in particular Housenetwork, I decided to take the chance and use them to market my house. So I signed up on Tuesday, had a phonecall within a few hours, and arranged for their home visit to take place on Wednesday. I've gone for the full payment up front option, and I'm also using them to carry out the HIP.
So now I've got a weekend planned to de-clutter, clean, and finish those little DIY jobs that I've been putting off.
I'll keep the forum updated as to how things progress, and hope it helps others in the same way that this site (and its contributers) has helped me.

beccad

Very helpful thread - my husband and I are going to appoint HN very soon - I might even call them tomorrow! Gives me some incentive to get the house tidied and the last couple of little DIY jobs sorted once and for all!

rosepinkfluff

Hi, we've got housenetwork coming round to take the pics etc this friday we went with the all-in-one package. They've sent us a 'special offer' of £299 + VAT for conveyancing, with £75 of it payable upfront.

This offer has to be accepted before the agent visits us on Friday- has anyone got any experience of HN's conveyancing service? any good? Is this good value? (first time seller)

Doozergirl

rosepinkfluff wrote: »

Hi, we've got housenetwork coming round to take the pics etc this friday we went with the all-in-one package. They've sent us a 'special offer' of £299 + VAT for conveyancing, with £75 of it payable upfront.

This offer has to be accepted before the agent visits us on Friday- has anyone got any experience of HN's conveyancing service? any good? Is this good value? (first time seller)

At some point, you have to pay for what you get. £299 will not buy you a spectacular solicitor, in fat it probably doesn't buy you the full services of any solicitor. If you are selling only, then fine, but be aware that you may have to drag the process along and it's a good idea to be in regular contat with your buyer so that you can see what is going on at their end. You can pay £500 for a equally slow local solicitor so I'm not saying that dearer is necessarily better.

If you are buying, then frankly, I say don't do it. I have used cheap conveyancers in the past to see what it was like and frankly these people should be digging all the dirt they can up on a potential purchase to alleviate any risk. You can't guarantee what you will get with cheap conveyancing. My experience wasn't bad but it wasn't great and it certainly wasn't easy.

After however many separate transactions, we have finally reached the point where we've had to take legal advice from our solicitors after a purchase. If we had used a cheap conveyancer I have no doubt they'd have shrugged their shoulders. Even the litigator at our solicitor said he'd never seen anything like it in 25 years.

I think you need confidence in a solicitor for a purchase. Just in case.

RentonB

Well, so far my experience of Housenetwork has been really positive. They visited last Wednesday to take photo's/measurements, and also go through the paperwork and assessment of the property to gain the Energy Performance Certificate (part of the HIP they are providing). Their guy was very friendly and helpful, explaining the whole process as he was going along.
Within a day I received an email saying my property site was ready to view and amend, which I quickly did. The photos were great - far superior to those that I've seen by any of my local agents. I was also impressed by the rest of the site, which looked very professional, informative, and easy to navigate. I requested a couple of changes to the text, as there were a couple of miss-spelt words (one of which was my fault), and I wanted the features on the front page to be changed - these were updated by Friday morning, having put the request in Thursday night.
Once I was happy, I then signed the contract. A notification told me that they were still waiting for the EPC to be complete, but I kept checking the site and this was complete by Saturday. At this point my house was ready to market, but what I didn't notice (I should have read the email properly!) was that it hadn't gone live - I needed to authorize this, which I did first thing Monday morning.
The email said that the property would be uploaded to Rightmove (and other sites) the next day, and sure enough I checked this morning and it was listed.
So now I just need to put my for sale board up, and then wait for interest. Having been very impressed with the service up to this point, I'm looking forward to seeing how smoothly the viewing process goes, as this is where local agents might have an advantage. Watch this space.............

googler

RentonB wrote: »

Well, so far my experience of Housenetwork has been really positive. .... The photos were great - far superior to those that I've seen by any of my local agents.

OK, now you've really piqued my curiosity. May I see? Either by putting the link here, or by PM'ing me?.

pastmybest

googler wrote: »

OK, now you've really piqued my curiosity. May I see? Either by putting the link here, or by PM'ing me?.

You old cynic;)

Seriously when you look at H'Network photos some a good but some not so good. Same with the local agents some good and some not so good.

It depends, as always, on the skill of the person who takes them? H'Network don't have magic cameras or professionally trained photgraphers though? But do offer a really good alternative and value to the local EA?

RentonB

No problem googler, I'll PM you with the details.

I totally agree with pastmybest, but HN at least turned up with a decent digital SLR with wide angle lens, which I would have thought is the minimum requirement (especially given the charges most local EA demand). I've seen the work carried out by my local EA's - the photos are at best hit and miss, the majority don't include floor plans, and virtual tours are a complete rarity. If advertising online is attracts the largest audience of potential buyers, I think these are all musts.

I can only speak from my experience (and that of my friends), but Rightmove is really the only tool I use to look for property. No doubt there are still a lot of people that don't look online, but my house is on a main road in the town centre, so hopefully the for sale board takes care of the rest.

WallyBird

If any of the original responders are still following this thread, you might like to know that we reduced our price, got more viewers, and are looking forward to a sale. Will post more details when all is fully confirmed.
Meanwhile, thanks for all the support.
WB.