Hype over HIPs

jetstream_2

Hype over HIPs
I think there is too much hype over the introduction of the HIPs (home information packs), and because people haven’t been properly informed, there is a good chance people will get over charged or pay for duplication of information.
The first point of call with most potential vendors will be the estate agent, who will most likely refer the vendor to a Pack provider with whom the estate agent has a contract with and with whom he will receive a referral fee from.
People have not been told that they can produce the pack themselves use their own solicitor, estate agent, or even market the property on line, but people will never be given that information because there would be no profit for pack providers or estate agents.
Most people that have sold their properties in past will be aware that when they have a potential buyer they will contact a solicitor who will send them a manuscript questionnaire that they will have to fill in themselves. The new process is no different, except the pack provider will send the same questionnaire at the beginning instead at the end, what people don’t realise is that there is nothing hard in filling out these forms and they will have to do it either way. All the required documents can be downloaded from the governments home information pack web site at http://www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk/consumer/65_How_do_I_compile_my_own_Pack.html and they provide help and advise.
Searches can be done on line or can be done as late as possible by a solicitor as part of the normal conveyance procedure, they can be then added to the pack as late as possible.
The problem with getting searches right at the beginning is that when the property is eventually sold which could be up to twelve months after it was originally marketed and could be out of date and have to be done again, so leaving them out of the pack as long as possible is a benefit and doesn’t contravene regulations. Searches cost approx £120.00 and are normally included in conveyance costs, costs for searches are reducing all the time.
What’s new then?
The only new document to the selling process is the Energy Performance Certificate and is carried out by a domestic energy assessor and costs on average £100+vat.
So the main point of this letter is to let you know that before you pay a Pack Provider £350+vat for your HIP and maybe pay more again for the conveyance, you have an another option which has not been advertised, I mean there is no profit in honesty.
I have spoken to the Sun newspaper who told me so what people get ripped off everyday, I have spoken to a obnoxious man from the Mirror who said that most Mirror readers would not have the intelligence to compile the pack themselves and told me to contact the Mail, well I say he his wrong and the average person in the street is more than capable, they just need to be given the option. The man from the Mail just diverted me to readers letters, so honesty and public information mustn’t sell newspapers either.

Telephone number removed by board guide,not allowed

lynzpower

Incidentally, when you say that the hIps providers are providing a referral fee- the hips provider I work for doews nothing of the sort. - so more "hype over hips" poor information being scattered around- what you claim to be seeking to avoid.

Yes, people can do it themselves. However, doing your own conveyancing ( and hips is part of that, lets face it) is often thought of as risky, however, I would do my own if I buy again.

jetstream_2

I do apologies, maybe not all hip providers offer a referral to estate agents, but a lot do and they may not call it a referral fee, the most common name for it is help with marketing. The point I am making is that people haven’t been told that they can compile the pack themselves.
Was anyone else aware they could do it themselves.

lynzpower

yeah theres been quite a lot of discussion on them so far around here- whether they can get them done in the target time of 7 days that we offer at work I dont know. Id certainly be interested and supportive of those that can, plus it might give me some tips if and when its ever my turn to sell again

Doozergirl

Yes, on this board, lots of people have talked about it and provided relevant links.

I'm about to embark on putting together my own HIP and was hoping to create a sticky thread once I, or someone else , goes through the experience.

It's important information for this forum, certainly.

courtjester

Doozer, I'd be interested to learn what your total cost amounts to once you have compiled all the pack requirements, seraches and survey as it seems to me that this is likely to cost most people more than buying a complete pack from one of the larger HIP providers, so doesn't seem much sense if there is no saving for all the work involved.

Whilst I don't think there are any referral fees involved in HIPS (the premier providers all seem to be offering net cost packs to agents who will then add their own margin much in the same way as a normal retailer), there are incentives for combined conveyancing + HIP deals, also involving various cashback options to the homeowner.

The best price I have seen so far is £249 + VAT for the HIP and £299 + VAT for the linked conveyancing.

So people need to compare whole conveyancing plus HIP deals when buying direct to secure the best price for the transaction overall.

jetstream_2

I think the cost of searches may come down further. The cost was normally included in the cost of the normal conveyance process any way, so you could produce your own hip for about £100+vat the cost of the EPC. The hip documents are not hard to fill in, has anybody seen them, you can get most of the information from a copy of the title deed at http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/ cost £3. By doing yourself you will probably save between £100-£150.

lynzpower

The cost of personal searches may indeed rise, as there is more demand, or so the rumblings from the HIP providers has said. Additionally one main HIP provider also owns searchflow, so I do expect there will be some difference in ordering through the hips provider than searchflow directly.

I heard yesterday, that Foxtons are including the hip as part of thier fees, but adding 2.5% on top of thier fees. This works out HUGELY more expensive than buying the hip through the companies that court jester is suggesting.

Doozergirl

lynzpower wrote: »

I heard yesterday, that Foxtons are including the hip as part of thier fees, but adding 2.5% on top of thier fees. This works out HUGELY more expensive than buying the hip through the companies that court jester is suggesting.

.25% maybe?

That's what I'm expecting our local agents will do. It makes sense to them to up their fee, more than confusing a vendor with how much, blah, blah. Much easier to say 'don't worry, we'll handle it'

jetstream_2

Well that’s the problem, legal jargon can be scary.
I know there is lots of different types of searches you can have depending on where you live.
I think I’d have more faith in my local solicitor than a pack provider who had just started up, better the devil you know and all that.

david29dpo

jetstream wrote: »

Well that’s the problem, legal jargon can be scary.
I know there is lots of different types of searches you can have depending on where you live.
I think I’d have more faith in my local solicitor than a pack provider who had just started up, better the devil you know and all that.

Makes no difference. Only two searches are needed for the hips no matter where you are.