HIPS for 2 Bed House

nicksta27

I don't know if anyone can help with this. We currently have our house on the market with the websites sellmyownhome & houseladder. In the New Year we will probably be putting it on the market with an estate agent.

My question is that as we are already advertising it online, if we go with an estate agent in the New Year, will we need to get a HIPS pack done at all?

Doozergirl

You shouldn't need a Home Information Pack (HIP), no. I would leave the property advertised on the sites though, so that you can show the agent that it has indeed been marketed previously.

courtjester

HIPS are about marketing of the property by any means (even word of mouth) - the rules about HIPS are nothing to do with whether you use an estate agent or not.

Providing you continue the marketing and have done so without a break since before HIPS were introduced for your property type, there is currently no end date to the exemption you have from HIPS.

Your agents may need some confirmation of the date you first started marketing, so make sure you can find the dated receipt for when you started your internet advertising - private sale sites that charge for advertising should issue an automated receipt for the card payment and this is all you need as evidence of the date of marketing.

If you add an estate agent to the mix in the New Year, make sure you don't let them bully you into having a HIP - and don't be taken in by any offer of a *free* HIP, as this is just a marketing ploy, it ain't free....

chriserenity

Courtjester is quite right. The point about continuous marketing is very important. If there has been a break in your marketing after the commencement date for HIPs this will trigger the requirement. So if you do want to avoid paying for one this is paramount.

Switching agents does not constitute a break in marketing unless all marketing stops before you switch agents.