H.I.P. and tips

[mattrixdesign2]

We are thinking of moving house, I think I will start the ball rolling with the HIP pack (as we can not view a lot of properites with out this kind of commitment).

Any tips and tricks to the cheapest easiest route to getting a HIP done, is it worth preparing anything before hand, I have found the government site which I will read tonight, but would also be nice to have info from people who have experienced these.

Thanks!

[BISHI]

It's a waste of money and you are over a barrell and just have to fork out the £299 minimum. No one came to our house to do it, it was all done by local search and we weren't even told when it was ready. RIP OFF !!!

[mattrixdesign2]

Originally Posted by BISHI

It's a waste of money and you are over a barrell and just have to fork out the £299 minimum. No one came to our house to do it, it was all done by local search and we weren't even told when it was ready. RIP OFF !!!

just what I wanted to hear. Anyone else

[boltoa]

Just Google cheap HIP. Loads of companies these days. You end up with the same thing in all cases. Nothing you can do in advance, apart from put some low energy light bulbs in, which might score you 1 point or so on the energy performance cert. You should be able to get one for not much more than £200. Your estate agent should offer one, but probably for more than that. A leasehold costs more than a freehold.

"(as we can not view a lot of properites with out this kind of commitment)."

I don't understand this? Are you saying agents won't let you view a house until you can prove yours is about to be put on the market? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a while...

[mattrixdesign2]

Originally Posted by boltoa

I don't understand this? Are you saying agents won't let you view a house until you can prove yours is about to be put on the market? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a while...

You understand correctly - basically, we had our house valued, thought we would hold on for a while, now decided to look, but he says the owners of two house would not allow people to view unless (we) were actually in the market. Now the agent has been badgering me for a while and he seems keen for me to put our house on the market, the price he suggested seems to be on a scheme of sell lots of 'em cheap!

So he could be just having me on, having said that, not sure how else I can get to view the houses, as its through the same agent and there isn't much else out there.

As we are in a state of limbo, I am happy to go for this pack, to get us moving.

[Obi1kenobe]

Complete waste of time and money. They're basically just a load of searched bound together and a few docs (deeds etc) added.

I paid (or was fleeced for) £200odd quid for mine and it's incorrect, innaccurate and i'm still fighting with the company that did it for them to wither dorrect it or give me my money back.

Ironically it's actually expired now (yes they expire!!) so i'll have to get another one anyway. I'll be putting it together myself this time though for a lot less outlay and i'll know it's correct, only sticking point is the EPC which your have to pay and expert for (and i use the term expert very loosely indeed)

[mattrixdesign2]

these sound like a disaster. oh well

[mattrixdesign2]

£229 is the best I got! Doing it Sat.

[imightbewrong]

One of our local agents will pay for your HIP until your house is sold, then you pay them back. Not sure what sort of strings are attached to that, or if you have to pay in the event of no sale.

[stainless-steel]

I've just put my house on the market and used budgethips.com for the HIP, £178+VAT. They've been a little slow in completing one of the searches and mixed up the details on another, but they respond to e-mails quite quickly, all in all and taking the price into account I'm fairly satisfied.
They will need to visit your house to do the energy assessment, they need to check your loft for lagging, your boiler type, what sort of lightbulbs you use etc.

Check your estate agents contract very carfeully if you go for one of their discounted or free hips, it'll most likely be tied into the use of their conveyancing services and be time constrained.
If I'd gone with the agent I could have got the hip for £99+VAT, but their conveyancing fees were at least £500 dearer then I could get else where. They also wanted to sting me for £549+VAT for it if I cancelled the contract with them and used another agent.

Be clear about one thing, if you get a discounted hip from the agent you'll only be paying for it somewhere else in the deal.

They're a nessasary evil, I went for one of the cheaper deals safe in the knowledge that I wasn't in a rush for it, I got it sorted whilst I haggled with the agents over their fees.