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I have to say that the British agents have faults too.
So many complaints about the Spanish ones but although there aren't the vast amounts of money involved, they are not completely honest. Surprise surprise.
We are about to put our house on the market ready to decamp to Spain.
I rang 3 agents who will be calling tomorrow to give us a valuation and run through costs etc.
All three said that we had to have a new HIPS in place, including the energy certificate, before marketing the house.
I checked the government website and a HIPS should be ordered before the sale of the house (if marketed) before December 2007. It doesn't say it has to be actually prepared.
Interesting point is that all the agents offer a HIPS service. 
Laury
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Laury
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.......i think your're right, they are not as bad, but i'm glad you haven't put 'honesty' and 'agent' in the same sentance!
...appologies to any honest one's reading this, i'm aware they exist.
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Hi Laury
I,m not an estate agent (Candyfloss could tell you all the ins & outs) but am pretty sure that at the moment (up to 31 Dec) HIPs must be commissioned before marketing can begin. The EPC (energy performance cert) must be provided before contracts are exchanged, although there is no set time limit on when the rest of the HIP must be provided.
After 1 Jan 08, HIP inc EPC must be available to anyone interested in the property from the time it is first placed on the market.
Always willing to be corrected but this is how I understand the process.
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I lifted this from the Government website on HIPS.
When do I have to make a Pack available?
The person responsible for marketing a property (this could be you, or in most cases, the estate agent) must have commissioned a Home Information Pack by the time that the property is on the market. As soon as you have received the Energy Performance Certificate (a compulsory part of the Pack), you must produce a Pack and provide potential buyers with a copy of the Pack, or any document from it on request. In most cases, this period is 14 days after the date of the request.
Note: The ability to market without a Pack is a temporary arrangement and will only last until 31 December 2007.
If you sell the home before you receive the Home Information Pack, there is no longer any need to provide a Pack. However, you will still have a legal duty to provide the Energy Performance Certificate, which must be given to the buyer at exchange of contracts, or as soon as it is available
Am I reading it wrong?
The agents said I have to have one before I can put the house on the market. 
Cheers
Laury
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Laury
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An interesting point.. anyone answer ?
If you had a 3 bed property, which has to have a HIP from all accounts (I saw initially it was just for 4 bed properties, now 3 bed properties need one, I heard) & you knocked a bedroom into your old bathroom in order to make a great bathroom but reduce your property to a 2 bed house, do you need a pack ? 
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Laury - are you looking at www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk ? If you go onto this website & look under FAQ for sellers then it says that before 31 dec the HIPs have to be commissioned before you market your property. After that date they have to be available from the time the property is placed on the market. Is this where the confusion arises?
More - I have no idea - ask Gina when she gets back!!
This message was last edited by Annie21 on 9/26/2007.
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I think that's what it's saying Annie.
The agents said we had to have a pack before we could market though. That's not the same as commisssioning one, is it?
It's ridiculous. If it takes a month or so to get a pack.. which is within the bounds of possibility... you are stumped if you want to move your house quickly after the end of the year.
I don't know whether I should be contacting a specialist set up or whichever agent we go with or eve if our solicitor deals with them. It's the biggest load of old codswallop this government has ever come up with.
We have a lot of energy saving lighbulbs which give a good score but a buyer could immediately change them for the bog standard ones. What drivel.
A farting cow causes more havoc with the ozone layer than any of my lightbulbs.
Laury
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Laury
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"A farting cow causes more havoc with the ozone layer than any of my lightbulbs"
I love it, Laury, love it. 
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No it's not the same & I think if you press them (& quote the gov website) I'm sure that your property will be able to go on the market as long as the hip is commissioned at the same time. (thats how I've read it anyway!)
Think every man & his dog have been training up for hips coming in - EA will usually be the first to nab anybody though. Moving house seems to get more complicated all the time (& expensive!)
Love the thought of the cow  - perhaps you could include that in the HIP LOL
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 More you do like to complicate things, as far as I know it is definitely a three bedroom house you have to have the HIP package for. We have just had everything done loft insulation, cavity wall, we actually got free energy lights. all free from the govt. They also checked everything else ie windows, doors and all seems fine.  You do not get much free in this country so we cashed in on it. Pat
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Pat & Roy..
How did you get all the freebies?
Laury
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Laury
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Laury, we aren't selling but we got four energy lights just for asking for them. Info was on a booklet we received with our electric statement.
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We had to buy ours. ..... and they don't come cheap. We have to leave them all too because they're bayonet fittings.
Laury
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Laury
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My opinion about SOME British Estate Agents changed when we decided to move to Spain. This is also prior to the House Pack. We called a few agents to get them to come and give us a valuation. The first one was very negative and valued it at £17.5K less than we wanted and ignored the newly fitted kitchen and bathroom, the UPVC doors and windows and double glazing, etc, etc. The second one was very keen and positive, so we gave him the job and cancelled the others. He rang an hour later to say he was bringing someone for a viewing. The lady came, liked it, and bought it for the full asking price within an hour. The whole process took less than 2 hours and the "For sale" sign didn't get put up until the next day with a "Sold" splash across it. Wouldn't it be nice if life could always be that simple and stress free. I certainly didn't begrudge them that fee.
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 Hi Laury, I do not know if I can mention the company that did all the freebies on this forum. But I can pm you if you qualify you do have to be 60 plus to qualify. But your local council should know I believe the govt give the grant money to the council. That is my take on it anyway. I am afraid I always think you do not get anything for nothing but on this occasion I was wrong. Orda you was very lucky to sell your house with no hassle. Pat
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We don't qualify if you have to be over 60. 
Hubby is a year away still and he's older than me. Oh well. What's a light bulb compared to the costs of relocating.
Oh I do hope we have the same luck as you Orda. It would be lovely to sell quickly and easily. We have 3 agents calling and will probably decide which one based on their charges as much as the valuations. As far as I know, it could be anything between 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 %. They are very cagey about it.
I'll have to put my special negotiating head on.
Laury
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Laury
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Hi Lauryc,
Hope this helps our estate agents took photos of our house last wednesday ,took all details (bank ect) while he was here for the HIPS , house went on the market thursday Hips was actually done today and surprise suprise we actually have a very good energy rating , so it seems that as long as the forms has been filled in you are ready to go . our estate agents were only 1% so not bad.
Hazel,
p..s. normally only talk on A.C.C. forum.
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hazelb,
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Interesting hazel thanks.
I just found out that our solicitor does the HIPS cheaper than the agents. Glad I asked now.
I have been quoted 1.75% so far by the first agents. Another coming tomorrow.
I am sorry but I have no idea what the AAC forum is.
Laury
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Laury
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Hi Laury.
Glad it helps, ACC stands for Almonzora Country Club which is in Almeria still dont know whether it will ever be built even after 2 years of waiting . We paid £350 for the HIPS which i suppose isnt bad as we thought it was going to be a lot more . Hope it all goes well for you with your sale, weve had 2 offers so far but still to low maybe the next viewer (4.30this afternoon) might make a better one as we really want to leave London and go back to Northumberland ,25 years here is quite long enough thankyou.
Hazel
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hazelb,
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Oh we thought of buying there originally but decided against it as our local airports don't cover the area so it would mean a long drive.
The agents here are charging £400 and the solicitor is £350, so we'll use him.
Fingers crossed that we haven't left it too late in the year to sell. 
Good luck with your viewers.
I see you're going back to Northumberland rather than Spain?
Laury
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Laury
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