Monday 24 April 2006 may be regarded as a landmark date for the Torbay property market – with the arrival of the first ‘live’ Home Information Pack, to support the sale of a property being sold by local estate agents, Mashford Estates’, Paignton office.
Home Information Packs (HIPs) will become a legal requirement for every property offered for sale in England and Wales from 1st June 2007 under new Government legislation introduced in the Housing Act 2004. HIPs signal one of the most radical changes ever seen in the way homes are bought and sold in England and Wales – changes that many feel are long overdue.
The Home Information Pack provider to Mashford Estates is Localhip .
Paul Raine, Localhip business director commented: We are delighted to be providing the first ‘live’ Localhip pack for a property in the Torbay market. We are confident that many other local property owners will want to look at the marketing advantages of selling their property with a HIP now and not waiting until it becomes mandatory in 2007. We know buyers really value the condition report prepared by a Chartered Surveyor and also the Searches on which they can get an immediate legal opinion before they make an offer – without incurring any costs. For the seller, it makes sense to provide as much up-front detail as possible to the buyer to ensure a swift and trouble-free sale following acceptance of an offer.
Continued Raine: The other advantage with the Localhip Home Information Packs is that, although the seller has to meet the costs of preparing the pack – these costs do not have to be met until the sale completes and therefore can be paid from the proceeds of the sale.”
John Moss, sales manager for Mashford Estates confirmed: “As an independent local agent, we are delighted to have this early opportunity of being involved with a live HIP. Ian Mashford and I have attended many HIPs seminars over the past few months with a view to understanding the requirements needed for HIPs and preparing our business by implementing the procedures we will need with HIPs become mandatory.
“I am sure this opportunity will prove invaluable and will enable us to communicate informatively to our clients with regards to the benefits of having the information provided in a HIP prior to marketing their home, not to mention the obvious benefits to the buyer who is able to view the condition survey and searches prior to making an offer.
Concluded Moss: We are looking forward to working alongside Localhip on this project and positively embrace this exciting new era in the property market.”
