TIPS - Buying and Selling Property

1. HIPS  

You need a HIP NOW before you can market your property.  Previously, the dates for HIPS were 1st August 2007 to market a 4 bed roomed property, 10th September 2007 for a 3 bed roomed and 14th December 2007 for 1 and 2 bed roomed properties.  There are still no regulations about when properties marketed prior to their respective deadlines will need a HIP.

New build properties will fall under the HIP regulation completely as from 6th April 2008.  The government are set to review the first day of marketing and leasehold sale issues by the 1st June 2008.  Currently the only leasehold document required in the HIP is a copy of the lease which we obtain from the Land Registry.

2. Dealing with estate agents

If you are buying or selling a house or flat your first contact may well be the estate agent.  Many Agents belong to professional associations, which have a code of practice for their members.  Important points to look for include the following:

• You should receive written confirmation of your instructions to sell and when the commission is payable.  If you sign for “sole agency” you will still have to pay them commission if you then sell through another agent.  If you grant them “sole selling rights” you will still have to pay them even if you sell privately to a friend without the use of the agent at all.  A point to bear in mind.
• An Agent should not discriminate against someone who wants to buy but does not want to get a mortgage through them (an example of this would be for the Agent not to tell the seller about this offer).  
• An Agent should tell the buyer whether or not the seller is taking the property off the market after accepting the offer.

The Contract is between the agent and the Seller NOT the buyer.

By Law Sellers do not have to point out defects in their property but they must answers questions raised accurately.  If false information is given to a buyer they may have a claim against the Agent or Seller.

3.    Offers, exchange of contracts and completion.   

When you put in an offer make it “Subject to Contract”.  If a survey shows up defects you can then pull out of the deal.  The agent may ask you, as buyer, to pay a deposit at this stage but you are not legally committed to the purchase and will get this deposit back if the sale to you does fall through.  

The seller and buyer are legally committed to the sale and cannot pull out once contracts have been exchanged.  This is when the deposit, either 5 or 10% of the sale price, is usually paid over, and not before.

The sale completes when the buyer pays the balance of what he owes to the seller’s legal representative.  The seller must then move out.  If the money is not paid or the seller fails to move out then a “notice to complete” is served and legal steps will follow to enforce the contract.