The upfront cost of a HIP is yet another burden for house sellers.   It is now law that all properties being marketed via estate agents or auctioneers have to have a HIP started before they can be marketed.  The cost of a HIP is anything from £250 up.

When looking to market a property for sale, sellers normally have a choice of getting a HIP done themselves and pay directly, or signing up with an estate agent who will undertake the creation of the HIP as part of their service.

If a seller pays direct for a HIP, they are likely to have to pay £250 or upwards.  There are plenty of on-line firms that offer good prices for the creation of a HIP, for example a good Hips provider is HipHipHooray.com .  The downside is that the seller has to pay up-front for the HIP, however they should be able to negotiate a lower fee from their estate agent, especially if the estate agent normally bundles in the cost of producing a HIP into their fees.  When ordering the HIP sellers should ensure that they get a certificate from the HIP provider confirming the order of the HIP.  This will be needed for an estate agent to start marketing the property.

If a seller chooses to sign up to the estate agent doing the HIP for 'free', this avoids an up front payment of the HIPs charge, however, the seller should be aware that there are likely to be restrictions on moving away from the estate agent if they are not happy with the agent, and often would have to pay for the HIP in this circumstance.  Also, the fees of such an agent are likely to be higher that using an agent where the seller already has their HIP.

In both circumstances, sellers need to be aware that if they do not sell their house within 6 months, they are likely to have to pay eventually for parts of the HIP to be renewed, as a buyer may deem some parts of the HIP out of date by this time and ask the seller to fund the renewal.  Also, production of the HIP may slow down a sale, if the seller is looking to sell quickly.

One of the advantages of selling to a property trader is that a seller does not have to pay for a HIP as they are not marketing the property.  Therefore, the seller has the advantage of no upfront costs and a quick house sale, saving them time, effort and hassle.