Sellers Are Recommended to Beware of Estate Agents' Fees

Recent investigation and warning of a Law Society has made all sellers carefully check the real cost of their HIPs with the estate agents in order to avoid inflated costs. A recent investigation by Channel 4 News revealed that oftentimes more than £100 is added to the price of the HIP as a result of secret fees of estate agents.rnThe Law Society also expressed its concern with the inclusion of PIQs, or the Property Information Questionnaires, into the HIPs, as an incorrectly filled in PIQ might lead to worsened relations between the seller and the buyer.rnHowever, today’s number 1 concern of the Law Society is the price of HIPs charged by estate agents to sellers. Paul Marsh, the president of the Law Society said that it has been reported that estate agents oftentimes charge sellers more than they pay HIP providers, thus making a secret profit from these hidden fees. He continued by saying that all sellers should carefully examine the costs they are being charged and ask the estate agent whether he or she is receiving a secret commission from the HIP provider.rnExperts recommend all sellers who find out that their estate agents are charging extra fees on HIPs to turn to their solicitors instead as solicitors are required by law to be transparent in their fees.rnRICS, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, acknowledged that it is currently dealing with a number of issues associated with fee transparency, with HIPs being one of the most areas.rnOn the other hand, the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) has said that the use of extra charges for HIPs by estate agents is quite acceptable as it reflects the commercial nature of the relations between the seller and the estate agent as consumers are 100% free to shop around for best service and prices.rnAs for the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), which does not totally approve of the introduction of HIPs, it said that all estate agents who are charging extra fees for HIPs provision are breaking NAEA Rules of Conduct.rnAt the moment, the compilation of HIP, which includes an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), a Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ), and various searches, costs somewhere between £300 and £400.