As well as this FAQ section, we have produced a number of guides that look at different aspects of the buying and selling process.
For information on the following topics click on the relevant guide:
For information on the following topics click on the relevant guide:
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*£850 is the average saving on a typical sale and purchase through our panel of conveyancing solicitors compared to using a high street solicitor (Survey of 52 high street solicitors, September 2010).
Click here for free conveyancing quotes
*£850 is the average saving on a typical sale and purchase through our panel of conveyancing solicitors compared to using a high street solicitor (Survey of 52 high street solicitors, September 2010).
The following Frequently Asked Questions are covered here:
About House Hop
Online Estate Agency
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)
Scottish Home Reports (SHRs)
Privacy and security
Valuing your property
Administration
Yes – we are an estate agent and we offer an Online Estate Agency service.
Please note that we also offer a private sale service as a separate service from online estate agency. If you list as a private seller we act as a publisher and not as an agent.
Is House Hop a member of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)?
Yes – we are professionally qualified and are a member of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA). Click here to visit the NAEA website to find out the benefits of using a licensed NAEA agent.
Is House Hop a member of the Property Ombudsman Scheme?
Yes – we are proud to be members of the Property Ombudsman Scheme. Click here to visit the Property Ombudsman website.
How much can I save?
It depends on the package you choose, but someone choosing our £497 plus vat package to sell a £200,000 house would save £4,323 compared to selling through an estate agent charging a 2.0% commission plus VAT.
Does House Hop cover all of the UK?
House Hop covers England, Wales and Scotland
Can I sell overseas property on House Hop?
Unfortunately not – we're not set up to take overseas listings, but you could try:
Online Estate Agency is basically the same as traditional high street estate agency except that it's a lot cheaper!
We will send a professional agent out to visit your property, prepare a description and take photos. We then add your listing to all the major property portals (Rightmove, FindaProperty, Zoopla and PrimeLocation, plus many others).
We help with your valuation, with arranging viewings and with negotiations in the normal way. The key difference is that you will carry out viewings yourself, rather than have an agent do them. Having said this, if you don't have time to do your own viewings or you prefer to leave it to a professional we can carry out viewings for you for an additional charge.
What is a "multi-agency" contract?
Our Online Estate Agency contract is what is known as a "multi-agency" contract. This means that we are happy for you to list with other estate agents and that if you sell through them you will not have to pay us a commission. (If you choose one of our flat rate packages we do not charge commission anyway.)
Please be aware, however, that just because our contract is "multi-agency" it doesn't mean that a contract you sign with another agent will automatically be "multi-agency". In fact, most agents use what is known as a "sole agency" contract that restricts your right to sell through other agents, and could mean that they charge you a commission even if you sell through us!
The solution, if you are using more than one agent, is to make sure that you ask for and sign a "multi-agency" contract with each one. That way you will not be charged a commission by an agent who hasn't actually sold your property!
(Please note that agents normally charge a higher rate of commission for "multi-agency" contracts.)
What if I'm already with an estate agent? If you are already using an estate agent and you would like to use House Hop you have two options:
How do you organise for an agent to visit my property?
Once you have booked your Online Estate Agency package we will send you an email confirmation. Then, within one working day, we will phone you to arrange a convenient time for an agent to visit to prepare your property listing and take photos. We aim to carry out your visit within one week of your booking and to add your property description to the website within two working days of the visit.
How do viewings work with Online Estate Agency?
With Online Estate Agency sellers carry out viewings themselves.
Viewing requests come to us, either by phone or email, and we arrange the viewings for you. We will liaise with you to book viewings in for a convenient time. Once the viewing has taken place we will contact the prospective buyer to get feedback, which we will then pass on to you to keep you fully informed.
Which property portals do you list on?
As part of our Online Estate Agency service you will get our "Rightmove" package which includes listings on the following property portals:
How do all the different types of estate agency contract work?
Most estate agency contracts are "sole agency". This means the estate agent is entitled to commission if your property is sold to someone introduced by them or if the buyer is introduced by another agent during the contract period (in which case you will probably be liable to pay commission twice). If you sell privately then you will not have to pay commission.
It is possible to enter into "multi-agency" agreements. Unlike a sole agency agreement these allow you to use more than one agent without having to pay commission to the agent/s through which you don't sell. The drawback with multi-agency agreements is that agents normally charge a higher rate of commission.
There are other forms of contract that you should look out for, however. If you are asked to sign one of these contracts you should definitely not do so. We would also recommend that you find another estate agent. These contracts are as follows:
"ready, willing and able purchaser" Do NOT sign a contract that includes these words! If you do and the estate agent finds you a "ready, willing and able" buyer you will have to pay their commission - even if you decide not to sell. "sole selling rights" Do NOT sign a contract that includes these words either!
Sole selling rights mean that only the estate agent whose contract you have signed has the right to sell your house. In other words, if another agent sells it you will have to pay commission to both.
Even worse, you lose the right to sell it yourself - so if you do sell privately you will have to pay the estate agent the agreed commission anyway!
"sole agency" agreement that grants "sole selling rights"
The worst kind of estate agent might try to push a contract on you that masquerades as a "sole agency" agreement, but actually grants them "sole selling rights". Here's what to look for:
The standard wording for a sole agency agreement should read something like this:
"You will be liable to pay remuneration to [name of estate agent], in addition to any other costs or charges agreed, if at any time unconditional contracts for the sale of the property are exchanged:
1. With a purchaser introduced by us during the period of our sole agency, or with whom we had negotiations about the property during that period, or
2. With a purchaser introduced by another agent during that period"
Fine so far, however, a "sole agency" agreement granting "sole selling rights" will have the following words, or some variation of them added after point 2:
3. With a purchaser introduced by the vendor (other than those stated at the time of instruction) during that period."
In other words, if you (the vendor) introduce the buyer then you will be liable to pay both commission and costs.
The Office of Fair Trading takes a dim view of this sort of contract and has removed such additional wording from a number of contracts. If you encounter a contract like this please report it to your local trading standards officer - while you might now be able to spot it there will be plenty of unsuspecting sellers out there who won't.
For information about EPCs see our "Guide to EPCs".
Yes. Although HIPs have been scrapped in England and Wales sellers in Scotland still require a Scottish Home Report.
Absolutely - we do not publish your personal details on the website. Buyers will either contact us directly and we will contact you or they will contact you via our secure messaging service on the site with you replying to them in the same way. If and when you are comfortable doing so, you can exchange contact details with the buyer and communicate safely using your normal email account or by phone.
Avoid sites that display your telephone number or email address for buyers to contact you directly. This can lead to unwanted cold calling from estate agents touting for business.
It's also a near guarantee that your email address will be picked up by "email address spiders" (programs that scour web pages looking for unprotected email addresses) and used by internet spammers and fraudsters.
Are my online payments secure?
Yes - your financial information is protected by SSL (Secure Sockets Layer 3.0) with an encryption key length of 128 bits (the highest level commercially available).
We accept secure online payments through our credit card merchant account or via PayPal, the world's leading online payment service provider.
All payments are fully encrypted and we never receive sensitive financial information such as your credit or bank card details or your account number.
What's House Hop's privacy policy?
Our privacy policy is very simple - we never give your details out to third parties.
If you choose, we can send you occasional details of special offers from relevant third parties. We only pass offers on if we think they will be of benefit to a significant number of our users and the third parties do not receive your personal details.
You can, of course, opt out of receiving this information at any time simply by clicking on a link in the email.
If you are using our Online Estate Agency service we will help you to value your property. For a comprehensive guide on how to value your property, plus an explanation of why it's so important not to rely only on an estate agent's valuation, see our "Valuation Guide".
Simply log in to your account and go to the "My Details" page where you can enter your new email.
What do I do if I've forgotten my password?
Go to "My House Hop" and then click on the "Forgotten your password?" link. You will be asked to enter your email address. Once you have done so a reminder email containing your password will be sent to that address.
How long will my listing last for?
Your listing will last until your property is sold or until you tell us you want to take it off the market. However, in the unlikely event that your property has not sold after twelve (12) months we reserve the right to charge an additional £50 plus vat per month (or part thereof) of continued listing. This is to cover the our ongoing costs of displaying your property on our network of property portals and our ongoing administration costs.
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About House Hop
- Is House Hop an estate agent?
- Is House Hop a member of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)?
- Is House Hop a member of the Property Ombudsman Scheme?
- How much can I save?
- Does House Hop cover all of the UK?
- Can I sell overseas property on House Hop?
Online Estate Agency
- What is Online Estate Agency?
- What is a "multi-agency" contract?
- What if I'm already with an estate agent?
- How do you organise for an agent to visit my property?
- How do viewings work with Online Estate Agency?
- Who does the negotiations?
- Which property portals do you list on?
- How do all the different types of estate agency contract work?
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)
Scottish Home Reports (SHRs)
Privacy and security
Valuing your property
Administration
- How do I change my email address?
- What do I do if I've forgotten my password?
- How long will my listing last for?
About House Hop
Is House Hop an estate agent?Yes – we are an estate agent and we offer an Online Estate Agency service.
Please note that we also offer a private sale service as a separate service from online estate agency. If you list as a private seller we act as a publisher and not as an agent.
Is House Hop a member of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)?
Yes – we are professionally qualified and are a member of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA). Click here to visit the NAEA website to find out the benefits of using a licensed NAEA agent.
Is House Hop a member of the Property Ombudsman Scheme?
Yes – we are proud to be members of the Property Ombudsman Scheme. Click here to visit the Property Ombudsman website.
How much can I save?
It depends on the package you choose, but someone choosing our £497 plus vat package to sell a £200,000 house would save £4,323 compared to selling through an estate agent charging a 2.0% commission plus VAT.
Does House Hop cover all of the UK?
House Hop covers England, Wales and Scotland
Can I sell overseas property on House Hop?
Unfortunately not – we're not set up to take overseas listings, but you could try:
Online Estate Agency
What is Online Estate Agency?Online Estate Agency is basically the same as traditional high street estate agency except that it's a lot cheaper!
We will send a professional agent out to visit your property, prepare a description and take photos. We then add your listing to all the major property portals (Rightmove, FindaProperty, Zoopla and PrimeLocation, plus many others).
We help with your valuation, with arranging viewings and with negotiations in the normal way. The key difference is that you will carry out viewings yourself, rather than have an agent do them. Having said this, if you don't have time to do your own viewings or you prefer to leave it to a professional we can carry out viewings for you for an additional charge.
What is a "multi-agency" contract?
Our Online Estate Agency contract is what is known as a "multi-agency" contract. This means that we are happy for you to list with other estate agents and that if you sell through them you will not have to pay us a commission. (If you choose one of our flat rate packages we do not charge commission anyway.)
Please be aware, however, that just because our contract is "multi-agency" it doesn't mean that a contract you sign with another agent will automatically be "multi-agency". In fact, most agents use what is known as a "sole agency" contract that restricts your right to sell through other agents, and could mean that they charge you a commission even if you sell through us!
The solution, if you are using more than one agent, is to make sure that you ask for and sign a "multi-agency" contract with each one. That way you will not be charged a commission by an agent who hasn't actually sold your property!
(Please note that agents normally charge a higher rate of commission for "multi-agency" contracts.)
What if I'm already with an estate agent? If you are already using an estate agent and you would like to use House Hop you have two options:
- The first is to wait until the contract with your existing agents ends and then sign up with House Hop.
- The second is to change the contract you have with your existing agent to a "multi-agency" contract (if it's not already), so that you are free to use House Hop at the same time without worrying that your existing agent will charge you a commission if you sell through us.
How do you organise for an agent to visit my property?
Once you have booked your Online Estate Agency package we will send you an email confirmation. Then, within one working day, we will phone you to arrange a convenient time for an agent to visit to prepare your property listing and take photos. We aim to carry out your visit within one week of your booking and to add your property description to the website within two working days of the visit.
How do viewings work with Online Estate Agency?
With Online Estate Agency sellers carry out viewings themselves.
Viewing requests come to us, either by phone or email, and we arrange the viewings for you. We will liaise with you to book viewings in for a convenient time. Once the viewing has taken place we will contact the prospective buyer to get feedback, which we will then pass on to you to keep you fully informed.
Which property portals do you list on?
As part of our Online Estate Agency service you will get our "Rightmove" package which includes listings on the following property portals:
- Rightmove
- FindaProperty
- Zoopla
- PrimeLocation
- Nestoria
- Globrix
- email4property
- Zoomf
- Yahoo
- Gumtree
- eBay
- Sky
- Virgin Media
- MSN
- Homes24
- UpMyStreet
- UKpropertyshop
- 4Homes (Channel 4)
- The Telegraph
- The Independent
- Home.co.uk
- Google Base
- Trovit
- AOL
- 220 local paper websites
How do all the different types of estate agency contract work?
Most estate agency contracts are "sole agency". This means the estate agent is entitled to commission if your property is sold to someone introduced by them or if the buyer is introduced by another agent during the contract period (in which case you will probably be liable to pay commission twice). If you sell privately then you will not have to pay commission.
It is possible to enter into "multi-agency" agreements. Unlike a sole agency agreement these allow you to use more than one agent without having to pay commission to the agent/s through which you don't sell. The drawback with multi-agency agreements is that agents normally charge a higher rate of commission.
There are other forms of contract that you should look out for, however. If you are asked to sign one of these contracts you should definitely not do so. We would also recommend that you find another estate agent. These contracts are as follows:
"ready, willing and able purchaser" Do NOT sign a contract that includes these words! If you do and the estate agent finds you a "ready, willing and able" buyer you will have to pay their commission - even if you decide not to sell. "sole selling rights" Do NOT sign a contract that includes these words either!
Sole selling rights mean that only the estate agent whose contract you have signed has the right to sell your house. In other words, if another agent sells it you will have to pay commission to both.
Even worse, you lose the right to sell it yourself - so if you do sell privately you will have to pay the estate agent the agreed commission anyway!
"sole agency" agreement that grants "sole selling rights"
The worst kind of estate agent might try to push a contract on you that masquerades as a "sole agency" agreement, but actually grants them "sole selling rights". Here's what to look for:
The standard wording for a sole agency agreement should read something like this:
"You will be liable to pay remuneration to [name of estate agent], in addition to any other costs or charges agreed, if at any time unconditional contracts for the sale of the property are exchanged:
1. With a purchaser introduced by us during the period of our sole agency, or with whom we had negotiations about the property during that period, or
2. With a purchaser introduced by another agent during that period"
Fine so far, however, a "sole agency" agreement granting "sole selling rights" will have the following words, or some variation of them added after point 2:
3. With a purchaser introduced by the vendor (other than those stated at the time of instruction) during that period."
In other words, if you (the vendor) introduce the buyer then you will be liable to pay both commission and costs.
The Office of Fair Trading takes a dim view of this sort of contract and has removed such additional wording from a number of contracts. If you encounter a contract like this please report it to your local trading standards officer - while you might now be able to spot it there will be plenty of unsuspecting sellers out there who won't.
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)
Do I need an Energy Performance Certificate?For information about EPCs see our "Guide to EPCs".
Scottish Home Reports (SHRs)
Do I need a Scottish Home Report?Yes. Although HIPs have been scrapped in England and Wales sellers in Scotland still require a Scottish Home Report.
Privacy and security
Are my personal details secure?Absolutely - we do not publish your personal details on the website. Buyers will either contact us directly and we will contact you or they will contact you via our secure messaging service on the site with you replying to them in the same way. If and when you are comfortable doing so, you can exchange contact details with the buyer and communicate safely using your normal email account or by phone.
Avoid sites that display your telephone number or email address for buyers to contact you directly. This can lead to unwanted cold calling from estate agents touting for business.
It's also a near guarantee that your email address will be picked up by "email address spiders" (programs that scour web pages looking for unprotected email addresses) and used by internet spammers and fraudsters.
Are my online payments secure?
Yes - your financial information is protected by SSL (Secure Sockets Layer 3.0) with an encryption key length of 128 bits (the highest level commercially available).
We accept secure online payments through our credit card merchant account or via PayPal, the world's leading online payment service provider.
All payments are fully encrypted and we never receive sensitive financial information such as your credit or bank card details or your account number.
What's House Hop's privacy policy?
Our privacy policy is very simple - we never give your details out to third parties.
If you choose, we can send you occasional details of special offers from relevant third parties. We only pass offers on if we think they will be of benefit to a significant number of our users and the third parties do not receive your personal details.
You can, of course, opt out of receiving this information at any time simply by clicking on a link in the email.
Valuing your property
How do I value my property?If you are using our Online Estate Agency service we will help you to value your property. For a comprehensive guide on how to value your property, plus an explanation of why it's so important not to rely only on an estate agent's valuation, see our "Valuation Guide".
Administration
How do I change or add an email address?Simply log in to your account and go to the "My Details" page where you can enter your new email.
What do I do if I've forgotten my password?
Go to "My House Hop" and then click on the "Forgotten your password?" link. You will be asked to enter your email address. Once you have done so a reminder email containing your password will be sent to that address.
How long will my listing last for?
Your listing will last until your property is sold or until you tell us you want to take it off the market. However, in the unlikely event that your property has not sold after twelve (12) months we reserve the right to charge an additional £50 plus vat per month (or part thereof) of continued listing. This is to cover the our ongoing costs of displaying your property on our network of property portals and our ongoing administration costs.
Back to top