Independant's Day

Considered wisdom says that buying a house is a major and stressful step for most individuals. Given the impact of decisions being made, you would expect a great deal of thought to be exercised around the process - so why do so many people blythly go along with the recommendations of their Estate Agents.

The best advice generally is considered to be use specialists for the various aspects of buying or selling a house. This would mean a bank or financial institution for funding; a solicitor for conveyancing; an Estate agent for marketing and selling the property and a property surveyor or home inspector / energy assessor to assess the property's condition and status. (Here I declare an interest, Surrey Energy Consultants is an independant outfit providing HIPs and EPCs in the Surrey and SW London area)

So why do so many people increasingly move towards the Estate Agent one stop shop offering? It is likely to be more expensive (more people and/or bigger organisations involved), less complete (internet based conveyancing will be done remotely without any real grasp of local conditions) and potentially lengthen the sale, as if/when complications arise you may not be dealing with the same people to resolve things.

Ultimately convenience shopping may prevail and the large national chains will win out, but if I'm going to spend a six figure sum on something, I would want to be involved through the process and be confident that the people I was dealing with had a real interest in my transaction, and to achieve that I will be dealing with the right local people for each aspect of the job.

Surrey Energy Consultants operates as a local provider of HIPs and EPCs. We also offer energy advice to homeeowners. If you think we can help you, please get in touch.