This article looks at how HIPs can help you in your quest to be a successful property investor. They can be a valuable resource in determining how valuable a buy to let property really is. Use what you find in this article next time you evaluate a home and see how much easier it is to judge value.
Researching,
stacking and checking the positive cash flow of your rental properties can make a huge difference in your choice of property investments. But there are other investment tools that you can use to make sure you are gaining an accurate perception of your investments.
One such tool is HIPs, or to put it simply Home Information Packs.
These useful tools are readily available for your perusal as soon as a property is put onto the property market. And they are truly a useful asset.
You see the incredible thing about HIPs is that ALL properties must offer them before they can be put up for sale. So no matter your property investment interest, you will be able to find a HIP containing recently accumulated information about your property all in one place.
And when we say recent, we mean documentation that has been acquired in the last 3 months, meaning there’ll be no surprises when you invest.
Another interesting aspect about HIPs is that they have to include a set number of documents that outline the condition of the property, for example if the property is prone to flooding, and its structural integrity.
But there are other documents - that can each offer their own value – that could prove useful in your property investment decision too:
Freehold Properties: - Home Information Pack Index
- Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
- Sustainability information (newly built properties only)
- Sale statement
- Title evidence
- Standard searches – drainage, water supplies, flooding, electrical
Leasehold Properties: - all of the above documentation
- copy of the lease
Now the ones we have outlined here are compulsory documents which must be included within the HIP pack. But there are other documents that are not compulsory which you may sometime come across:
- Home Condition Report
- Legal summary
- Home use/contents form (this may be particularly interesting to you if the property has already been used as a rental property
- Specialised Search reports
And you can easily gain access to these HIPs simply by going to the estate agent who is advertising the property. There is no charge, meaning you will not be at a loss for looking at it.
No, quite the opposite.
Instead, you will be gaining free access to information which will outline any future costs or maintenance problems that occur.
For example, would you really want to invest in a property that is prone to being flooded several times a year? No. Not only would you lose your tenants, but this would gradually affect the rental properties structure making it unsound and unsafe.
So let HIPs lend your property investments a helping hand. This clever little tool could prove more lucrative than you think.
