Estate Agenct Contract query

katie4

Hi All
we are looking at putting our home up for sale and i just have some queries about the estate agent contract as this is the first time we have been in this situation.


It says it is a sole selling rights contract and has a Ready willing and able clause. Is this usual? Acceptable? any advice appreciated thanks

AnotherJoe

Much of those Q's covered here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75790550#Comment_75790550

Short answers is go for sole agency not sole selling rights otherwise even if your mum decides she'd like to buy your place you still have to pay commission, and ready willing and able can lead to you paying even if the sale falls thorough. Have it connected to exchange or completion instead.

SmashedAvacado

Amend the contract so your obligation to pay is at completion of the sale (unless you have exchanged and then you fail to complete). If you exchange and the buyer doesn't proceed, (which is very unusual) then you haven't had a sale. You might have got a small amount of compensation in the form of the deposit but giving a big chunk of that to the agent isnt reasonable.

saajan_12

katie4 wrote: »

Hi All
we are looking at putting our home up for sale and i just have some queries about the estate agent contract as this is the first time we have been in this situation.


It says it is a sole selling rights contract and has a Ready willing and able clause. Is this usual? Acceptable? any advice appreciated thanks

Its not unheard of, but very inadvisable I'd say. What constitutes a "ready, willing and able" buyer can be subjective.
- What if they find a buyer but you can't sell to them because say the chain doesn't link up,
- What if the buyer is 'willing' subject to what you think are unreasonable demands
- What if the dates don't line up
..

Also if the EA is due their commission upon just finding a buyer, they have no incentive to help progress the sale to exchange / completion.

eddddy

katie4 wrote: »

It says it is a sole selling rights contract and has a Ready willing and able clause. Is this usual? Acceptable? any advice appreciated thanks

I always ask for "ready, willing and able" clauses to be removed.

There is no clear definition of what a "ready, willing and able" buyer is, so it can potentially lead to arguments.

Most EAs have removed the clause, when asked. One refused, so I made them agree to my definition of "ready, willing and able" before I signed. My definition was along the lines of...

A prospective buyer is not considered "ready, willing and able" if...

• They are not prepared to pay the full amount of the original offer that was accepted
• They introduce conditions to the purchase which were not stated before the offer was accepted
• They do not exchange contracts within 6 weeks of the date that I accept their offer, for any reason

(TBH, that made the "ready, willing and able" clause almost worthless anyway.)


And.... 'Sole Selling Rights' contracts generally have a much higher risk of double commission, if you change EAs. See the thread that AnotherJoe links to above.

AnotherJoe

LOL edddddy love your RWaA definition.

katie4

thanks everyone! how likely will the estate agents be to removing these clauses?
we have found a property and had our offer accepted on it
We thought if we also sell our home with the estate agency we are buying off things would go more smoothly and they may push our house harder to sell

katie4

ok so contract says;




TERMS OF ENGAGMENT CONTRACT – SOLE AGENCY

• This contract gives XXX Estate Agents sole selling rights over your property for a period of 3 months from the date the property is placed on the market. You will be liable to pay commission to us in addition to any other costs or charges agreed in each of the following circumstances. Upon termination of the aforesaid 3 months period then, unless you decide to cancel the contract at this date, the contract will continue in being until such time as the same is cancelled by you by giving Property Plus 14 days written notice of cancellation.
  (a1) If unconditional contracts for the sale of the property are exchanged in the period during which we have sole selling rights, even if the purchaser was not found by us but by another agent or person including you.
  (a2) If unconditional contracts are exchanged after the expiry of the period during which we have sole selling rights, to a purchaser who was introduced to you during the period of sole selling rights and with whom we had negotiations about the property during that period.
  (b)If the property remains unsold after the end of the contract term, you have the right to withdraw the property from our agency at no cost. If however for any reason you wish to withdraw the property during the contract term we will make a charge of £350 inclusive of VAT at the prevailing rate.

katie4

should we ask for the ready, able and willing clause to be removed and ask them to remove the sole selling rights on the condition that we state in writing that we won't be advertising the property elsewhere?

AnotherJoe

Ask them for their sole agency Ts&Cs and remove the RAaW clause.

katie4

Thanks this is what the contract says


What would be the reasons behind asking them to do that @AnotherJoe?

• Ready willing and able purchaser: A purchaser is a ready, willing and able purchaser if he/she is prepared and is able to exchange unconditional contracts for the purchase of your property. You will be liable to pay our full fees if such a purchaser is found by us in accordance with your instructions and this must be paid even if you subsequently withdraw and unconditional contracts for the sale are not exchanged irrespective of your reasons.