Ready, willing and able

Novastar21

I have selected an agent, very happy with them until I have read the contract. I queried the above clause which I wasn't happy with. They have said that a "ready, willing and able" buyer is one that has a mortgage offer, had the survey done and solicitor has completed works. I am worried if I receive an offer but cannot find a property myself. They are saying they won't allow the purchaser to spend any money on the above until I have a property and give the go ahead for the sale to move forward. Advice please. 

ACG

You are asking them to market your property. If they find you a buyer, they have done their job and deserve to be paid... 

You need to be realistic I suppose:
- Are you fussy?
- Can you actually afford where you want to move to or are you going to blame it on something if people are prepared to offer more than you? 
- Are you wanting to move to a village with 30 houses which only go up for sale when someone dies or are you looking at an area with plenty of homes that come up?

If you are relatively flexible and looking at buying in an area with plenty of properties that do come up for sale and you know you can get the mortgage, I think you have mitigated as many of those risks as possible. You cant really expect people to work for nothing. 

kingstreet

You will get more views on this subject on HBR&S. It isn't mortgage related and there are more people with opinions on estate agents over there...

K_S

Novastar21 said:

I have selected an agent, very happy with them until I have read the contract. I queried the above clause which I wasn't happy with. They have said that a "ready, willing and able" buyer is one that has a mortgage offer, had the survey done and solicitor has completed works. I am worried if I receive an offer but cannot find a property myself. They are saying they won't allow the purchaser to spend any money on the above until I have a property and give the go ahead for the sale to move forward. Advice please. 

@novastar21 I don't think those terms are particularly unusual. If you want absolute control/oversight over the process and an infinitely stretchable timeline, you always have the option of using the likes of Purplebricks, Yopa, etc.....

grumiofoundation

Novastar21 said:

I have selected an agent, very happy with them until I have read the contract. I queried the above clause which I wasn't happy with. They have said that a "ready, willing and able" buyer is one that has a mortgage offer, had the survey done and solicitor has completed works. I am worried if I receive an offer but cannot find a property myself. They are saying they won't allow the purchaser to spend any money on the above until I have a property and give the go ahead for the sale to move forward. Advice please. 

If they wont allow a buyer to spend money on mortgage, survey, solicitor (although incidentally they can't stop a buyer doing this so is pretty a meaningless clause) until you have a property and they class a "ready, willing and able" buyer as one who has had mortgage offer, survey done and solicitor done searches then how will have a "ready, willing and able" buyer before you have found a property?  


So no issues - apart from the potential issue that your estate agent maybe thinks they can dictate to your buyer (and to you) what they/you can and can't do during process (which wouldn't fill me with confidence as a seller and could cause issues with buyer) .  

SpiderLegs

Novastar21 said:

I have selected an agent, very happy with them until I have read the contract. I queried the above clause which I wasn't happy with. They have said that a "ready, willing and able" buyer is one that has a mortgage offer, had the survey done and solicitor has completed works. I am worried if I receive an offer but cannot find a property myself. They are saying they won't allow the purchaser to spend any money on the above until I have a property and give the go ahead for the sale to move forward. Advice please. 

You are bound by the written down clause in the contract , not what they might tell you it means afterwards.
so, what exactly does the clause say?

There is no way I would agree a ready willing and able clause that had ambiguity. Standard practice is that the EA gets paid on exchange, not before.

Novastar21

SpiderLegs said:

Novastar21 said:

I have selected an agent, very happy with them until I have read the contract. I queried the above clause which I wasn't happy with. They have said that a "ready, willing and able" buyer is one that has a mortgage offer, had the survey done and solicitor has completed works. I am worried if I receive an offer but cannot find a property myself. They are saying they won't allow the purchaser to spend any money on the above until I have a property and give the go ahead for the sale to move forward. Advice please. 

You are bound by the written down clause in the contract , not what they might tell you it means afterwards.
so, what exactly does the clause say?

There is no way I would agree a ready willing and able clause that had ambiguity. Standard practice is that the EA gets paid on exchange, not before.

A purchaser is a ready able and willing purchaser if he is prepared and able to exchange unconditional contracts for the purchase of the property. You will be liable to pay commission to the agent, in addition to any other costs or charges agreed, if such a purchaser is introduced by the agent in accordance with your instructions and this must be paid even if you subsequently withdraw and contracts for sale are not exchanged, irrespective of the reasons."

So really no matter what he says over the phone means nothing because I cannot see anywhere written down that confirms what he says regarding definition of willing and able.

SpiderLegs

Novastar21 said:

SpiderLegs said:

Novastar21 said:

I have selected an agent, very happy with them until I have read the contract. I queried the above clause which I wasn't happy with. They have said that a "ready, willing and able" buyer is one that has a mortgage offer, had the survey done and solicitor has completed works. I am worried if I receive an offer but cannot find a property myself. They are saying they won't allow the purchaser to spend any money on the above until I have a property and give the go ahead for the sale to move forward. Advice please. 

You are bound by the written down clause in the contract , not what they might tell you it means afterwards.
so, what exactly does the clause say?

There is no way I would agree a ready willing and able clause that had ambiguity. Standard practice is that the EA gets paid on exchange, not before.

A purchaser is a ready able and willing purchaser if he is prepared and able to exchange unconditional contracts for the purchase of the property. You will be liable to pay commission to the agent, in addition to any other costs or charges agreed, if such a purchaser is introduced by the agent in accordance with your instructions and this must be paid even if you subsequently withdraw and contracts for sale are not exchanged, irrespective of the reasons."

So really no matter what he says over the phone means nothing because I cannot see anywhere written down that confirms what he says regarding definition of willing and able.

Correct.
I wouldn’t sign that.

MWT

The Ombudsman is not keen on those clauses either as they are ambiguous and difficult to prove, as 'willing' could be held to be proven only if Exchange actually takes place, anything short of that doesn't actually prove they were really 'willing'.