Ready willing and able buyer clause - dispute with estate agent - who is right?

hiohaa

thanks all for your comments thus far, all really helpful. 
My conveyancing lawyer, and a response I got from the leicester law clinic (Free advise from law undergrads) on the matter all said the same thing, that they aren't in a position to exchange contracts/provide a completion date so I should be able to pull out. 
It's my fault ultimately for being naiive, trusting the agent, and not really understanding the full impact of what I had signed. It's only googling afterward when all this came up did I realise what i'd got myself into  - i've never sold a property before. 

i don't think i'd want to continue with the estate agent and find another buyer, as they just keep repeating that the buyer is eager to buy and that I got a good offer on it etc.. which sound like sales talk to me. 
I've had enough of the ordeal after 6 months and want to rent it out again to recover the £000's i've lost. 

hiohaa

eddddy said:

hiohaa said:

The agent says they will take me to court if I don't pay. 

Assuming the estate agent is a member of the Property Ombudsman Scheme, and it gets to the stage that the estate agent issues an invoice, you should complain to the Ombudsman quite quickly.

If you wait until the estate agent starts court proceedings, the Ombudsman will no longer get involved. 

They are a member of the Property redress scheme. I'd already lodged a detailed complaint with them, I need to chase them up on a response. I raised it a week ago so I need to give them some time to review. 

housebuyer143

hiohaa said:

thanks all for your comments thus far, all really helpful. 
My conveyancing lawyer, and a response I got from the leicester law clinic (Free advise from law undergrads) on the matter all said the same thing, that they aren't in a position to exchange contracts/provide a completion date so I should be able to pull out. 
It's my fault ultimately for being naiive, trusting the agent, and not really understanding the full impact of what I had signed. It's only googling afterward when all this came up did I realise what i'd got myself into  - i've never sold a property before. 

i don't think i'd want to continue with the estate agent and find another buyer, as they just keep repeating that the buyer is eager to buy and that I got a good offer on it etc.. which sound like sales talk to me. 
I've had enough of the ordeal after 6 months and want to rent it out again to recover the £000's i've lost. 

Agree with everyone else, that the clause doesn't apply because a buyer with no means to buy your property (no money or offer) isn't in any position to exchange contracts, so they are not able. 
Call the agents bluff and ask them to explain to you how they class the buyer as able to exchange at this current stage. I would be interested to see how they answer that one. 
I would also be inclined to complain how they have let it run on for 6 months without doing any sales progression and chasing this up.

Jemma01

hiohaa said:

as they just keep repeating that the buyer is eager to buy and that I got a good offer on it etc..

That makes them "willing". What about "ready" and "able"?

And how did you get to april before they instructed a conveyancer!? Where was the agent all this time?

user1977

hiohaa said:

It's my fault ultimately for not really understanding the full impact of what I had signed.

I don't think it really matters what you signed. What you signed does not require you to pay anything. Your agent seems to be intent on simply ignoring whatever the contract says!

pinkshoes

I think I'd write a letter/email to the EA stating that as it has now been 6 months since the offer was accepted and the buyer still hasn't been able to get a mortgage, then they have failed in their contract to provide a buyer that is able to proceed. I'd then say that as a gesture of good will, you will allow them a further 14 (28? - how much notice do you have to give?) days to exchange contracts otherwise you will consider the contract terminated due to then unable to find an able buyer.

john-5-2

The only thing i have learnt from my current house sale situation is that EA are all liars & solicitors just tell you what you want to hear.

We had 3 offers in a week on our current sale & went with a FTB as it seemed the easier route. Wow how wrong we were.
18 weeks in & still no where near exchanging.
The EA said stick with it, This buyer is FTB with big deposit blah blah blah. Another buyer who viewed us & offered has since purchased a property in the next street & is busy moving in😡

propertyrental

There's a simple way to test whether your buyer is RW&A - give them an ultimatum.

"If you are ready willing and able then Exchange contracts within the next 7 days."

If they either don't, or can't, then clearly they are either not willing or not able.

Murphybear

john-5-2 said:

The only thing i have learnt from my current house sale situation is that EA are all liars & solicitors just tell you what you want to hear.

We had 3 offers in a week on our current sale & went with a FTB as it seemed the easier route. Wow how wrong we were.
18 weeks in & still no where near exchanging.
The EA said stick with it, This buyer is FTB with big deposit blah blah blah. Another buyer who viewed us & offered has since purchased a property in the next street & is busy moving in😡

So you’ve dealt with all the EAs in the country?  That’s impressive.  I’ve dealt with many, both buying and selling property and working in the business.  I’ve dealt with many honest and brilliant EAs.

We once moved 200 miles and had a tenant in the property.  After they left we sold it with a local agent.  They were amazing, sold the property to the first viewer and there were no issues.  

km1500

I'm not sure how this clause would work in normal circumstances perhaps someone has experience 

for example you have a buyer for your property and you have made an offer on another property and everything is going along normally 

then your buyer pulls out or maybe you pull out because of a  bad survey 

does your agent say well we're still got to ready willing and able buyer for your property so even though you now have nowhere to go we are still going to expect you to sell it

do you have to then say OK will exchange but completion date is five years in the future so I can have time to find a new property?