We are looking to buy a fish farm i Pret...

Asked by the Customer on 29-04-2015 22:04:40
Question posted in the Property Law category relating to Gauteng

We are looking to buy a fish farm i Pretoria region and want to know what terms are standard in agricultural offers. It is difficult to find specialists in the field to consult. For instance, how do we :


ensure the condition of land, plants and equipment are maintained to transfer
deal with nursery plants and crops that are due to harvest after transfer
deal with livestock that are difficult to inventory - species with differrent sales values are mixed in a tank
ensure no land claims, no planned road expropriation, no red listed plants/ insects/ animals on the property
ensure all equipment services are up to date to transfer

Regards

Message from the Attorney

Posted by Att. Patrick on 30-04-2015 10:51:59
Hi there Alan and thank you for your question,

Typically what would be included in any sale agreement are certain warranties that the seller would make to the purchaser in relation to all of the items that you've identified above.

Specifically, the agreement might contain the following warranty:

"The Seller hereby warrants to the Purchaser that the Land, Plants and Equipment will be properly maintained and looked after, so that they do not unreasonably deteriorate, in the period from the Signature Date of this Agreement until the Transfer Date of the property."

Similar warranties will need to be included for the other items.

Then you would need to have a clause in the agreement that deals with a breach of warranties.

"The Seller hereby warrants that the Seller will not do, allow or procure any act or omission in the period up to and including the Transfer Date which would constitute a breach of any of the warranties given in terms of this Agreement."

Then, the breach clause:

"Should any of the Parties ("the party in default") breach any material term, condition, undertaking, warranty or representation contained in this Agreement, then (subject to giving prior notice of its intention to do so and giving 14 (fourteen) Business Days to remedy the breach (if capable of remedy), the others of them ("the aggrieved party") shall, if such breach is not remedied within such period, or is incapable of remedy, be entitled at its election either:-

1. to claim specific performance of the terms of this Agreement; or

2. to claim payment of any amount equal to the extent of the damages resulting to the aggrieved party from such breach; or

3. to cancel this Agreement and claim restitution and damages if the breach complained of is incapable of remedy by payment of money."

If there is a part of the answer which you need more advice on, or clarity please continue in this same thread instead of opening a new question.

Att. Patrick

Please remember this is a dialog if you have follow up questions please use the REPLY button and ask. If I did not answer the question you thought you were asking, please respond with the specific question you wanted answered. I hope you found my answer helpful, and you have finished asking your questions, please click on the GREEN ACCEPT button in order to mark the question as closed.

Message from the Customer

I am not sure where you are based - can we consult with you to get standard clauses built into our offer to purchase the farm. We need someone who has done many farm transactions so that these and other issues we haven't thought about are covered, standard

Message from the Attorney

Posted by Att. Patrick on 01-05-2015 17:29:52
Hi there,

Unfortunately this website only offers a simple question and answer session so that you can get some advice on how to proceed legally. We can't actually draft agreements or clauses for inclusion in your contract. We might not even be in the same city or province - in fact we're not!

I can't refer you to a specific attorney, but I can direct you to the following two websites, www.findanattorney.co.za OR www.attorneys.co.za, where you can find a list of qualified attorneys in your area who will be able to assist you further!

If you are spending more than R 1,000,000 on buying the farm, you should spend the time and money on consulting an attorney to assist with the sales agreement - even if it will cost you R20,000. That's my advice!

If there is a part of the answer which you need more advice on, or clarity please continue in this same thread instead of opening a new question.

Att. Patrick

Please remember this is a dialog if you have follow up questions please use the REPLY button and ask. If I did not answer the question you thought you were asking, please respond with the specific question you wanted answered. I hope you found my answer helpful, and you have finished asking your questions, please click on the GREEN ACCEPT button in order to mark the question as closed.

Answer Accepted

This answer was accepted on 01-05-2015 21:19:14

Message from the Customer

understood
tried them - they are region or people based , not skill /experience based so search turns up nothing
agreed - that's why i am reaching out
Thanks Patrick
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