1st purchase of used vessel

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by WindwardPrinces

Exactly. "Indirectly" would be the better word.

If the comment I made earlier doesn't make sense to you, Scout30, just ignore it. Using a buyer broker isn't a bad idea. If it helps to think of it as if the seller is paying for it because they're writing the check, that's fine.

Every boat has a fair market value. The market value of a boat is not based upon the seller's "bottom line" or the seller's expenses. The commission the seller pays to his or your agent is no more relevant to the buyer than his slip bill or the gas he paid for to get to the closing. If he buys himself a big lunch with the money from the sale you can say the buyer bought him lunch but that's not relevant to the purchase price that the buyer pays.

If there are 2 identical boats for sale & one is listed by a broker & the other is for sale by owner both boats would have the same fair market value. You would not pay 10% more for the listed boat just because the seller's expenses are greater.

[billsikich]

I've never used a broker, although a good friend of mine works as one. I've also bought boats both with and without a survey. Looking back on my purchase of a Cal-46 cruiser - my first serious boat - I sure wish I had commissioned a survey. I still would have bought the boat, but I would have had some facts to use as leverage during negotiations, plus a professionally made project list.

A friend of mine in Maryland just boat his first boat, through a broker, but because he had a survey done he saved a ton, not to mention the owner agreeing to fix some things before handing it over.