Brokers Could Learn from this FSBO Presentation

[David_Old_Jersey]

IMO the only thing missing from the Advert is some youtube / video (a walk & talk through, some external and maybe even some action shots).....I see that Yachtworld now has this function (ok, I may have been a bit slow in noticing ).

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Do they really expect to sell this boat with pictures of it looking dirty and completely junky!?!

I raise you one Khazi:-



Genuine Broker's advert

[Kettlewell]

I've seen ads before with great photos and a great presentation and then when I went to see the boat it turned out the photos were taken years before and of course the boat had been let go since then. One of these boats was a circumnavigator and had water over the floorboards when I saw her due to so many leaks in the deck. Another had sunk and had a huge hole in the hull that had been repaired. A third that looked great in the photos had serious deck delamination and core problems. Another had massive blisters all over the hull. Another had a hole in the keel big enough that I could put my fist through. It is very hard to tell from a listing if a boat is as good as they make her out to be, and naturally the listing shows her best side. For example, the interior may look spic and span but the electrical system may be shot. Or, the 99.9% rebuilt electrical system may have been done to terrible standards. So I would be wary of heading down to the Rio Dulce without getting someone to take a look at her first. You might very well be able to find someone in one of the marinas down there to do that for you.

[SaltyMonkey]

I love the ones that use ONLY photos from a brochure, or a sister boat!

[avb3]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

One word:

Guatamala

So your concern is? Saftey?

Honest?

It appears to me that the seller has been pretty honest about the past on the boat (it was sunk in fresh water). I couldn't tell from the pictures that there was water damage, one of the first things I look for.

You have expressed in other posts that this would be the type of boat you would consider and the price is less then you are looking at.

Seems to me it's worth following up if your serious. It may turn out not being what you think it is, but it sure appears to a boat I would go beyond just looking at pictures.

But, it's your nickel, you have to spend it the way you best see fit.

[Kettlewell]

The boat with the blisters supposedly had already undergone a "complete professional blister job," according to the listing. As I was standing below the boat popping huge blisters with my bare fingers the broker refused to look and instead turned his back and kept repeating to me that I was incorrect and she had already been professionally treated at a cost of many thousands of dollars.

[SaltyMonkey]

Your trolling. its called being close to home and not having to go through the hassle of either imports or flying to some corner of the world for only one boat. Get real.

What makes you think being sunk in fresh water is better than salt? Salt is a preservative. Wooden boats rot from the inside out because of fresh water.

[smj]

We last saw this boat in the Florida Keys a little over a year ago. She seemed to be in pretty nice shape and it appears from the pictures to be the same owners.

[shadow]

I agree with SaltyMonkey, I love the ones that have creased old brochure scanned images or sister ships.. Hell, I had one broker send me is "HOLIDAY" photos?!?! Great to see him and his family laughing and enjoying themselves, but you could only see 5% of the actual boat in the background??!... Are these types of people for real??

[SaltyMonkey]

Or teh ones that have ONLY the exteriors of the boat. Or the ones that show ONLY the interiors of the boat. Or the ones that show teh same picture 3x. *sigh

[Kettlewell]

Or how about the guy who insisted his boat was actually from a design and builder that it was not. Luckily I only had to travel a couple of hours to see it, but it wasn't the boat that was advertised--completely different boat. The guy still insisted that he knew what it was, but he was wrong.

[garymcg]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

I've seen ads before with great photos and a great presentation and then when I went to see the boat it turned out the photos were taken years before and of course the boat had been let go since then. One of these boats was a circumnavigator and had water over the floorboards when I saw her due to so many leaks in the deck. Another had sunk and had a huge hole in the hull that had been repaired. A third that looked great in the photos had serious deck delamination and core problems. Another had massive blisters all over the hull. Another had a hole in the keel big enough that I could put my fist through. It is very hard to tell from a listing if a boat is as good as they make her out to be, and naturally the listing shows her best side. For example, the interior may look spic and span but the electrical system may be shot. Or, the 99.9% rebuilt electrical system may have been done to terrible standards. So I would be wary of heading down to the Rio Dulce without getting someone to take a look at her first. You might very well be able to find someone in one of the marinas down there to do that for you.

I have to agree with this assessment. We looked at A LOT of boats when we were boat shopping, and the great majority of them looked nothing like the photos, although I will say this boat is well photographed. However, there is no indication of when the photos were taken. I wouldn't travel 20 miles to look at a boat unless someone I know and trust told me it was worth looking at. This is from a guy who travelled to virtually every place east of the Missisippi that had more than 1 boat for sale.

Aside from the photos, I don't see what's so hot about the presentation, it looks like a web site from 1995. What's with the huge font and centering every line of text? Frankly it's amateurish, listings on yachtworld look tidier.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

Your trolling. its called being close to home and not having to go through the hassle of either imports or flying to some corner of the world for only one boat. Get real.

I don't troll.

You may or may not agree with me, no problem, but that little shot was not called for. I'll assume it was made in a moment of non-thought.

What makes you think being sunk in fresh water is better than salt? Salt is a preservative. Wooden boats rot from the inside out because of fresh water.

My only point was that the seller made a point about the history of the boat most would not. That in my mind points to an ethic they have. I view that as a good thing.

Originally Posted by smj

We last saw this boat in the Florida Keys a little over a year ago. She seemed to be in pretty nice shape and it appears from the pictures to be the same owners.

Perhaps this third party observation is worth more then any of our opinions as they actually *saw* the boat... the rest of us didn't.

Speaks volumes in my mind.

Originally Posted by garymcg

I have to agree with this assessment. We looked at A LOT of boats when we were boat shopping, and the great majority of them looked nothing like the photos, although I will say this boat is well photographed. However, there is no indication of when the photos were taken.

See above comment from smj. They saw the boat a year ago and believe the pictures represent it well.

Aside from the photos, I don't see what's so hot about the presentation, it looks like a web site from 1995. What's with the huge font and centering every line of text? Frankly it's amateurish, listings on yachtworld look tidier.

It IS an amateurs page. So what?

It gives the information, equipment, pictures and price and you don't have to go digging for it.

That's good in my books, and what I expect when anyone is marketing a higher priced asset. Frankly, it is much better then many Yachtworld ads I see that don't even list the draft.

The amount of negativity and skepticism amazes me.

I guess too many have been stung by brokers glowing description of boats on Yachtworld which don't resemble the real thing.

I would rather take my chances on a private listing where I can screen the boat owner verbally by asking leading questions about certain maintenance items, then seeing something listed on Yachtworld that one needs to do a song and dance with the broker to get any real information.

Obviously when a boat is a airplane ride away, I would want to be pretty comfortable that many of my questions have been answered and now it is down to the confirming and survey. All of us are not prone to taking wasted trips.

And just to emphasis in case you didn't catch it the first time SaltyMonkey, I have no need to troll and don't. I take umbrage at anyone who suggests that I do.

[smj]

This boat has been advertised for awhile on the Lats and Atts forum. They have a website San~San Adventures. You may get more info on the boat and their travels on it from the website.

[Crazy4Cruising]

Hello all! This is Jessica, aboard SV San San, the Ericson 36 C that is shown in the above link for sale, also you can view it directly here. http://ericson36c.blogspot.com

A word about who we are - We are a cruising family of three living on board and cruising the Eastern and now Western Caribbean for the past 5 years. Our previous boat was a 424 Pearson and she sold the same way on a blog we created with photos and specs presented in a similar manner.

First I must respond to these gracious comments about our blog. Thank you so much for noticing the attention to detail in regard to our clean photos. Nothing bothers us more than looking through yachtworld or other brokered websites and seeing photos with stuff cluttering the counters or bunks.

Secondly, I would like to respond to the comments regarding the 99.9% of the wiring being replaced. We rewired the boat, all but the mast. The wiring in the mast is in working order and did not need replacing, we did however, clean up all the connections.

Thirdly, we would like to talk about our location. We are true cruisers and live aboard all the time. We chose Guatemala to hide out for hurricane season as it is a true hurricane hole. We happened to find another boat we like and thought we would put San San up for sale.

In order to not waste our time or any one else's we felt it best to give the most information possible about the boat. We realize that an interested buyer would spend a little money to come and look at the boat and should be able to make that decision based on our word. We have spent plenty of money travelling and looking for the perfect boat and worse than bad photos is lack of information and showing up to a boat that has been misrepresented.

Seriously, we welcome all your comments and any questions.
Thanks again!

[Crazy4Cruising]

OOOPS! Error on my part, the web address is Ericson 36C For Sale