How to Make an Offer ?

[andreas.mehlin]

I'm interested in a boat laying in Mexico (US broker).
Have sent an email with my offer but got a reply that I have to fill out a form and send them a deposit check of 10%.

Replied to the broker and asked him if they accepted my offer so I could book a flight to check it out. I'm in Europe and wouldn't go there without knowing if my start-offer is accepted.

Is this a normal procedure?

[Jamel]

Originally Posted by andreas.mehlin

I'm interested in a boat laying in Mexico (US broker).
Have sent an email with my offer but got a reply that I have to fill out a form and send them a deposit check of 10%.

Replied to the broker and asked him if they accepted my offer so I could book a flight to check it out. I'm in Europe and wouldn't go there without knowing if my start-offer is accepted.

Is this a normal procedure?

This was worked over on CF before now. I could'nt understand how you could send a 10% deposit if a price has'nt been negotiated.

Here is how it worked for me:

I offered by email my figure to the broker...let's call it $150k. The broker sent me by email an " Offer/Acceptance Contract...showing my figure of $150k for me to sign. This was emailed back signed....sent to seller who countered my offer @ $159k.
I emailed the broker my original figure +$5k( 155k), so now that was emailed to me for signing and presented to seller who accepted.

So now...and only NOW do we have an agreed price to base the 10% deposit on! I sent the deposit...game on!!!

Fly over, inspect, sea trial, survey....in that order and at any stage I could have pulled out as per the contract. That's the way to do it!

[djmarchand]

You can do it the way Jamel suggests, or you can send a check with your offer that the broker will hold until the offer is accepted. Either way, 10% is normal. It weeds out the tire kickers and makes sure that the buyer has some skin in the game.

But you can always back out after the survey and seatrial for whatever reason.

David

[Richard Jordan]

What the broker might want is a photocopy of a check made out for 10%. That is how we do it. Only if a price is agreed upon do you wire the deposit into escrow. Making an offer subject to "visual inspection" is normal procedure. You should be able to back out prior to survey / seatrial if the vessel does not match up to your expectations upon visual inspection. Good luck.