Quote:
Originally Posted by unbusted67
In the past I have always bought cheap boats with cash. Now it is time to finance and I am totally confused about the process. Can you put these steps in order and add any that I might be missing.
talk to lender to see what I can afford
get pre-approval from lender
Stare endlessly at yachtworld listings
go look at boat
put in offer
get a survey
go for sea trial
counter offer
close on Boat
get work done to remedy any pre-existing problems with the boat.
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I've rearranged your list as you can see, above. Getting your
financing in place lets you know what
price range you're qualified to be considering. You can, of course, stare at YachtWorld listings at any time, including after you finally buy a vessel, and we all do it.
I wouldn't
seriously look at them, however, until I knew I was actually looking for one to
purchase. The ones that meet your requirements are the ones to go look at - I'd try to arrange to have several candidates to look at in a given area in one trip if I had to go very far to see them.
When one speaks to you as the pick of the litter, put in an offer. Once an offer is accepted, arrange to have a survey performed and the vessel taken out for a sea trial. I placed counteroffer after the survey/sea trial, as I presume you mean "ask for
price reduction based on problems that came to light during survey/sea trial."
Once you and the seller have reached agreement on the final price and whether the seller will have any problematic items your survey/sea trial revealed fixed at his expense pre-closing, or he has reduced the final price by the amount the two of you agree the
repairs will cost, only then proceed to the close.
If the post-survey re-negotiation resulted in a price reduction and you're going to be responsible for repairing/correcting the problems unearthed in the survey/sea trial, only go into your own pocket to pay for these items after your name is on the title. Don't forget to document the vessel with the USCG and/or register it with the state in which it will be kept.
It would be a good idea to talk to an
insurance broker early on in the process, as well, as anyone lending you
money to
purchase a boat is going to demand that the vessel be fully insured. Arranging a place to slip or moor the vessel early on is wise, too, and unless you're
single, getting your significant other involved from the beginning can save a ton of heartache down the road.
TaoJones