Quote:
Originally Posted by mr336
It is an eye opener to go thru the process and watch the smiley niceness of a broker slowly disappear as the negotiations get down to the nitty gritty.
Im trying to do a deal now and I would bet a full tank of diesel that the broker is reaching out to people who showed interest in the past trying to make a better deal.
I'll post my experience here when its over either way.
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As he should be. Have you made a written offer? Has it been accepted or rejected? Until the point there is a deal then the broker has an obligation to continue to pursue other potential customers.
One thing that has a huge influence on the entire process is the entire survey and sea trial contingencies in a contract
for sale. This is "when a deal is not really a deal." Same thing today in home sales where you have the contingencies of survey and home
inspection and
financing. Basically it is a potential buyer putting down a deposit but no obligation to actually complete a
sale and for that interim period of time the broker has two choices. One is to not do anything. The other is to continue to pursue other potential buyers while advising them there is a contract pending.
I'm not defending the bad or the unscrupulous brokers, but good brokers don't stop taking inquiries just because there is an offer on a boat or even a contract.
I know personally of a situation early this year where an offer was made and accepted on a boat right before the
Miami boat show. The survey was set for a few days after the show. The broker still showed the boat at the show. This was with the full knowledge of the buyer. Well, the boat went to survey and sea trial. The buyer had verbally committed to the broker that he was going to buy with no deduction unless something major found. Well, everything found to be an issue on the boat could be corrected for less than $25,000 (about 1.1%). The seller agreed to reduce the price by that amount as requested by the buyer. However, the buyer had gotten cold feet and backed out of the deal as he was entitled to do so since subject to acceptance after sea trial and survey pretty much allows one to do so for any reason or without reason. The broker ultimately
sold the boat to someone who saw it at the show. The broker did his job. The seller was reasonable in every regard. The first buyer did what he was legally allowed to do.
I know the specifics of that case first hand from a representative of the initial buyer. The buyer is a person I respect, but his reason for not following through had nothing to do with anything on the part of the broker or seller. In other situations, I've known owners to be just as hard headed. Offer accepted, survey and sea trial, some items and buyer offers to split the cost with seller. However, seller has cold feet, feels he accepted too little, and rejects the offer and walks away. Buyer was even willing to give in and accept as it was but this was after the initial rejection. Broker was so disgusted with seller that he refused to represent the seller further.
Brokers essentially have to sell every boat twice. First to get an offer. Second to get an agreement post survey.
There are unscrupulous brokers, but there are also good, honest brokers caught in the middle between seller and buyer.