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Old 01-11-2018, 14:01   #1
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Purchase questions

Hello, this is my first post and I hope I'm in the right place. My wife and I are looking to purchase a used 380 (3 cabin). I've been in contact with The Catamaran Company and have been told that to even look at a boat, there is one available here in Charleston, I need to put down 10-20% of the purchase price. I was told that the money would be refunded if we didn't actually buy this particular boat. This seems like a very unusual way to go about the purchase process. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

PT
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Old 01-11-2018, 14:19   #2
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Re: Purchase questions

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Originally Posted by ptards View Post
Hello, this is my first post and I hope I'm in the right place. My wife and I are looking to purchase a used 380 (3 cabin). I've been in contact with The Catamaran Company and have been told that to even look at a boat, there is one available here in Charleston, I need to put down 10-20% of the purchase price. I was told that the money would be refunded if we didn't actually buy this particular boat. This seems like a very unusual way to go about the purchase process. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

PT
I have never heard of such a thing and find it very disturbing.

Does the Catamaran Company say that about every boat they list, or just this one in particular? Maybe it is a quirk of this owner and not the brokerage in general.

On the other hand if you have way too many "gopher whistles" this might be their way of thinning the crowd and reducing the amount of time they waste on non-serious buyers.
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Old 01-11-2018, 21:44   #3
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Re: Purchase questions

Regardless, never hand over hard cash to a seller before the deal is done...put it in escrow.
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Old 07-11-2018, 00:44   #4
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Re: Purchase questions

Normally you can visit and inspect (accompanied by the broker and/or owner) for free. You need a contract & deposit in place to seatrial and survey.

However without a deposit the boat won't be guaranteed to be still available when you visit. No problem if you just drive there tomorrow but could be an issue if you book an expensive flight for next week.

So when flying halfway across the globe it might be useful to secure the boat with purchase agreement and deposit (into escrow).

I sold my 380 in October. I had a couple of visits daisy-chained over the course of two weeks. First visitor signed the purchase agreement right on the spot so the others were just too late.


But I never pay more than 5k deposit. Thats IMO enough to show I'm a genuine buyer and to cover any cost involved in case I don't pay the surveyor or lift.
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Old 11-11-2018, 09:08   #5
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Re: Purchase questions

This is standard The Catamarn Company (TCC) procedure.

My experience with the TCC has been horrible. The only reason we are proceeding to close on our boat is because we like the boat and TCC would sue if we switched brokers and tried to pursue the same boat. In the future I will not do business with them to sell or buy. If you are committed to a TCC broker, I recommend securing funding, documentation and everything else boat related outside of thier associate companies. If you are not committed to them then run away to a different broker immediately, if not sooner.
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Old 17-11-2018, 14:57   #6
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Re: Purchase questions

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This is standard The Catamarn Company (TCC) procedure.

My experience with the TCC has been horrible. The only reason we are proceeding to close on our boat is because we like the boat and TCC would sue if we switched brokers and tried to pursue the same boat. In the future I will not do business with them to sell or buy. If you are committed to a TCC broker, I recommend securing funding, documentation and everything else boat related outside of thier associate companies. If you are not committed to them then run away to a different broker immediately, if not sooner.
Closed on my boat with them last year. Please do what Nahbrown recommended.
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Old 29-11-2018, 08:15   #7
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Re: Purchase questions

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Originally Posted by ptards View Post
Hello, this is my first post and I hope I'm in the right place. My wife and I are looking to purchase a used 380 (3 cabin). I've been in contact with The Catamaran Company and have been told that to even look at a boat, there is one available here in Charleston, I need to put down 10-20% of the purchase price. I was told that the money would be refunded if we didn't actually buy this particular boat. This seems like a very unusual way to go about the purchase process. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

PT
We just closed on a Lagoon 380 last week. I think I know what boat you are looking at in Charleston (the Independence, I'm betting. Nice boat, but not right for us).

What broker are you working with at the Catamaran Company? We worked with John Anderson, and he did not make us put money in escrow until we were ready to make an offer.

Additionally, he drove up from St. Augustine to Savannah on Labor Day weekend to meet us to show us a Lagoon 380 there, having never met us other than through emails. He was very responsive to our questions and was super patient with us, because I am insanely picky.

If you talk to him, tell him Robin the mold hater sent you (I kept rejecting moldy boats).
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Old 01-12-2018, 05:52   #8
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Re: Purchase questions

Yes it was the Independence, and we live in Charleston, so it wouldn't have been an inconvenience to us to see the boat, in fact, it was more of an inconvenience not to see the boat.
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Old 07-12-2018, 14:14   #9
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Re: Purchase questions

Sure would like more information as to WHY NOT The Catamaran Company... What were the issues?
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Old 09-12-2018, 18:24   #10
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Re: Purchase questions

The problem was the agent wanted me to put down 10-20% and bring them a contract just to look at the boat.
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Old 09-12-2018, 18:51   #11
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Re: Purchase questions

Yes Every car dealer and realtor does the same... No deposit, no contract... then you cannot look at what I am selling.NOT!

What is Catamaran Company thinking?
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Old 14-12-2018, 08:10   #12
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Re: Purchase questions

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Yes Every car dealer and realtor does the same... No deposit, no contract... then you cannot look at what I am selling.NOT!

What is Catamaran Company thinking?
I did some asking around with my broker since this is really different than the experience we had.

Turns out that the boat the OP is interested in is under contract. If he wanted to get on the boat and look at it, he'd need to ALSO make a backup offer on it with a contract.

This is not unreasonable, in my opinion.
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Old 15-12-2018, 05:05   #13
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Re: Purchase questions

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I did some asking around with my broker since this is really different than the experience we had.

Turns out that the boat the OP is interested in is under contract. If he wanted to get on the boat and look at it, he'd need to ALSO make a backup offer on it with a contract.

This is not unreasonable, in my opinion.
I actually asked about another boat that was in FL first, and asked about the boat SV Independence before it had an offer and acceptance. It was the same response both times. Since we live in Charleston, SC and the boat was in Charleston SC at the time this issue came up and at that time the boat wasn't under contract, but was going to be moved to Florida, "in the next three days", I REPEAT: THE BOAT WASN'T UNDER CONTRACT, at the time of my inquiry and my wife and I were available at a moment's notice. Also turning over 20-40k to "look at a boat was a bit much. And you'd make a back-up offer without even setting foot on the boat?
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Old 20-12-2018, 05:34   #14
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Re: Purchase questions

Unfortunately, it is very common to pay a 10% deposit before you can see the boat (applies to advertised boats online).

They want to prevent tourism, lots of visiting and free day-sails by wannabees with no serious intentions.

They even do not specify boat name and location upfront, so you cannot just check it out in the marina next door.

Sometimes it is easier to go through the marina and look at "for sale" signs or adds on the black board.

It is also very common, that you make an inquiry about a full spec / details of the boat and get an answer, that somebody else just paid the deposit on the new listing.

Cats - especially owners versions - are very rare, there are more buyers than sellers around.
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Old 26-12-2018, 15:11   #15
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Re: Purchase questions

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And you'd make a back-up offer without even setting foot on the boat?
Sure.

The contracts are not like house contracts-we had the Independence under contract before we looked at her. Once we'd seen her in person we released the contract. It was a case of a bimini needing to be taller (husband is super tall).

We eventually bought another owner's version L380 that had a taller bimini. We didn't put it under contract before we saw it, but we did have the original money still in escrow at the catamaran company, so were obviously serious.
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