Buying a boat in Turkey

[Kenomac]

We purchased our boat sight unseen with a competent surveyor. The fist time I saw the boat was during the sea trial.

Regarding Turkish boats, you're not considering one of those wooden gullets are you? If so.... Run away.

[ianandsandra]

It might help if you could view the boat 'live' while it's being inspected so you can ask questions and direct the inspector. This should be possible with the Periscope App: https://www.periscope.tv/

[Bulawayo]

We have sold previously in Turkey. We have a friend who bought his Prout SnowGoose there as well. There are not any special hazards there that do not exist elsewhere.
However, remember this is not USA we are talking about and you do not need to put down a single cent as a deposit. You shall have to pay for a surveyor and a haul out though unless the boat is on the hard. If its on the hard you'll need to pay to put her in the water once you go for a sea trial.
Rather use a recommended surveyor to go and do the initial survey and also to provide a video of everything - and I mean everything. That includes the paperwork; it is unlikely to cost more than $2k.
If this survey comes back satisfactorily then go and buy your airline ticket and visit the boat and be prepared to really haggle over the price. I would also request to sleep on the boat as its amazing what you find staying on board. Your money is King and there are not people queuing to buy boats at present unless this is something well below market value etc.

Originally Posted by frankie46

I'm an Australian and wish to buy a used boat in Turkey for about $450,000 aud. Could somebody kindly advise as to any pitfalls I may encounter. The boat is American flagged, however the dealer doesn't seem too motivated, perhaps it may be due to a language issue, don't know, but I don't like the idea of handing over a wad of cash to a guy in Turkey for a boat that may not exist.
Instead of me flying to Turkey for the first look, I would engage an englspeaking surveyor to have a look at the boat and confirm it is as described on Yachtmarket.
Engage an english speaking lawyer to check the title of the boat.
If everything is good i would fly to Turkey and beginto barter.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[yeloya]

The one I meant was also Joe Rowles. There few others that I know (one turk + another english) but Joe was one of the best I've seen.
I agree that you should't pay anything unless there is a broker and sequestered account. If the seller agrees, you may also ask one of yr friends (if any..) to take a look to the boat before the surveyor.

Recently I went twice in France for buying a boat and as one forumer said, the boat which was supposed to be ready to sail according to the seller had the mast and rigging on the ground and all of the cables hanging around ..

And the pictures which were posted on the internet site were from 6 years ago ..

Cheers

Yeloya

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by Bulawayo

If this survey comes back satisfactorily then go and buy your airline ticket and visit the boat and be prepared to really haggle over the price. I would also request to sleep on the boat as its amazing what you find staying on board. Your money is King and there are not people queuing to buy boats at present unless this is something well below market value etc.

+1

Some really good friends liked a boat, negotiated a price, had a survey and the day before closing were given permission to sleep aboard. Next day they told the seller what they had found and when he balked at a refund they threatened to "out" him publicly. He gave them their money back as he knew they were right about what they found.

I second this and highly recommend it!

[Bulawayo]

Thanks Bacchus. We identified this many moons ago when we stayed on a 40ft Woods cat that had been 'professionally' built in CapeTown. We ran the next day having discovered so many problems. Its worked for us before as we usually request this - sometimes refused but usually agreed. Has worked for friends as well.

Originally Posted by SV Bacchus

+1

Some really good friends liked a boat, negotiated a price, had a survey and the day before closing were given permission to sleep aboard. Next day they told the seller what they had found and when he balked at a refund they threatened to "out" him publicly. He gave them their money back as he knew they were right about what they found.

I second this and highly recommend it!

[valhalla360]

Save yourself some money.

Tell the broker to go to the boat with his cell phone and turn on the video function. Then use skype/WhatsApp/facetime or whatever your preferred app is and have him give you a live tour of the boat.

If the broker refuses, walk away.

Assuming the live tour goes well, then you can consider if you want to visit first or get a survey first.

[Bulawayo]

This is an even better suggestion. Remember, this is not the USA and no money need change hands to achieve this.
Any broker worth his salt shall do this as he shall only earn his commission on the actual sale.
Sound advice.

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Save yourself some money.

Tell the broker to go to the boat with his cell phone and turn on the video function. Then use skype/WhatsApp/facetime or whatever your preferred app is and have him give you a live tour of the boat.

If the broker refuses, walk away.

Assuming the live tour goes well, then you can consider if you want to visit first or get a survey first.

[Sarayu]

We purchased ours in Cocek 2012. Used one of the many available English speaking surveyors, paid a prior deposit. It all checked out well, no surprises, boat hasn't sunk. So far in the Caribbean on our way back to Oz.
If you would like the name of the surveyor who did ours, PM me, I would recommend him.

[frankie46]

Thanks guys, there is some valuable advice in those forums. The boat i wish to buy is a catamaran, Lagoon 400, so if anyone can recommend an english surveyor around Marmaris or Bodrum with experience in Lagoons, that would be great.

When there is considerable money involved (half a mil) it's difficult not to stereotype certain countries, Nigeria springs to mind. With regard to professions, well remember the old joke, "what's the difference between a lawyer and a rat?"

So, the first part of the plan is to engage an english speaking surveyor or yachtsman experienced with Lagoons to do the first "look."

The second part of the plan is the legal side and it would appear that I need to engage a local l..la.law. lawyer (sorry I have a hard time writing that). It's just that some lawyers have "sticky fingers" so how does one pick.

One forumer mentioned an escrow account, how does that work, is it available in Turkey?

[spiv]

Originally Posted by yeloya

The one I meant was also Joe Rowles. There few others that I know (one turk + another english) but Joe was one of the best I've seen.
I agree that you should't pay anything unless there is a broker and sequestered account. If the seller agrees, you may also ask one of yr friends (if any..) to take a look to the boat before the surveyor.

Recently I went twice in France for buying a boat and as one forumer said, the boat which was supposed to be ready to sail according to the seller had the mast and rigging on the ground and all of the cables hanging around ..

And the pictures which were posted on the internet site were from 6 years ago ..

Cheers

Yeloya

Hi Frankie,
I have been in Turkey many times (I am there now to see boats and other matters), I know Yeloya personally, he runs a very successful and respected charter and refit business, follow his advice and you will be ok.

Don't listen to people who give you advice without knowing anything about Turkey.
This is a great country, nice, honest and helpful people abound. The bureaucracy is a bit over the top, but you can rest assured that if you engage a reputable broker to look after your finance, you'll be safe.

I'll be in Marmaris in 4 days and Istanbul in 10 days time, where is the boat you are looking to buy? I could have a quick look for you.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Save yourself some money.

Tell the broker to go to the boat with his cell phone and turn on the video function. Then use skype/WhatsApp/facetime or whatever your preferred app is and have him give you a live tour of the boat.

If the broker refuses, walk away.

Assuming the live tour goes well, then you can consider if you want to visit first or get a survey first.

This is an excellent idea!

[yeloya]

Hi Frankie,


I assume that there is no broker in between, the owner is a turkish citizen with a boat with Delaware US flag. (Most turks are using this flag to avoid high taxes associated with flying turkish flag)


If so, all you need to do is to take over the company in Delaware on which the boat is registered. There is no tax or any buraucracy involved. If you cruise in Turkey there is no restriction either. We sold a lot of boat this way.

When you want to move the boat to Schengen area than it's another story already discussed several times on this forum. You will have to deal with visa and VAT issues.

Stefano is a knowledeable guy with cats and I believe it would be great if he can take a look to the boat.


Concerning the legal issues, again if the owner is turkish you can find very good lawyers but I don't recommend that you specify Turkey as a country of jurisdication. The contract should be english and the country of jurisdication should be yr country. If everything goes OK no problem but if not, sueing someone in another country (whether in Turkey or elsewhere) under the laws and regulations that you are not familiar with is a pain regardless how good is yr lawyer. I know this because I had to sue someone in France , paid tons of money to a lawyer and nothing happened. I am fluent in French and yet I cannot figure out why.

Good luck

Yeloya

[yelken]

I have also bought my boat in Turkey and went thru the process via a broker and a surveyor. The boat had BVI reg with a non-Turkish owner.

After an initial look ( I happened to be in the area for looking for another boat), we have made an initial arrangement for a lift out and survey (an English surveyor based in Gocek) after this we have made a sales agreement and I paid a small deposit to the broker with the remaining payment to be done once all the required certificates (bill of sale (notarized and apostilled), deletion certificate from the BVI registry, certificate of conformity to EU etc) were made available.

The broker made all these arrangements and provided me copies of the originals. Once I have made the payment to the owner, the broker provided me the originals and the sale was concluded. Concerning the agreement make sure that Turkey is not mentioned as the agreement location, otherwise you will be liable to pay TUR duty tax even though it will be foreign flag to foreign flag sale! For any other details PM me.
v/r

[wally m]

Hi,
Good to take care . I have a friend who recently bought a boat there . He's had a pretty tough go of it and would be happy to talk to you about some of the "need to knows".
If you want I can P.M. you his contact info .
Best of luck