Why Don't You Want to Sell Your Boat?

[Dulcesuenos]

Originally Posted by amytom

What year Impala? New ones maybe not but a classic might be brokered similar to a boat

Nope with , 890,000 impalas made in 1964 alone. One of the "rare" years. ;0)
Might be unique options making ones more valuable but you still see the difference.

[Dulcesuenos]

Originally Posted by Jimbo485

Do you put down a deposit before you inspect a car, house or land?

If not, why do it for an object that typically (ie. generally but not always) sells slower?

We flew across three continents to inspect boats and simply accepted the risk of someone else buying them before we could make an offer. This process bamboozled a few in the USA but was ok in Europe.

I do put down a deposit when making an offer on property. Most broker whether boats or land wont waste their time unless you are serious. And yes I am sure there are some brokers thst lose sales as a result.

[Jimbo485]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

Theres alot more houses, cars, etc for sale than there is any one particular brand/ type of boat.
A little different than buying a chevy impala....

I could say there are a lot more boats for sale than any one particular brand / type of house. What is the point?

No different to buying anything else.
You look at ads, you short list, ring, question, inspect, offer, negotiate and then buy or walk away.

[Dulcesuenos]

Originally Posted by Jimbo485

I could say there are a lot more boats for sale than any one particular brand / type of house. What is the point?

No different to buying anything else.
You look at ads, you short list, ring, question, inspect, offer, negotiate and then buy or walk away.

I see your point and agree, though the question was "why make an offer or sign a contract not having seen it" thats all.

[letsgetsailing3]

I thought the original post in this thread was hilarious.

Mostly because I've had the same experiences.

I recently saw a craigslist ad for a boat I assumed was sold 6 months ago, because the seller didn't respond to my email or phone call about the boat. If he is so careless about selling the boat, what should I assume about his attention to detail in maintaining the boat?

It's almost like the stars have to align in order to find both the boat, and someone attached to it who is willing to go through the arduous process of selling it.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

I do put down a deposit when making an offer on property. Most broker whether boats or land wont waste their time unless you are serious. And yes I am sure there are some brokers thst lose sales as a result.

Yes, when making an offer, but I bet not before you look at it the first time.

[markpierce]

It's sad ...

[decktapper]

Originally Posted by sailpower

If you don’t want to put down a deposit that is your right. However, you shouldn’t then be upset if someone else does while you are traveling to see the boat. The “it’s just a business transaction” goes both ways.

…..

If you don’t trust your broker enough to put a deposit in his escrow why are you using him/her?

Hello Sailpower: I would agree that a boat can sell if you do not have a contract, but if a broker intentionally neglected to tell you that it sold when you were flying out to see it, they are a thief. How many brokered boats go from no offer to sold in the time it takes a plane to cross the country? to me that screams of bald faced lie. There are a lot of great brokers out there, and there are a lot who are such dirt bags that just feeding them to lions seems too kind.

If I do not trust a salesman why would I deal with them? do you trust any salesman? can you live without dealing with them some times?

[cheoah]

I bought my boat in FL, made an offer contingent on x and y, and placed deposit.

Not doing that was assuming too much financial risk for travel plans from NC. No doubt it felt weird, but when you find something that fits all of your criteria and you feel some confidence that it could work, what's the big deal in tying it up with a contract so you can have a look at your convenience?

Never heard of recouping travel costs from seller either. Contracts are great and all, but all the recourse you have is to rely on sellers character, or litigate. The seller has nothing in escrow, and easy recourse is a pipe dream. right?

[Jimbo485]

Our short list consisted of 11 boats in Guatemala, Texas, Florida, Bahamas, France, Spain and Portugal. No offer, no deposit made, no contract signed.

I needed to inspect them first. If one or two got sold in the meantime, who cares? I am not that special that there is only one unique boat for me.

If any idiot seller/broker thought I was flying across the world just to kick tyres, they missed out.

After the inspections (10 days, $5k), the short list was down to 3 and the offers were sent out and the negotiations began.

I still do not see the difference between buying a car, boat or real estate when it comes to inspecting, prior to an offer.

Some brokers in the USA were a little problematic and they lost out. But we have bought in Florida twice now.

[Dulcesuenos]

Originally Posted by Jimbo485

I needed to inspect them first. If one or two got sold in the meantime, who cares? I am not that special that there is only one unique boat for me. t I .

There in lies the difference, not saying your way is right or wrong, and I know just.recently.a.broker.here in key.largo missed a chance at a sale, I told him what I offered on a cat, he wouldn't present the seller.with an offer unless he had a deposit. Why waste the time and energy if the seller is delusional and wont budge on price? A 5 minute phone call could save hours of.paperwork and transferring funds. As it was he never made the offer and we spent 60% more on a nicer newer boat.
In the case of the boat we went with we got a very fair price and decided to "lock it in" with a contract pending survey seatrial, and more inspection. Had the market been flooded with the particular boat we wanted we could have been very nonchalant about.it

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

I have dealt with several brokers that demanded that I put a deposit down before viewing the vessel in person.

I've never heard of that. Maybe it's common in some specific areas. If a broker here in Florida asked me to do that I would laugh out loud, right in his face. Probably accompanied by some comment along the lines of "Are you out of your freakin' mind!?!"

[captain58sailin]

I never complied, and I never did business with them.

[cheoah]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

There in lies the difference, not saying your way is right or wrong, and I know just.recently.a.broker.here in key.largo missed a chance at a sale, I told him what I offered on a cat, he wouldn't present the seller.with an offer unless he had a deposit. Why waste the time and energy if the seller is delusional and wont budge on price? A 5 minute phone call could save hours of.paperwork and transferring funds. As it was he never made the offer and we spent 60% more on a nicer newer boat.
In the case of the boat we went with we got a very fair price and decided to "lock it in" with a contract pending survey seatrial, and more inspection. Had the market been flooded with the particular boat we wanted we could have been very nonchalant about.it

Pretty standard stuff, making a serious offer. From a brokers point of view, if you're not willing to make an offer under contract with accompanying deposit, you're not a serious buyer. Those brokerages have standard practices, they can't just do it the way you want. A formal offer gives the seller an opportunity to counter, and I think what I'm hearing is that you just won't accept a counter. I agree that it is far more cumbersome than doing business verbally, but from experience, it really doesn't take much time if you are serious about the boat.

If you were a seller and you got a really low offer on a boat you valued higher, what would you do? To the broker, it is a flippant offer and shows unwillingness to compromise or negotiate. It is the brokers job to protect his seller from buyers like you Even if you *think* the seller is delusional, because they don't want to lose money on a delusional buyer.

I hear people talk about the "lesson" they've taught this person or that by moving on to another boat/vehicle/house, but what's the point? If you did not get what you want, you lose. If its not what you want, then who cares?

A broker gets paid for selling boats Denverd0n, not showing them, but you know that, and I suspect it is a matter of principle for you. If it was your business and your time, would you show every boat to every person every time? PResumably some brokers are good at what they do. You have to assume that some are professionals and know far more about selling boats than you or me. I suspect they don't always get it right, but surely they're better than us random joes at picking out serious buyers. I've never had a broker request a deposit for viewing, but if they are, it may be because they are in a position to do so, or need to, to cut down on the tire kickers. Frustrating to some I'm sure, but perfectly understandable. Again, if you don't play ball then you don't even get to look at it, and if you don't want it, then who cares? I would be surprised if that happens very much, not in this market.

I think there is some confusion here on the buying process. The brokers responsibility is getting the most money for their customer as possible. I'm hearing buyers complain that it doesn't suit them, but that's neither here nor there, because as a buyer you are entitled to nothing, except to make an offer on their terms. It is easy to assume that our offer is important, and everyone wants to get their way. What I mostly hear in this thread is people not getting their way. So just to clarify, this thread is really about buyers not getting their way, right? Buck up, boys, that's the way it goes.

[sailpower]

Originally Posted by decktapper

Hello Sailpower: I would agree that a boat can sell if you do not have a contract, but if a broker intentionally neglected to tell you that it sold when you were flying out to see it, they are a thief. How many brokered boats go from no offer to sold in the time it takes a plane to cross the country? to me that screams of bald faced lie. There are a lot of great brokers out there, and there are a lot who are such dirt bags that just feeding them to lions seems too kind.

If I do not trust a salesman why would I deal with them? do you trust any salesman? can you live without dealing with them some times?

I really don't see your point. The boat doesn't have to actually "sell" to knock you out. It just has to have an accepted offer with deposit from someone to take you out of the running. At that point, even if you offered higher, the other guy would have the right to buy the boat per his contract.

That could easily happen at any time. I could go through some scenarios for you but what's the point? No one is forcing you to do it any way but your own.

If you read some of the posts here you will see some that have successfully done it this way.

Some of you guys like to complain so much that you are missing the big picture. This is merely one way to lock up a boat before you get there. It's not mandatory.