newbie/boat purchase question

[capt lar]

ah - a hidden agenda - makes more sense now, not necessarily good sense, but i could buy in. the teenage part is true - thats when i went from sail to power and it is a long wait getting back. only thing i saw that sent up a flair was the part about the slip. when shopping for boats in southern cal., i had more than one broker say i could get the slip and it just ain't so. county controlled and very hard to get a straight answer. get the slip part in writing from the owner with escrow until your name is listed as the holder if you can. i could have ended up with a boat parked in the container ship area of long beach if i did not do my homework.
capt. lar

[waterworldly]

Great step by step Jeff! Thanks.

[dcstrng]

<what do i do next?>

Jeff, Gord, Tim and others have wonderfully covered the nuts and bolts – the only rule is, “There are no rules…” period.

I don’t begin to have their amassed experience, but this much I do know – even when the broker or seller (or yourself, when you become the seller) attempt to foist some boilerplate form (contract) on you, remember there is almost nothing in there carved in granite – or very well regulated either, so read, read, read… and the more of your resources involved, read longer…

I tend to agree with doing a survey, but have purchased with and without and frankly very little will surpass your own knowledgeable eye – and don’t discount your intuition… even if you can’t figure out exactly what makes you uneasy, I’d use that as a signal to look over the whole thing one more time… Sea trials are always a good thing, I suppose, but I’ve only done it once and that particular boat didn’t begin to show her inadequacies for several more days – well past a great survey and more than satisfactory sea-trials… even if you’re in love with the vessel, be skeptical… maybe especially if you’re already in love with it… of course, if you’d don’t feel some emotional attachment, why spend any time with it…

Bottom, line – despite the fact that contemporary vessels seemingly have more and more “systems,” purchasing ain’t a digital process – you can check all the boxes and still be surprised (although, sometimes happily…) and you can ignore half of the mandatory lists and still come out smelling like a rose… in the end, I think nearly as important as the boat, the buyer needs to know what they really want, what their priorities are, where their abilities lay and after an honest self appraisal, and researching the boat in question (sistership, Net, whatever…), dive in and kick a few tires…

And, reread the first paragraph…

[kisco kid]

do any of you jokes know why you use a broker ?

[kisco kid]

because not one of you knows how to submit an offer to purchase a boat properly !!!

[GordMay]

Well Kisco; you might sit in the dark, reveling in your superior knowledge - or you might share some of it with we poor unenlightened incompetents .

Welcome aboard.

It is one of the essential features of incompetence, that the person so afflicted, is incapable of knowing that he is incompetent.
Paradoxically, improving one’s competence , and thus increasing our reasoning skills, helps us recognize that very competence.
The more I learn, the more ignorant I realise I am.

[Pblais]

Jeff H's post number 4 at the top of this thread still stands as one of the best written set of steps for buying a boat posted here on Cruisers Forum.

The biggest risk of any process is communication break down and the calendar. The longer and more drawn out the deal becomes to more likely it is to come off the tracks.

[Jeff H]

Thanks for the kind words Paul. To answer the 'Kids' post, I think that it is very short sighted to assume that we all use brokers or that we all use brokers because we don't know how to write a contract. To begin with, this post began with a person who was new to the sport, and if that newbie has a decent broker, the broker can help steer him through the process and keep the process moving smoothly.

But having bought and sold quite a few boats, both with and without a broker involved, I have generally found that a good broker can litertally save you his fee in being able to negotiate your position in a way that an individual to individual negotiation can't. Beyond that its helpful to have an impartial third party holding the good faith money, and less importantly in the case of a boats or owner that is not local, (perhaps even less important in this age of free long distance cell phones) run up the big phone bills to make the deal happen.

In any event, if for someone reading this thread, you feel that you must use a broker because you don't know how to write a purchase agreement, I have one that I used when I sold one of my boats without a broker that I'd be glad to email.

Jeff

[mobetah]

Salty Dog 68,

I think the Endeavour 40 is a great boat (especially for the money) but I might be a little prejudiced since I've owned one for the last 16 years. You could probably gain a lot of insight in regard to the Endeavour 40 at the Endeavour Owners Forum www.endeavourowners.com . If you look in the forums section you'll get a pretty good idea what problems you might encounter with the Endeavour 40. Good luck!

If you have any specific questions regarding the E40, email me. I'd be happy to help in any way possible.