Purchase Agreement

[Lajos]

I want to make an offer on a catamaran listed with Multihulls as a brooker, they sent me there standard offer that puts the deposit in escrow, subject to survey, etc...
I read the document a few time, there is allot of thenicalities.... Is there anyone out there that is familiar with these documents? Anything I should look out for before signing the offer?....

[David M]

You can always write your own purchase agreement without all the small print intended to protect only them. If they won't sign your purchase agreement then take your business elsewhere. You can also modify their purchase agreement and write items into the agreement for the purpose of protecting you. Again, if they want you to sign a purchase agreement that is completely in their favor and can't come to terms that protect both parties then go elsewhere.

[rockerdar]

If there is anything you don't like or don't understand about the purchase agreement, ask for clarification or delete the phrase(s). The Multihull Company is well known and well respected. Be sure that your offer is subject to survey and sea trial and that you can basically walk away for any reason. Seek the advice of an attorney if you don't understand any of the wording in the contract. Good luck and I hope it works out for you! I own a catamaran and absolutely love it!

[David M]

I don't know that you would necessarily need to spend thousands of dollars on an attorney if the contract is written in plain English. If it is all legalese then forget it.

[jeremiason]

Coming here to get legal advise is crazy


Do you think if you follow someone's advice here, and you were screwed over the contract, someone from Cruisers Forum will help you resolve it?


Most Yacht Brokers are very honest people, but remeber they are working for the seller, not you...


You are about to enter into a contract over some serious money...

Hire a Lawyer or find your own Yacht Broker to act as a buyers agent and protect your interests.

[rabbi]

When we sold our boat the buyer engaged Kurt Bosshardt from yachtlawyers.com

I don't know how their experience with him was but ours was flawless.

He came up with a very neutral purchase agreement, not much fineprint and nothing complex.
He also handled the money transfer, including escrow services for the deposit. I'd prefer this over handing money over to the broker.

If the seller or his broker does not accept a neutral & licensed lawyer for handling the money I think it's time to run.

[Morrissey]

Hire your local broker as a buyer's agent. They will most likely be able to hold your deposit in escrow - broker to broker deals can be done that way, and if its an international transaction it avoids currency exchange costs until actually needed. And your broker will be able to tell you if there is anything unusual in the Multihull contract, which can be amended as noted above.

[ArtM]

Originally Posted by Lajos

I want to make an offer on a catamaran listed with Multihulls as a brooker, they sent me there standard offer that puts the deposit in escrow, subject to survey, etc...
I read the document a few time, there is allot of thenicalities.... Is there anyone out there that is familiar with these documents? Anything I should look out for before signing the offer?....

Just make sure that you have a suitable "out" - typically "subject to buyer's inspection"...

This means that, after you look at the boat, you can cancel the agreement without any further obligation beyond the loss of your security deposit (if you have one)
If you don't want to make a deposit, then don't sign the agreement - just schedule a time to see the boat and be aware that the boat could be sold until you do sign an agreement.
You can negotiate the amount and terms of the deposit as well as the price of the boat, and can include those terms in the purchase agreement.

[carstenb]

Check with your country sailing association. The danish sailing association has a recommened contract. You country's association probaby also has one

[Saltrun]

Do have a lawyer look over any contract to purchase. Certain words in "standard contracts" presented to you by brokers may seem meaningless, and are far from it. I was recently presented a contract to purchase a cat from one of the big brokerages. I was told that the contract was their standard one, used every time, never any problems. My attorney felt otherwise, and I of course, felt like I was being misled and possibly could lose a requested 20% deposit in any of many scenarios. I balked, which eventually led to the purchase falling apart. My advice is simple, have a knowlegable attorney review the agreement prior to signing. If there are things on there that give a broker the reason to keep your money, line through them and initial next to it. Do not argue with the broker about it, they will, just remove it. Do not accept any contract with any wording that resembles "time is of the essence", or something similar. This means that the timeline for the survey, and acceptance is absolute, and you are in default if you cannot meet any dates written in the contract. At the very least, this allows a broker to pressure you (after all, they have your sizeable deposit), or even worse, keep your deposit altogether, and split it with the owner of the boat.
Be smart, and pay someone a few bucks to review the agreement with you, and explain it to you. I bet the broker didn't go over a single line with you, and even if they did, you know you cannot trust them to be 100% forthcoming with the truth.

[Lajos]

Thanks for all the usefull info, I am going to check the local sail association to see if they have a standard form, I am in Canada and the boat is Canadian, the purchase agreement sent by the brooker is based in the US and it states that any dispute would have to be settled in the brookers state, does not make much sense to me...
If I don't find a good form, I'll edit his and keep some outs...
I might also just fly down, the cat is in Grenada and my friends Bahia is there also on the hard...

Thanks again to all! (even the condescending comment...)

[David_Old_Jersey]

Never sign anything you don't understand. Boats or whatever.

FWIW, just because a contract is "standard" (and has been signed by a squillion others) does not mean it is good for you - in practice whoever writes the contract tilts it in their favour (be kinda rude not to!).

Downside to discussing / quibbling over terms or simply technicalities is that it might be a deal breaker (in this case that might only be with the Broker - Vendor could well not even know the reason for the sale not happening was because "You" did not want to put balls in a vice to only the Broker's advantage).......of course that is not to say that some folks don't have bizarre ideas as to what should be in a contract - and IMO rightly get told to f#ck off!

[Auzzee]

DOJ (above) has it spot on. Also, you should not consider any paperwork until you have negoitiated a price. Don't pay any money until YOU are ready. It is a buyers market and you hold all the aces. You can call the shots and there is no reason why you can't write your own agreement subject to survey, finance and sea trial.
When you inspect the boat write a full inventory and take a million photos of everything.

Don't let the broker be your friend until after the boat is delivered.

[Bill4]

Originally Posted by Auzzee

Don't let the broker be your friend until after the boat is delivered.

Amen to that!

[ausaviator]

I have one from Catamarans.com and it really does look like it's set up to protect the buyer rather than the seller. I can email you a copy for interests sake it you want some ideas on how to modify it. PM me if interested.