Walk me through boat buying US and Europe

[Muaddib1116]

I'm interested in buying a boat this winter/spring and I'd appreciate it if somebody could walk me through the boat buying process. My research has yielded the general steps, but I'm wondering about the specifics. I'm a US citizen living in the US, but right now I'm interested in a couple boats in northern Europe, so I'd appreciate learning what, if any, the differences are.

As I understand it, the basic steps are the following:

-Contact the selling broker (which I've done)
-Ask questions that are not answered by listing (done)
-Arrange a viewing (in process)
-Depending on interest, make an offer
-If the offer is accepted, negotiate and sign a p&s contract and pay deposit to broker

-Survey vessel
-Depending on results, recover deposit, renegotiate and/or set closing
-Pay remaining amount and close
-Transfer registration (or if in Europe, de-register and register in US)

Please let me know if I'm off base on this process. Do I need to have insurance lined up before closing?

Specifically for buying in Europe, I have questions about the timeline, and things that need to be done pre-purchase. If I'm arranging a trip to see one or more boats in difference cities in northern Europe, how much time should I arrange for each boat? Should I expect to potentially put in an offer and get to the survey step in one trip? Should I find a surveyor and rigger beforehand just in case? or will it most likely require a second visit after a contract is negotiated?

I'm looking at two sailboats, a 45 footer and 52 footer. In the US, I don't think there are any requirements for the operation of private pleasure vessels by the owner, will I run into issues in Europe? At this point I am not sure if I will have the boat shipped to the US or if I will hire a captain to sail it here. If I ship the boat back, I'd like to take the boat from the port of purchase to the loading port. Will I have to hire a captain to help with that?

If I de-register the boat in the country of purchase, when does it have to be re-registered in the US? before I can move it anywhere? or can I wait till it gets delivered to the US, by either method?

I'll probably have additional questions, but right now, those are what I'm wondering about. Thanks!