Soldboats.com

[stpeck]

I am in the process of price negotiations on a 1994 31" boat. The broker who is selling the boat is very reputable. His outfit did the repower in 2005 and has maintained tho boat for years. i am going to keep the boat at the same marina and hope to maintain a good relationship with him.
My question is, could someone who has a soldboats.com account provide me with a search of prices of similar boats sold. Of course I would be willing to pay an appropriate fee. We are about $10K apart.
i am not good at negotiations so the more info I have the better. This is my first purchase of a boat this size/price. I have a good surveyor ready once we come up with a preliminary price.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by stpeck

I am in the process of price negotiations on a 1994 31" boat. The broker who is selling the boat is very reputable. His outfit did the repower in 2005 and has maintained tho boat for years. i am going to keep the boat at the same marina and hope to maintain a good relationship with him.
My question is, could someone who has a soldboats.com account provide me with a search of prices of similar boats sold. Of course I would be willing to pay an appropriate fee. We are about $10K apart.
i am not good at negotiations so the more info I have the better. This is my first purchase of a boat this size/price. I have a good surveyor ready once we come up with a preliminary price.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Why bother.. if your only $10K apart.. take up his price 'Subject to Survey'.. that way your not committed and you'd be surprised how easy it is for a good surveyor to knock up a $10K+list...

[Mimsy]

Soldboats is not definitive on sale prices. A quick search will tell ya why.

I'm with Boatman on this with one exception- agree to meet the broker halfway with a $5k increase subject to survey. I guarantee you that no matter how pristine the boat, its gonna need at least 5k in work.

[smj]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Why bother.. if your only $10K apart.. take up his price 'Subject to Survey'.. that way your not committed and you'd be surprised how easy it is for a good surveyor to knock up a $10K+list...

What if the surveyor comes up with a $10,000 list yet appraises the boat for $20,000 over the contract price? I would never go into negotiations planning on dropping the price after survey. If the owner thinks the boat is priced to sell he probably won't drop the price, then your out the cost of survey, haul out and some time dealing with it. If you can't get the price down to what you think it's worth then move on.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by smj

What if the surveyor comes up with a $10,000 list yet appraises the boat for $20,000 over the contract price? I would never go into negotiations planning on dropping the price after survey. If the owner thinks the boat is priced to sell he probably won't drop the price, then your out the cost of survey, haul out and some time dealing with it. If you can't get the price down to what you think it's worth then move on.

What the hell does he care... he's in the plus... by $20,000..
If the surveyor tells the seller the value... sue the bastard..

[Paul L]

Nothing wrong with asking the selling broker to print this list out for you. It isn't a big secret. Just be sure he lists the search criteria, i.e. boat type, years, etc.

[EzzyD]

Originally Posted by stpeck

I am in the process of price negotiations on a 1994 31" boat. The broker who is selling the boat is very reputable. His outfit did the repower in 2005 and has maintained tho boat for years. i am going to keep the boat at the same marina and hope to maintain a good relationship with him.
My question is, could someone who has a soldboats.com account provide me with a search of prices of similar boats sold. Of course I would be willing to pay an appropriate fee. We are about $10K apart.
i am not good at negotiations so the more info I have the better. This is my first purchase of a boat this size/price. I have a good surveyor ready once we come up with a preliminary price.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

10K apart? But what is the 10K as a % of price?
Is that not more important then the amount?

Best,

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by EzzyD

10K apart? But what is the 10K as a % of price?
Is that not more important then the amount?

Best,

Owner wants $11K....

[djmarchand]

I am with Paul on this one. Ask the broker to run soldboats on that boat. Watch him while he inputs the search criteria- manufacturer, length, year range. If he won't do that, he doesn't have the reputation you thought he did and act accordingly.

Take the Soldboats data and adjust them up or down based on high dollar equipment like gensets, air conditioning, etc. If it is a fairly new boat, what has worked for me is to take the bare value of the equipment, like a genset and use that figuring that installation will double it if new. If older, like 1995 or older, use half of bare equipment cost.

David

[bstreep]

I'm a real estate appraiser. David and Paul gave some great advice.

I'm SURE your surveyor knows this, but that survey is yours, and only yours. If he shares it with anyone, he is violating his professional ethics. Just ask him not to share it.

[ArtM]

If you are afraid you will lose the boat, bring up the price. If you are not worried, don't bring up the price.

You should be looking for other boats that are currently for sale of similar type and condition. If there are other boats that meet your criteria in similar price ranges, you have nothing to worry about and can afford to hold firm on your price.

Don't worry, you are not going to offend a broker with a low price!

[stpeck]

Great advice. Boat was listed at 82, i offered 67, broker said the seller wanted 77,5 but he felt he would take 73-74. My move. I requested maintenance records before I could increase my offer. Who ever speaks next loses?? i believe I'm the only one in the game at this time. Don't want to be bidding against myself but I like the boat and hate to lose it.

Boat is still in the yard and they are reinstalling electronics. A bit behind due to Sandy.
Again I am new to this but it seems a little backward to me to have to come up with a price before the survey???? What am I missing.

[ArtM]

Surveys can be done at any time. Sometimes the broker has access to a survey that was done previously - though any survey that was not ordered by YOU to meet YOUR needs should be taken lightly. A buyer's survey is not the same as a broker's or owner's survey.

Remember that each surveyor is limited in what he can or will do. Also, he will only do certain things that only he knows unless you specifically request things to be done. Surveyors are all different, and different surveys are done for different purposes. One survey does not fit all!

I forgot to add that the owner has to agree.... you can do a survey at any time, assuming the owner permits it! He may not want to deal with the risks of having a boat surveyed if you have not agreed on a price.

[sailpower]

What model is it?

[Whaubner]

In my limited experience, it is very common to agree on a price, before spending any money on things such as survey.
Of course the results of the survey may be an opportunity to adjust the price further.