I bought my first boat, a 42'
ketch, direct from a Canadian. I was in the US and imported it myself going though US
Customs which was very easy. I walked in to their office and asked. I filled in a simple form and showed them the bill of sale. One thing that made it easy was that, at least at that time, a Canadian-built boat did not require an
import fee. I did get an
import doc from them. If an import duty was required I would have had to pay that to the US.
The seller and I did all the paperwork ourselves. I had to get the bill of sale and send it to the USCG and he had to delist his boat from the Canadian ship registry. It was easy peasy. I got a cracker-jack
surveyor who spent all day on the boat. He is a hard ass as far as finding things, although, like always they don't find everything if it is behind the woodwork or requires tools to get to. I did pay him extra to do a mechanical survey of the
engine.
If you do some minimal homework you will find it not all that hard to buy a boat, or to sell it for that matter. I have also bought and
sold houses without brokers or lawyers. Some people will not be comfortable with this and I understand that. One thing I think I would want is an escrow
service to hold my deposit for a couple hundred dollar fee. They will require the seller to sign over owner ship to the buyer and the buyer to pay the balance of the contract, then they will release the deposit to the seller. The contract is important and some may want legal
advice. Even if they have a buyer broker.
My
current boat I bought from a seller broker. They assigned a "buyer" broker as my advocate but he was in the same office and I viewed it as a sham deal for somehow managing risk on their part. They recommended a
documentation service in
Seattle and they did all the paperwork including transfer of the title in
Washington state, USCG
documentation, etc. I could have done all of this provided the seller did his/her part in a reasonable manner, in the case, the seller broker would have done it.
The selling broker had been trying to sell this "unique" boat for several years as the seller put on an impossible-to-get
price. I offered a much lower price and he reluctantly (meaning pissed off) accepted it. The selling broker was to set up the arrangement for a haul-out and survey. The haul-out was fine but the
surveyor they recommended ditched me for a bigger boat survey and I had to scramble to find one. I was pissed!! They did not do their job but they said it was my problem. So much for the "help" from my "buyer broker".
Regarding the OP's original question, I wasn't there and didn't hear the conversation but I doubt very much it implied a verbal contract if it was like the every day life of brokers I have seen and I have seen a lot. Trying to find a boat for someone sitting in their office doing some
internet searches and talking to other brokers is a cost of doing business and they know they will not always find a deal and get a commission from it.
That is a different story if there was an exclusivity understanding, written especially, but verbal in some cases. I have seen a lot of lazy brokers who will do the minimum in this situation, hoping to get a deal. Like I said, it is a cost of doing business, like
marketing and selling on commission in many instances. If I go in to a car dealer and look at cars the salesman does not expect a commission if I buy a car on my own, even if, they do a search for my perfect car with other dealers or whatever. I did use a buyer broker in Denver a couple of times and paid him for his services even though it was all verbal. The understanding was that he didn't earn anything unless he found me a car that I bought.
So, IMHO, there is no verbal contract in most all cases done by walking into a broker office and asking if they know of a boat I would like. If I had agreed to an exclusivity deal (which I would never do except in exceptional circumstances where I knew their service would b extensive and necessary), then I would have gladly (and ethically) paid him/her for their time and efforts. I have worked with many, many brokers looking at boats and they never expected me to pay them if I found a boat through other means. Never!
Others may have had other circumstances but I would say given the OP's limited comments, he has zero need to pay the broker anything unless the broker did a lot more work, like bringing him multiple (or even one perhaps) boats on paper, and setting up showings, help negotiating a deal, not to mention paperwork in closing. Looking up boats with the seller multi-list is a normal thing and not subject to a contract or requirement to pay anything. The broker will not expect that.
If I had any reason to think the broker might expect an exclusive deal, without a written contract, I would tell them up front that it is not exclusive. A better case can be made for a seller broker to expect some payment if a seller finds a buyer on their own. A friend of mine had a listing with a broker but the broker basically did squat and the seller found a buyer himself. He paid the broker but he was not happy about it. Myself, even in this case, would only sign an exclusivity deal for a limited time period. But I would not find a buyer and keep it secret and let the time run out. I would owe the broker.
With my experience, which is limited, but common from what I have seen,
buying a boat does NOT require a buyer broker assistance. It can make it easier - sometimes - as I have also seen several cases where the buyer broker did not do a good job and messed up what should have been easy deals.
BTW, I was a licensed real estate broker once and asking a broker if they know of any houses
for sale does not imply any contract at all. In fact in most states the
regulations explicitly say this and the brokers know this. It has to be in writing via a buyer-broker written contract to prevent any "misunderstandings". Brokers without a buyer-broker contract will be brought in to a deal via an agreement between a seller broker.
If the seller broker tries to keep all the commission, the broker who brings the buyer to the deal, can and usually will sue and win, plus damages and court costs. In these cases, the broker who brought the buyer is actually, by law, also a seller broker and does not owe the buyer any special expectations of working for them. In this case, both brokers are seller brokers and it is buyer-beware. Many brokerages will require the buyer to sign a notice that this is the case, although it is not required.
I don't think there are similar
regulations for
buying selling boats in the US in most states but have to admit I don't know. I suspect there isn't. I do think there probably is some kind of code of conduct taught and expected in the broker "certification" companies.
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