Hire a Broker, but Sell to Your Neighbor . . .

[Gone2long]

... I'm wondering if such stuff often happens. In other words, let's say that I hire a broker to sell my yacht, but the guy in the next slip falls in love with her and makes me an offer I can't refuse.

If I sell the boat to my neighbor, am I breaking my contract with the broker?

All and any serious comments appreciated.

Regards,

G2L

[SaltyMonkey]

Yes. But, I think the broker, as a listing agent only gets a % of the sale, and so do you, as the selling agent. I'm not sure what the % splits are. You can't necessarily prove your neighbor saw or heard that the boat was on market because of your brokers work or his connection in the industry. And a contract is a contract.

[Abaco]

If you have not already signed the listing agreement you could list the neighbor as and exclusion. No fee would be paid if he/she buys.

[Cheechako]

Most brokers wont agree to be in competition with you! They are willing to do an exclusion if you know someone you might sell to before you list the boat. Frankly, I have sold more boats myself than have been sold by brokers. I've never felt they uynderstood the boats well, or the work that had been done to them etc. You'd think they would accept the challenge of being in competition with the owner to sell it! There might be a non-exclusive selling agreement, however that wont get you any advertising etc....

[Gone2long]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Most brokers wont agree to be in competition with you! They are willing to do an exclusion if you know someone you might sell to before you list the boat. Frankly, I have sold more boats myself than have been sold by brokers. I've never felt they uynderstood the boats well, or the work that had been done to them etc. You'd think they would accept the challenge of being in competition with the owner to sell it! There might be a non-exclusive selling agreement, however that wont get you any advertising etc....

Actually,

I have heard that this is all negotiable and that one could get a non-exclusive contract and still have the broker advertize the boat.

This might be particularly true if the owner had placed and/or paid for classified ads before hiring the broker. The owner might want to "exempt" any potential buyer who answered one of his earlier placed ads, no ?

All comments welcomed,

G2L

[sloop6312]

Similarly, what if your friend makes his offer directly to you or your listing agent, and not through a broker on his behalf ("buyer's broker"). Had the buyer used a broker, the seller's broker would have had to split the usual 10% commission in some fashion with the buyer's broker. No buyer's broker should equate to the seller negotiating a better deal with his broker to cement the deal, perhaps resulting in more money to the seller, or a better deal for the buyer. In any case...boat is sold and everyone gets something. It often works that way in real estate transactions.