Sequence of Purchase

[Bycrick]

If I may paraphrase Wimpy, "I’ll gladly give you a title on Tuesday for $100k today." Right.

[Amapola]

I hope you have a comprehensive and signed contract.

[goboatingnow]

It would be normal and standard part of a sales contract that the broker ( who has contracted to provide the boat as advertised , ie free from encumbrances ) to ask you to pay the whole amount into his client account and he then discharged any encumbrances . It would be unusual for the encumbrances to be paid off before the sale as usually that’s why the seller is selling

I’ve never used a purchase broker

Recently I sold my own boat privately. The buyer paid a small deposit €2000 , and the balance on handover , I provided a notarised bill of sale. ( and a letter of warrant that the boat was mine to sell and free of encumbrances )

[goboatingnow]

The broker is this case was an ABYA , which is the U.K. certifying agency and the contract was a standard ABYA sales contract.

[benfairn]

Get a lawyer, a search and a contract in place before you do any more payment..

[benfairn]

If you don't like brokers, Get a lawyer, a search and a contract in place before you do any more payment..

[mghorton]

As others have said, full payment is typically due at closing. I recently purchased a boat sight unseen from Ft Lauderdale as we did not want to travel down there in the current circumstances. No buyers broker but the boat was 2019 model and only used a few times. Regardless, it could have been grounded or damaged so we asked the sellers broker to first organize a video call/view with us where we were able to request what we wanted to see. Even then, prior to closing, I asked friends in Ft L. with some boating experience to give specific items the once over once it was hauled, such as keel to hull joint, rudder alignment, hull damage etc and only then signed off on the closing and funds transfer. Not as good as a full survey and inspection but it worked well and the boat is now here in Annapolis and we are delighted with it.

Under most purchase agreements, it is your responsibility to make any inspection necessary prior to closing. Your funds should also go into an named escrow account which can be used to pay off the sellers loan. If it would help, I would be happy to give the boat a once over and non-professional opinion and video the results prior to sign off. As you can see we are local and my latest boat is my tenth, so I am reasonable capable of judging overall condition.

[mghorton]

Also you can let me have the name of the broker. I know most of them round here

[Tanqueray]

I have purchased 2 boats in the last 10 years and sold one...all were ~$25k or less...

1) first boat I purchased was through a broker. I had no idea what I was doing, I asked the broker to keep some $$ in escrow until we could put the boat I. The water and fire up the engine.,I purchased this boat in the middle of winter in Chicago, so no sea trial at that time. Everything turned out fine.


2) Purchased 2nd boat from a private seller, no broker. All was friendly, but I intended to meet him at his bank, see the title, pay off his load, get the bank to release the lien and give him the remainder of the purchase price....but he called a week before we were to close to say he had paid off the load, and just bring a cashiers check for the full amount, made out to him.

We met at his bank as arranged, but no one looked happy. Apparently , Mrs Boat owner sent the payoff check via a paper check and regular mail...and the bank had not received it...so no way to close out their loan....

We agreed to go to my bank, cash the check, go back to his bank and pay off the loan with cash so the bank could release the title....

What a mess...but it all worked out...the sellers were good people and we trusted each other (to a point at least).

Looked like a drug deal as we walked into his bank with a paper bag full of cash (literally), and counted out $20 and $50 bills to pay off his loan.

Oh yeah, a,so, the bank didn’t have the title...no one could find it...turns out you can go to the BMV in Michigan and have one printed out on demand....who knew.

3) Sold my first boat to a guy who had been out sailing with me, no brokers, pretty easy.

All of these were relatively small deals, and I felt comfortable after my first sale to go it alone without a broker.,.. but we did have contracts in place and neither seller or buyer were complete strangers,


Good luck...be wary but you have to have a little faith in people.

Greg

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by porschetrek

My wife and I are trying to purchase a used Beneteau listed from a broker in Annapolis. We had looked at a number of boats previously through a couple of buyers' brokers, but they lost interest in us so I looked at this Beneteau without a buyers' broker. The seller's offer was to include delivery to our marina in Virginia, and it turns out the owner plans on delivering the boat himself, but the exact date is TBD. We wired a 10% deposit,had the survey done and cleared up outstanding defects, and are hoping to close soon. We're hesitant to wire the balance without having the title and proof the lien has been released. I know in a house closing an attorney handles escrow and all of the distribution of paperwork, but I know boats are handled differently. But with only a seller's broker acting as his agent can they really have any fiduciary responsibility to a buyer? Thanks in advance

I sold and bought a number of yacht privately.
It is was me I would fly to wherever the boat is pay for it and get some one do a delivery trip .

Or get the owner to deliver it and pay on arrival?
Did you actually inspect the boat yourself before you paid a deposit?
I would not settle unless you are in actual proximity of the vessel, but then I wouldn't pay a deposit on a yacht unless I have seen it in the real never mind the survey.
What size yacht is it?
Good luck

[goboatingnow]

Most yacht contracts stipulate “ sold where seen” , so any delivery is post sale , I find it hard to fathom why people handing over xxxx thousands, wouldn’t travel to the boat.

Furthermore once a standard ABYA contract is signed , the boat isn’t supposed to be used as its to be sold as seen in the condition at the signing

As an owner , I would not contract to deliver a boat under offer to another location. I would happily offer to deliver it post sale, under the new owners liability