I bought my
boat from
Spain from an Italian owner not too long ago. Here are a few things to look for:
1. Make sure the
broker is a reputable
boat broker. They works for the seller's commission, but they must be helpful and transparent to you on all issues
2. Have a good and experienced
surveyor who are willing to send you a
survey sample report to see how complete (s)he perform the
survey. The issues found in the survey report can be used to negotiate
price and demand fixes for the boat before closing. I use the found issues and estimate the fixing cost and deduct from the offered
price. Do a pre-sales survey if you cannot do it yourself.
3. EU paperwork and
legal fees are expensive, insist on seller+buyer share closing cost if you can. It motivates the seller/broker to find competitive services - translator, public notary,
contract, etc. as they also share the cost
4. Find low cost marina for berth as soon as you start making offer.
5. Any
service, make sure the
service person writes down the detail service and est. timeline and cost; especially if you have any
Marine legal advisor/lawyer involve.
6. Structure the
sale contract with an initial deposit (5-10%) for surveying and the final payment (in escrow) at closing.
Sale Contract must include the seller deregisters the boat as soon as you make payment, and the seller provides evidence of boat deregister application within 3 days. Assuming you will have the boat registers its home port of your country right after.
7. All contracts and documents must be translated to
English to document for title (at least with USCG). The translator must provide credential and
certification of translation accuracy.
8. Ask the
broker to handle escrow for the transaction if possible. Make sure written receipt sends to you for each payment. Wire transfer usually takes 2-3 days. Unless the seller agrees to take wire transfer then you don't need escrow.
9. EU boat will require to be exported out of EU for non EU buyer, ask the seller to share this cost of hiring an export agent. You can register for an export ID with the EU (online), the export agent can help with this.
10. The boat is required to exit EU territorial
water in 90 days after the sale is concluded. Typically the buyer will have to exit the EU country then bring the boat to non-EU country for a port entry stamp then come back to EU country for the 18 months stay. There is another approach where the EU port
captain can track your boat
AIS as it exits the EU 12 nautical miles boundary as exiting EU and come back in as exiting evidence. But it is tough to find a port
captain who is willing to do this.
11. Once you complete the exiting EU, your boat is considered a foreign entity in EU territory.
It is a lot of paperwork (EU), just be patient. Good luck.
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