Looking to buy our first boat and have a couple questions

[DeviantM]

Need some advice from experienced folx. We took a second look at a boat Sat and put in a verbal offer $11,000 less than the asking price contingent on the Survey. We got a response today saying our offer was accepted "as is"...as is? we stated contingent on survey...This being said let me say we were given a survey done by Mike Firestone 3 years ago. In this survey he mentioned possible leaking from the chain plates and that they should be removed, inspected, and re-seated, The broker says the owner says he took care of everything on the survey, however it looks as if they are leaking, possible STILL leaking... I know we would need to address this but are we wrong to be seeing red flags? How much of a pain is this to fix? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[svGenesis]

First red flag is the broker should put your "verbal" into writing! You need a new, recent survey done, the surveyor can go over the issues done on the previous survey. As for the price and contract, if your serious about the boat then make your offerings based on the boat and any repairs needed.

[vjm]

Get the offer and acceptance in writing immediately. A string of emails will do, verbal does not cut it. Get your own survey. Chainplate repair can range from a pain in the butt to "boat is trash" if rot has really taken hold. Bulkhead repair is a big job, lots on the interwebs about how to go about it, but it's going to be quite expensive to farm out. You will know more once you get your own survey done.

[DeviantM]

Thank you, we do have the offer acceptance in email and plan to have a survey done by Mike Firestone as he has a terrific rep out here. We are mainly concerned about the as is, does this mean if the survey comes back saying the whole deck is bad we cant back out?

[svGenesis]

Originally Posted by Misti

Thank you, we do have the offer acceptance in email and plan to have a survey done by Mike Firestone as he has a terrific rep out here. We are mainly concerned about the as is, does this mean if the survey comes back saying the whole deck is bad we cant back out?

When you state contingent on the survey then any issue on the survey will allow you to back out. If you have any other outside concerns like ability to insure, dockage, repair facility ect... be sure to include a written contingency for those issues.

[DeviantM]

we said contingent on survey but he is accepting the sale price on an as is basis, I take this to mean no backing out? Thank you for helping. We are just really nervous.

[svGenesis]

Originally Posted by Misti

we said contingent on survey but he is accepting the sale price on an as is basis, I take this to mean no backing out? Thank you for helping. We are just really nervous.

What state is this? most states have a buyers acceptance clause which means you have to run through all your contingency's and then accept the vessel in writing! It sounds like he is accepting your price based on NO repairs by him, if you like the boat and can handle the repairs then he is accepting your price! All of this is still up for negotiation.

[DeviantM]

This is in Texas and that is good to know. Im gonna see what I can find on that Huge help, thank you!

[vjm]

If you make an offer and the seller accepts but modifies the terms then that is a counteroffer, not an acceptance. I would assume the seller just used poor terminology and means that he/she accepts your offer as you outlined it- contingent on sea trial and survey. But that is not clearly what the seller did because of the use of muddled terminology. They could also be one of those folks who feel "as is"
means "I'm not renegotiating the price after the survey." You don't need to worry about that right now.

Just shoot the seller an email that says you just want to clarify that they are accepting your offer which includes a sea trial and an inspection contingency.

[DeviantM]

Thank you VJM, My hubby is emailing now and Im also looking into that clause svGenesis mentioned as well.

[barnakiel]

Remove, manufacture, replace.

Difficulty level zero, except you must access the plates, which in some boats is difficulty level 100%. (E.g plates beyond heavy and fixed furniture and laminated over - ha ha ha)

b.

[DeviantM]

TY Barnakiel, This is a Catalina 36' and they looked easy enough to access. We are just afraid of buying a huge expensive project. We know all boats are a never ending to do list but being our first boat we are trying to minimize large expensive projects lol Balsa core damage was our biggest worry.

[vjm]

And I forgot...Congratulations! This is a really fun/scary part. Enjoy it!

[DeviantM]

LOL, TY. We drove our realtor mad and that was on a brand new build LMAO he still talks to us amazingly enough so you can imagine my perfectionist husband and a 30 year old boat...

[barnakiel]

Talk to Catalina owners to learn how the chainplate area is laminated. If the chainplate goes thru the sandwich and has contact with balsa core ... then this is not what should be done in a good boat - any leak thru the plates will destroy some area of the core around the plate slots and only a major hacking job can cure it (because you cannot lead new plates thru old wet core). Not difficult to do but messy and time consuming.

However, if the boat was built right, there is no balsa, just grp in the deck slot / chainplate area. The plates may need replacement but the core should be intact.

It is very easy to drill a minute hole in the underside of the deck and insert a probe into the core. This will tell you the humidity. It should be perfect - dry. Plug the hole afterwards with epoxy filler.

Going by the sound is not enough - the core may be wet but not delaminated.

b.