Pay Seller extra for old Survey??

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by Icarus

I fail to see why you 'walked' away
If you had a serious interest in the vessel you could have organised your own survey.
It's not hard.

There are currently 3 other cats to look at in same state &same price area. Breaking News: Broker called ,left a msg that seller will mail me a copy of 9 month old survey no charge. I left msg back not to bother. Previously known defects such as old original sails ,6000 hours on engines and saildrives and original 20+ YO mattresses + AIRBNB rental history does not make it attractive even if price was 40k-50k lower. Would be problem getting my own survey as there are no lifts available locally to haul it in the area as the beam is 24 ft. SO consider this thread closded and I thank everyone for their input.

[Cabo 38]

I would pay it w/o a second thought, if I was truly interested in the boat. As someone mentioned, it provides somewhat of a window into the history of the boat.

[ftamburrano]

My advice is: either 1) you accept to pay the survey, which will enable you (if the surveyor is good) to know the problems that you will have to face, so that most probably you will avoid the purchase, or 2) you directly look for something else, forgetting about this boat. In this second case you will remain with unsatisfied curiosity. Note that if you find a good boat, you keep it, unless unforseen rare events oblige you to resell it. Investigate whether this is the case.

[Mike OReilly]

I'm curious... for those who would readily pay for the old survey, would you also pay a fee to view the boat? To walk on board? To conduct your own survey? Or even just to have the owner answer questions about it?

To me, it's the same thing. As a potential buyer, I want as much information as I can get about the boat before I make an offer. Indeed... what else can an offer be based on? Surely not just the information in the ad.

An old survey provides some useful information. It diminishes with age, but in this case, an eight-month-old survey had better be pretty accurate. If it's not, then the boat has gone through serious deterioration in a very short time. And that would be vital information to have.

Nothing in boat selling is obligatory. A seller is not obligated to share an old survey, but neither are they obligated to answer questions. As a buyer, I ran into these kinds of sellers (or seller's brokers). It was a good sign to walk away.

[Fishspearit]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I'm curious... for those who would readily pay for the old survey, would you also pay a fee to view the boat? To walk on board? To conduct your own survey? Or even just to have the owner answer questions about it?

Of course not. A few things to clarify, it's clear now the OP was never really interested in the boat. I answered that I would pay for the survey but that's based on 1) being serious about buying the boat and 2) the boat was not close for me to go look at and survey myself.

I'm looking for a boat at the moment and I've been seeing a lot in the northeast (1500 miles away) that interest me. If I find one that seriously interests me, and I'm seriously considering making an offer on, then I would gladly pay $300 for a fairly recent survey before I flew up there just to take a look at it and paid the money for haul/launch and another pre-purchase survey. People buy boats sight unseen all the time, making their offer based on nothing but the broker's listing and then deciding after the survey if they want to consummate the deal. $300 is nothing compared to the cost to travel to see a boat before making an offer.

[Leighpilot]

An honest seller would show you the survey to prove that the boat is worth the price. Demanding cash to see if the boat is in good condition is a big red flag.

Now if I was selling and the boat was in good shape ,you’d have that survey by email in an hour. You’d still be prudent to get your own survey even if my survey is good.

But demanding cash to see if ? Nope walk away. There’s hundreds of good boats out there.

[bullislandken]

I was looking at a vessel that had a contract for sale about 6 months ago. The buyers backed out for “some reason”. The sellers said that it was their first sailboat and they must have “got cold feet”.

I believe the sellers but I was surprised when they said the surveyor would provide that survey to me for $300. I responded, “don’t the buyers from October own that survey?”. No answer provided but the surveyor said he would “go look at the boat again” before selling me the survey.

I think the certified surveyor is wrong.

[Mike OReilly]

I get buying a survey from a 3rd party; someone who had just surveyed the boat and decided not to proceed, for example. But I'll say again, if the seller has a survey, I consider it a valid source of information about the boat. How is it any different than maintenance records, upgrade history, and other basics about the boat.

If a seller is obstructing access to information about the boat by putting a price on it, then I can only conclude they are hiding something. Either that, or they don't really want to sell the boat, or they see me as a pita, and are just trying to get rid of me.

In all cases, it leads to me not wanting to pursue the boat. I'd quickly move on.

BTW, if the seller is only worried that the survey undervalues the boat, I'd be happy to have that item blacked out. Survey valuations are WAGs at best (Wild Ass Guesses).

[tomtriad]

Originally Posted by geoleo

While looking for a cruising sailboat in Florida I looked at one thru a broker in the 200k range. The PO had purchased it 8 months earlier. I asked if there was a recent survey. He said there was and the owner would provide a copy for $300 cash ! Walked. Comments.

If I liked the boat, I'd pursue it, simply tell the broker no thanks to the survey offer. No reason to take offense at what the seller thought was a reasonable request - perhaps he's not experienced at buying/selling boats, regrets the purchase and is simply trying to recoup his investment.

[mvweebles]

Not sure if y'all caught the OPs last post a couple days ago. Broker offered the survey for free. Buyer declined as he had already moved on to a different boat because what he had already learned about the subject boat didn't give him a warm feeling.

For those who think the seller made a riteous decision in withholding relevant information on the underlying asset, consider that anytime you cut off conversations with a buyer carries risk of disenfranchisement.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

Not sure if y'all caught the OPs last post a couple days ago. Broker offered the survey for free. Buyer declined as he had already moved on to a different boat because what he had already learned about the subject boat didn't give him a warm feeling.

For those who think the seller made a riteous decision in withholding relevant information on the underlying asset, consider that anytime you cut off conversations with a buyer carries risk of disenfranchisement.

I did miss that, thanks.



Like most of these discussions, it's not really about the OP. But it's interesting to see how things progressed. Thanks.

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

Not sure if y'all caught the OPs last post a couple days ago. Broker offered the survey for free. Buyer declined as he had already moved on to a different boat because what he had already learned about the subject boat didn't give him a warm feeling.

For those who think the seller made a riteous decision in withholding relevant information on the underlying asset, consider that anytime you cut off conversations with a buyer carries risk of disenfranchisement.

The "buyer" is still looking at the same model. But he refuses to look at the now-free survey from which he could only learn. Even if it's just a reference point.

Am I the only one to find this fishy. Just like the mattress problem. Seriously 20year old mattresses are worth noting?

I am sure the broker correctly identified the OO as a tire kicker.

[jdecris]

In the fall of 2018 when I first started looking for a new-to-me boat, to make a long story short, I ended up coming back to the first boat I looked had initially looked at. The couple of months looking at other different boats gave me a good perspective.

When I did go back for a second look, the boat was in contract and actually being surveyed the very next day. My first thought was man I can't win nothin' for nothin'... but I did say to the broker let me know if the sale doesn't go through.

It turned out the sale did not go through, and I put in the same offer the previous buyer had made. The offer was accepted, and I bought the first buyer's survey for 1/2 the price - I think it was about $800.

And I then negotiated the sale about 10% less and bought the boat. I knew what I was getting, and am very glad I bought the boat (and still own it).

Personally, I was glad to be able to buy the survey for half the price.

Sellers are sellers, buyers are buyers - and like it or not, each have different agendas. And boats are boats.

For me, the more I know about a boat before buying it - the better. And getting a previous survey for less than the original cost is an option I'm glad to have as part of the process.

[AKA-None]

Hmmm was the op the seller trying to find out if they could sell their old survey to prospective buyers?

That would not be out of consideration

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by jdecris

It turned out the sale did not go through, and I put in the same offer the previous buyer had made. The offer was accepted, and I bought the first buyer's survey for 1/2 the price - I think it was about $800.

This is the scenario where it makes sense to (have to) buy a previous survey.