Pay Seller extra for old Survey??

[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.

[Celestialsailor]

Hmmm...Had the boat for 8 months then trying to sell it? Whats wrong with that picture? Likely while doing something on the boat, that 8 months, found something to make him want to sell it. Don't walk...run!

[Fishspearit]

On a $200k boat I would probably pay it if I was serious about making an offer and the boat was not near enough to go see in person.

It doesn't save you from having to do your own survey, but could still be useful information if it was a decent surveyor.

[Mike OReilly]

While there’s no obligation to provide an old survey, I expect it to be made available — for free — to serious prospective buyers. I always took refusal as a major red flag, and did as CS recommends.

As a seller, I could see slapping a price on my survey IF I didn’t trust the the prospective buyer, and was just trying to get rid of them.

[chubby]

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.

good for you.


i hope you made sure to have the broker tell the PO that he or she can go F- themselves..

[caradow]

2 years ago when shopping for my current boat I rejected a boat that the survey cost $2000.
About 3 months later the broker called and asked if I would sell my survey for $1000 and I obviously said yes.
Quite honestly that survey was worth much more than the new prospective buyer paid.
I think the buyer made the right decision.
I do not know if he ever bought the boat.

[leecea]

Interesting to see advice in earlier thread: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...rs-239967.html

[Randy]

There's a difference between a buyer's and seller's survey. And while an old survey will provide useful information, I wouldn't count on it

[imus]

There isn't a hard and fast rule on this. Just depends on how serious you are about wanting the boat. If I was in that situation with the broker, I would just tell them I will buy ownership of the survey for $300, if I don't buy the boat, the next buyer can then buy the survey from me ! If they refuse, which they probably will, just tell them to give it to you for free because you're not interested in covering the owner's past expenses. I think most reasonable people could agree on this.

[DoubleD]

Whether you buy or are given a survey from the seller, you still need to do your own due diligence. I looked at a boat a few years ago and the seller handed me a year old survey, from a reputable local company. While doing my own inspection of the boat, using Don Casey’s book, Inspecting the Aging Sailboat as a guide, I discovered two of the floor joists had rotted and were “removed”. They weren’t cut out, but torn back towards the sides of the cabin. This was not noted in the survey. Now this was an old boat built in 1973, so if the joists weren’t removed prior to the survey, then the rotting would have been obvious. As they say, buyer beware.


DD

[CarlF]

I don’t understand getting bent out of shape over this.

I wouldn’t pay $300 for some old survey. But I wouldn’t walk away over this if I wanted the boat.

If the $300 survey has something really bad in it, they wouldn’t show it to you. So why pay $300 to see something that says the boat is great?

And you’ll still get your own survey because your insurance company will need it and your surveyor will find some stuff to negotiate another 5%-10% off the price.

That’s how the game is played.

[Donnybrook]

Unless insurance would accept an 8 month old survey, I'd question the value as a lot can change in that time. Seems the seller is trying to hide something as an old survey would help market it. I've seen some brokers include a copy of a survey as part of the listing.

If you paid, are you buying all rights to it, or would the seller be able to sell copies to other prospective buyers?

[Mike OReilly]

The point of seeing an old survey is not necessarily to tell you the current state of the boat. Rather, it will give the prospective buyer a window into how well the boat has been maintained (or not) over time. You can get a sense of the rate of deterioration of systems or areas of the boat.

It has to be matched and compared to a current survey (by the buyer and/or a professional). But I definitely view it as useful information.

If a seller has one, but won’t provide it at no cost, then I would walk away. The only conclusion I can make is there’s something being hidden.

[kavw]

Nope.
There are surveys of different kinds. It might just be a simple survey for renewing insurance, which generally doesn't function test anything nor opens cabinets, etc... Or it could be a genuine survey of the vessel which goes in depth to the condition of everything and recommendations based on experience.
Before you pay for your own survey, be clear what you want to know from it, and if the surveyor is willing to go into that much detail. A detailed survey can take 2-3 times as long to perform.

[5BTM]

It is the brokers' fault.

The answer to the original question should have been: "Yes, there is a recent survey"

The answer to the subsequent one should have been: "No you can't see it, pay for your own"