Lots of good
advice on here. One thing I would like clarified is the order of the
survey. Do you survey before making an offer, or after? It seems several people on here are doing surveys prior to an offer. That seems like an invitation to paying for lots of survey
fees if sellers are not reasonable.
Here is the order I envision for my next
purchase (a major one):
1. Do my own preliminary
inspection which will
rule out a lot of obvious lemons.
2. Make an offer, with a deposit to go into escrow and contingencies for (1) survey; and (2) sea trial. If I am not happy with either, in my "sole discretion" I can terminate
contract and get my deposit back. I am not putting
money into escrow based on any "reasonableness" standard or on anyone's else's view of materiality of defects. This is how we generally buy real estate in
California (without the sea trial, of course!).
If I have the ability to terminate
contract in my discretion, then I have the ability to renegotiate
price. I am not going to nickel and dime a seller if I like the boat and the
price we have negotiated, but if there are significant problems uncovered in the survey, you bet I am going to pay less, or walk. So the survey is a second bite at the apple.
If you get the survey without having an price agreed, you should be OK with paying the asking price, or you may be out the cost of the survey with no boat to show for it. I understand the value of the survey for a large
purchase, but it is something I would hope to do only once (per purchase!).
I am interested if others on here disagree on this procedure. My experience is limited. I have only bought one boat in my life. I was pretty green and probably overpaid for it, but it served me well through several years, thousands of miles and one
Atlantic crossing, so I didn't do too badly. Overall, I feel that I got lucky, but am not willing to trust my luck next time.