No broker no deal?

[Down East]

I’ve bought & sold with &without a broker and agree that there are good/bad brokers. Some barely give you the time of day unless it’s a (insert expensive brand here).
I wouldn’t limit your search to just direct sales. I’ve picked up boats through a broker for cheap because they didn’t actively market the boat and after sitting for many months, the owner just wanted out and the broker just wanted a quick sale.
I’ve also had good conversations with brokers about the actual condition of the boat when it was far away (basically asking them to level with you) - something the owner may not be as impartial/honest about.

Just my opinion...

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"Now, two months later, it's still listed with the lower incorrect hours."
If the broker asks the owner "How many hours?" the broker is kinda forced to go by whatever the owner says, because of their relationship. If the broker thinks the owner is lying or perhaps just confused about how those Arabish numbers work...the choices are to walk away from the deal, or start getting into debates. A hard place for the broker, and one of the reasons they always have a disclaimer about "Facts in this listing may have been found on a Sumerian clay tablet of unconfirmed provenance".

Wow, this is going awfully easy on the broker. What gives? This looks to me like a fairly straightforward tradeoff of integrity for commission. Don't have much experience with boat brokers, but for too many realtors and car dealers I have dealt with, integrity is rare and commissions are common. I assume boat brokers are the same. I always find it perplexing that people think you can salve your conscience by having the mark sign a waiver.

[GBR134]

Jeez I must be some naive prat as I had no idea buying a boat was so complicated. Saw our boat listed (UK) at a reasonable price. Spoke to the seller on the phone and he agreed to hold it for a few days till I coul get to see it (2 days later 6 hour drive). Made an offer on the way home. Offer accepted. Boat survey 2 days later listed some but not all of the issues the owner and I had already discussed. Agreed a simple contract and transferred cash the following day and collected the boat @ 1 week later.

Spent roughly 80% of our refurb budget. 4 years later boat has circumnavigated UK and is now happily ashore near its mooring in Portugal. We’ve had issues but all within expectations of a 30 year old boat. Naive yes but happy too - Lucky?

I find that most sail boat owners are reasonable people and have been lucky enough not to find one yet who was a sophisticated scammer - mind you I’ve met some real arses but not scammers.

[DeValency]

Hi leftbrain....
was Looking for a pm option here and couldn’t find it. Anyway, apart from sharing a lot in the technology and business background I’m also facing a title issue with a boat owner that accepted my offer, so need a contact to a good marine documentation specialist as you’ve mentioned.
On the other stuff of decision making, you can find me at cliniworks.com
Thanks — Nitzan Sneh (DeValency)

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

We used a broker AND marine documentation specialist.

The doc specialist found an unlisted lien from the seller. It was actually a sloppy documentation issue from the sellers original loan that had been discharged more than a decade ago. Subsequent sales of the original loan book through several other banks over the years left this issue unresolved. Until our doc specialist was finalizing the sale docs.

We then placed the funds (cash on our side) into an escrow account until the seller had the issue resolved. It took him 10 weeks to deal with several banks. Note that this was a bank issue not a seller issue.

Without the escrow there would have been little incentive for him to resolve the issue. And we would have been stuck not being able to deregister from the USCG and reregister.

Just my $0.02 FWIW.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by GBR134

Jeez I must be some naive prat as I had no idea buying a boat was so complicated.
…
Naive yes but happy too - Lucky?

I find that most sail boat owners are reasonable people and have been lucky enough not to find one yet who was a sophisticated scammer - mind you I’ve met some real arses but not scammers.

Consider yourself lucky then. And maybe generally true, most of the time, in many locations around the world.

But I know from experience that scammers abound in many places. And not all of them using boats as bait are actually sailors, or even owners of sailboats.