People Selling Boats !

[dofthesea]

What is the issue with people selling a boats. I have found that its like pulling teeth trying to get info on a sailboat. Ok news flash I don't want to have to beg for a spec sheet or a previous survey if it is available. I am in the market and have cash. And some people must wonder why their boat hasn't sold after 1-2 years..........Ok I am done complaining haha back to looking at potential boats

[SkiprJohn]

In those cases that you mention the owners must not be very anxious to sell or they'd have all that stuff ready for a willing buyer to see.
Just about a week ago I saw a local craigslist ad. I sent an email asking what kind of 27' sailboat it is he's trying to sell. Never got a response. The ad was still there a couple days ago. I'm not going to try for more information since I'm not truly interested in dealing with flakey people.

[dofthesea]

SkiprJohn that's how I feel. If they are going to sell something please get all your paperwork in order. It's funny how sometimes the seller wants you to work for it.

[svrodeorm]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

Just about a week ago I saw a local craigslist ad. I sent an email asking what kind of 27' sailboat it is he's trying to sell. Never got a response. The ad was still there a couple days ago. I'm not going to try for more information since I'm not truly interested in dealing with flakey people.

yeah, we all got a choice! Buyers & sellers alike. Agree on the less than pleasant experience of buying OR selling something as complex and emotional as a cruising boat to/from some 'weirdo' sorry 'but the expression

[kevin7500]

I feel your pain! I tried buying an old airplane for a while and ended up giving up due to similar experiences. Everyone thinks their property is gold even though the market says otherwise. No airplane has ever been crashed and repaired even though the NTSB keeps great records. Log books are lost in fires with amazing frequency. "New 3 blade prop" is actually code for "the old two blade hit the ground, but I think the engine is still good".

I was hoping for more positive experiences while looking for a boat. So far no email inquiries have been responded to. Good luck with your search!

[S&S]

Reminds me of a Morgan Giles ketch I was looking at about 15 years ago. Boat had been out of the water of years and in a shed. Saw it and made an offer and the (crazy) lady pulled it off the market- couldn't bring herself to sell even though she'd moved out of state.

As far as I know, it's still there.

[nautical62]

Also, many people have decided to sell their boats because they are no longer using them: They've lost interest, come into poor health or maybe even passed away. In those circumstances people are often going to be less than motivated sellers.

I you don't like working with individual seller's, consider limiting your boat search to broker listed boats.

[rover88]

One thing that fascinated me when looking for a boat were the photos included in many sales listings. Interior shots with dirty dishes piled in the galley, clothes and shoes strewn everywhere and clutter that would send a home real estate agent into apoplexy. It seemed the $100k boats were often messier than the $30k boats.

Makes you wonder......

[Blue Stocking]

Of course , the flip side is that the seller may have gotten frustrated at answering loads of requests for info from loads of people--well--like us, who have the time to sit at forum keyboards, and indulge our curiosity.

[ArmyChief]

Originally Posted by rover88

One thing that fascinated me when looking for a boat were the photos included in many sales listings. Interior shots with dirty dishes piled in the galley, clothes and shoes strewn everywhere and clutter that would send a home real estate agent into apoplexy. It seemed the $100k boats were often messier than the $30k boats.

Makes you wonder......

I've been looking for about 3-4 months. I love the boats that put the manufacture interior photos on there 5-10 year old used boat ad. Immediately yell's to me "My interior is below par and I don't wanna show you the true insides"

[speciald@ocens.]

Mine's for sale - see avitar. What do you want to know? Moving back ashore after 6 years cruising because of health problems.

[Rou-Coo]

I was recently prepared to travel 500 miles to view a boat. The seller never responded to my email. One potential sale down!

[dofthesea]

Army chief no kidding. Ok news flash sellers. get your act together lol...........

[Healer52]

Ditto. Even brokers lack a single clue, it seems: Check out some of the 'full spec' descriptions on yachtworld. Some are quite good, some basically have no info at all.

Same with the pictures. I've probably looked at 200 boats described there (we're picky as hell, but it's been an education and worth it) and very very few have good photos. I get that the boat sails.....12 pics out of 14 showing it under sail or on the hook from 75' away, make me wonder whats wrong with the cabin and engine. Or the opposite: 40 pictures of the cabin, but nothing that shows how it flows together. Or labels like 'picture 23'. Is that the forward head? The aft head?

And when I actually contact some of these yahoos, it's tough to realize that I may be the customer, I guess...they want to tell me what they want, and not answer my questions? Bu-bye....

[hellosailor]

Guys, if someone can't take care of business, they can't take care of business. Odds are they didn't take care of deck leaks, oil changes, and other business over the years, so when they can't answer a simple question, that's a great way to find out fast that you really don't want to waste your time on their boat.

This is a GOOD THING.