selling cat in usa

[alanhanson]

my lagoon is currently in the west indies and as we are going to upgrade i am trying to get info on brokers in usa .
also is it woth sailing the boat up to them or will she sell easily while in the islands ?
any help and advice appreciated
thanks alan

[Bruce, C&C 27 MKIII]

Hello,

Let me preface this by saying a) I don't currently own a cat, b) I don't have experience buying boats in the caribbean, and c) I have no interest in any boat brokerage or operation...

That being said, here's my two cents worth:

1). Call a couple of the major catamaran brokerages, of which I know of two that have good websites: www.2hulls.com and www.catamarans.com

2). Call Bernie at Rogue Wave Yacht Sales - www.roguewaveyachtsales.com. Bernie is a regular contributor on the Cruising World bulletin board. Bernie can be a bit of a pain on the bulletin board, but many people there have stated that he is straight up and honest as far as brokers are concerned. He will probably be pretty opinionated, but he's not known for screwing people, so he'll probably be a good resource. Also, he is not known for selling a lot of cats, so he should be able to be pretty impartial.

3). Check into the tax consequences of selling where the boat is vs. in the U.S. Prospective buyers may avoid state taxes if the boat is bought there and/or it is registered outside of their state. In some (if not many) cases, used boats are still subject to sales taxes, and these rules have changed state-to-state over recent years.

4). All that being equal, I would expect that it will be slightly more difficult to sell your boat outside the U.S. since you would likely be faced with fewer people "walking the docks" or easily available to look at the boat.

Are you aware that Antigua has a big boat show in the very near future which might be a good place to show your boat?

Hope this helps,

Bruce

[alanhanson]

thanks for the info that is usefull
i think i am going to try to sell her while she is in the islands but will move her up to usa if she has not gone by early next year
the consesus seams to be that i will get approx 10 k less if she is down the island but it will cost me a lot to get her moved or move her up myself so swings and roundabouts.
once we have done that we have the same hassle trying to buy one
why do we do this ?
regards alan

[redtwin]

Where is the boat based at? Any chance coming our way(NZ). I dont know if your asking fits our budget but we are in the market for cat of that size.

[Sunspot Baby]

I bought a used cat in 2001. It seemed the greatest number for sale were in the Ft. Lauderdale area, thus more buyers on sight. I had extensive contact with 2 brokers, 2 Hulls, and The Catamaran Company. The agents I worked with at both companies seemed very knowledgeable and credible.

Keeping your boat at their dock means more traffic looking and a better chance selling.

I would have no trouble recommending either one.

Having said that, anybody selling used boats has to end up with the occasional disgruntled customer.

[svcattales]

We bought our cat thru the Catamaran Co and it was a good experience. Broker was very knowledgeable and helped with negotiation. I would also recommend them for listing your boat if you deliver it to US. By the way, Catamaran Co and 2-Hulls have merged even though the names haven't changed.

[Bill Houlihan]

We purchased our cat through the Multi-hull company in Ft. Lauderdale just a year ago. They seem to have a big listing pool. The broker we worked with turned out to be dishonest and outright lied to us on a few occasions. I would not recommend them based on that one experience.
I might add that we did this deal from California, with only one visit of 2 days. Everything else was via telephone - so the opportunity to be deceitful was large.
Should anyone care, I would be glad to provide details directly. You can reach me at whoulihan@cox.net.
Should you need a surveyor in the area, I can't say enough good things about Brian Stetler. He was more thorough than any surveyer I have ever worked with, and completely honest. He has plenty of experience with cats.

Cheers,

[ssullivan]

I have had good luck with a broker named John Brady from Northrop and Johnson. He is located in their Beverly, MA office.

He is the only honest and fair broker I have met in my 10-15 yrs of boat dealings. I may have had some bad luck, but that is the truth. This guy is honest.

Tell him Sean Sullivan sent you.