Offering delivery of a boat for sale in Australia.

[GILow]

So, starting to get to the bit where I am planning the sale of the old boat.

Given her current location (Adelaide) there’s about a 90% chance a prospective buyer would be from somewhere else in Australia.

I reckon offering delivery as part of the negotiations would be a smart move. After all, I know from experience the boat can be sailed to anywhere (coastal) in this great brown land.

How to handle this though? There must be a protocol, some kind of escrow or similar. Some way where we agree on a delivered price and then I get the boat to that location. Something that covers sign off on boat condition etc.

Can anyone advise?

Matt

[Fore and Aft]

Matt, from what I have seen the delivery is a handshake deal once the sale is completed. The boat never leaves the home port until the owner is paid first.
I have heard plenty of nightmare stories where the new owner helps the old owner deliver the boat.
Boat delivery is not that expensive and sometimes you're better to step away once the boat is sold.
Cheers

[Snore]

Step away!

As a delivery Capt, on many jobs some type of deferred maintenance doohickie breaks. If a bilge pump dies? Many buyers will say you knew about it. MFD gives up the ghost? Your fault!

Set a price and sell it. If a buyer fusses about delivery to somewhere, offer a reasonable discount. But let’s face it, rarely is the boat YOU want in your harbor,

[boatman61]

Wot ^^^^He^^^^ sez..

[leecea]

With a house sale in the US, you can offer a "seller assist" payment at closing to help the buyer with some expense. It helps when someone is buying with a loan and, in that situation, is often preferred over a price reduction. I don't know if anyone ever does this with a boat.

For example:

- Boat is for sale for $100K
- Seller offers a $5K "assist" for delivery

That way buyer gets a loan for the full sale price and seller gives them $5K cash back at closing to help offset delivery costs.

[Reeve21]

I have purchased a boat 600 miles away from home. I didn't expect any help from the seller to get it to my location, that was my problem. Not sure it is in either side's best interests to have the boat moved before the money moves.

[SaylorMade]

Seperate the sale from the delivery, but offer delivery for free, after normal take-over in own harbour.

Best though, sell the boat, and let the new owners deal with it. Most probably not going to be a deciding factor.

[GILow]

Hmmm… ok. Seems the jury is unanimous on this one.

[Hoodsail]

Seems the jury is in here but thot I would add my 2cents....Bought my current boat in Marblehead, MA and sailed her to Guilford, CT....call it approx 200 nm...I recruited 2 friends and made arrangements for days off from work...coastal cruising so weather wasnt an issue, altho it rained for 1 full day in mid-October, so reasonably miserable...Once I paid for the boat and her movement were all on me..

[JPA Cate]

Actually, Matt, I agree with Snore and Boatie on this. If you want a goodbye sail on Manera, take the sail before the sale!

Both boats we've bought, we looked forward to bringing it to where we wanted it, it is a special learning time for the new owners, and a special enjoyment when one has chosen well. You wouldn't want to take away from that pleasure, as you hand over stewardship of the boat.

Ann

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by GILow

Hmmm… ok. Seems the jury is unanimous on this one.

Late entry into the jury pool here and so another number to the unanimous total.

Keep boat sale totally seperate from any potential delivery for the reasons already outlined upthread.

Maybe advertise that you can arrange delivery upon sale completion if required at a $x per mile or some such. This may tempt a buyer who is unsure about delivery aspects.

[El Pinguino]

If you offer delivery and some serious punter turns up.. from Darwin?
When buying my boat in Thailand I made an offer and the owners countered with an offer to deliver her - to Gove.
Had to point out that it was easier for me to get her from Thailand to Port Phillip than from Gove.

[Danm1]

Sold my last boat to a guy who didn't inspire confidence in his sailing ability and who declined a test sail. After we closed he was going to sail it about 60 miles to his marina. I volunteered to sail with him halfway, where he could meet his son-in-law to go the rest of the way the next day. We had a great day while I showed him how everything worked (luckily). I would never have done it before closing and was very grateful nothing broke on the way. In hindsight, I would have been better off taking him out for an hour test sail before closing and be done with it. Less risky.

[Lee Jerry]

Add another one to the list. Last three boats were 800nm, 600nm and 1500nm.

But I also have another option. If you think it will be harder to sell in its current location (Adelaide) then deliver it somewhere else now, before the sale (and maybe listing). Maybe Melbourne or Sydney (or wherever; I don't live there). Pretty common in the US for boats to travel to FL, especially in the winter, for this same reason.

[chrisr]

agree with the others...don't get involved in doing the delivery - even after settlement !

to my mind the asking price should reflect the vessel's location. the first cat we purchased was in darwin and the price was a lot cheaper (eg 50k) than if the boat had been in eg sydney.

in this respect adelaide is hard to quantify how much to discount the price (?) but i'd definitely use the delivery cost in the negotiations

cheers,