Bypassing a broker to get answers

[john61ct]

Up to the seller.

Most owners who bother listing with a broker, prefer not to be bothered.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by taxwizz

Is there an association or licencing agency that brokers must belong to?
If so, you would think that the agency would police the deadbeats.

Those work to protect consumer interests about as well as all such self-regulation, or attempts in the US anyway to get government involved.

[LeeV]

Originally Posted by Tillsbury

You can do whatever you like — you have no contract with the broker. It’s up to them to be on the ball. On the other hand, they know that people who send them a bunch of questions aren’t likely to buy a boat. They are spending their time on the people who make appointments to view boats in person.

I respectfully disagree completely. Not everybody lives where boats are sold, and cannot afford to fly hundreds or thousands of miles to view a boat without asking “a bunch of questions...” After having asked questions and had several conversations we’ve put a 10% deposit down on a 400k+ boat (pending visual inspection, survey and sea trial) and we’ve not seen it in person. Just saying...

Regards,

[john61ct]

Which when a broker is not on the ball, may very well mean missing out on what might be a great deal.

Distant enquirers are by definition more difficult and less likely to pan out.

Low hanging fruit are those signaling they are ready to sign ASAP, and ideally local.

Not saying any of this is how it "should" be, just how it usually is.

It seems brokers who actually hustle to earn their commissions, are almost as rare as unicorns

[gallatin1988]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Which when a broker is not on the ball, may very well mean missing out on what might be a great deal.

Which might be the case here with me but the broker, seller, and myself might, in the end, never know

Originally Posted by john61ct

Distant enquirers are by definition more difficult and less likely to pan out.

True but if someone is willing to travel far to look at particular boat it stands to reason that one of two things might be true:
1) the boat represents a "good deal" to the buyer
2) the boat (or one of its sisterships) is of keen interest to the buyer for a particular reason
Might either of the above reasons might in the end mean a higher sale price (and commission) than selling to some local who might be willing to wait for a bargain?

Originally Posted by john61ct

Low hanging fruit are those signaling they are ready to sign ASAP, and ideally local.

But how could I or anyone know if they are ready to sign, be they local or otherwise, if you can't get questioned answered.

Bear in mind, that in this case, the questions I am trying to get answers to are about the condition boat, the age of certain components and systems, and whether or not certain known weaknesses of the boat have been addressed. These are, to my mind at lease, questions that almost anyone local or not would want the answers to before signing a contract and moving forward with the survey, sea trial, and eventual purchase.

I doubt I'm the only who would ask these questions. At some point, this is the knid of information the broker will need in order to sell the to me or just about anyone else.

Originally Posted by john61ct

Not saying any of this is how it "should" be, just how it usually is.

It seems brokers who actually hustle to earn their commissions, are almost as rare as unicorns

Maybe this why among so boaters brokers often seem to have such a medicore reputation as a whole.

[Scaramanga F25]

We should all be aware that a "broker"s sales agent gets maybe 2 1/2% of the 10% commission. He/she also pays for all his expenses. So little motivation for vessels under 40 to 50 thousand dollars.

[bobfnbw]

A long time ago, I saw a boat I really liked. A FD12 sailboat. We looked at the boat with the broker who wasn't very helpful. The boat needed a lot of work. We passed.
Some time later, the price was dropped, we looked again, this time we thought with a different broker, one we had been working with extensively in Texas. But he was leaving the business, so he turned us over to another broker in his brokerage. We flew out to Florida to see the boat. The first broker recognized us and I could see he was quite pissed off that we had used a different broker. The two of them messed up the contract dates and we had to make a decision before the survey was in. We lost the 12K deposit. It was either that or buy a boat that was still overpriced. The engine was shot. I learned 2 things that cost me 12 grand.
1 was don't piss off the broker.
2 was read the friggin contract and go over it with a fine tooth comb with your broker.
Stupid lesson to learn. But then I am a graduate of the school of hard knocks. I am sorry for losing the money of course, but glad I walked away from the boat. It was a money pit.
So if you contact the owner, make sure he knows you tried to contact the broker but didn't get anywhere but be prepared for some payback from the broker. READ the contract if you make a offer.

[john61ct]

As above

Originally Posted by john61ct

If you do so, make sure to let the owner know the reason you're doing so. But diplomatically, don't make an enemy of their broker.

And putting 12K down without understanding the contract?

Wow, expensive lesson. I'd think a marine attorney would have spotted that within the first hour consultation.

Some members here offered to send me their past contracts as example templates, think I never followed through. . .