process of contacting advertised boats

[boatman61]

I just do not get this buyer/seller agent (who are usually like dodgy backyard car salesmen) crap that goes on in the States.. don't folks have the basic nonce to sort out/find their own deals???
Or.. are they just so used to paying through the nose for crap service its become akin to a heroin habit..

[Garethk]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I just do not get this buyer/seller agent (who are usually like dodgy backyard car salesmen) crap that goes on in the States.. don't folks have the basic nonce to sort out/find their own deals???
Or.. are they just so used to paying through the nose for crap service its become akin to a heroin habit..

Totally agree with you, with the days of internet now you can do your own searching in minutes on what the market is doing. unfortunately their is no transparency in this industry and the brokers will just fill you with BS till the cows come home.

Get off your back sides and talk with the owners that are trying to sell, most likely you can strike up a deal which will work for both of you.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I just do not get this buyer/seller agent (who are usually like dodgy backyard car salesmen) crap that goes on in the States.. don't folks have the basic nonce to sort out/find their own deals???
Or.. are they just so used to paying through the nose for crap service its become akin to a heroin habit..

I don't think it's that much different based on the side of the pond. When looking for a boat in Europe a large percentage of them were presented by brokers. The few I wound up talking to seemed the same sort of used car salesmen we see in the states.

We've bought and sold both ways. Last sale was with a broker because we were spending a lot of time traveling so we couldn't show the boat. If we had been local, probably wouldn't have used them.

[KetoNomad]

Originally Posted by tomfl

First off most of the time every boat sale is a little different.

Without seeing the ad and what I will call local laws related to advertising it is only possible to speculate on how to recognize the boat was being listed by an agent and not the owner. I seriously doubt unless the ad clearly stated by contacting the person who placed the ad he is now your agent, and even then I am not sure that would be the case. Which raises the issue of some agents being "good guys" and some agents being "not so good guys". Given the response from this guy I would run away as fast as I could.

One thing lots of folks seem to over look is there are a lot of boats for sale; probably more than the number of folks trying to buy them. So some folks/agents selling boats place ads that are too good to be true to attract unsuspecting buyers. When the buyers are faced with reality they may be unhappy.

My suggestion is if anything (like an agent hiding his true identity till the rubber meets the road) goes wrong chalk it up to wasted time and look for another boat you don't have to ask questions about on CF.

+1

The agent has already effectively come out and told you he intends to be deceptive, move on.

[parrotsailor]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I just do not get this buyer/seller agent (who are usually like dodgy backyard car salesmen) crap that goes on in the States.. don't folks have the basic nonce to sort out/find their own deals???
Or.. are they just so used to paying through the nose for crap service its become akin to a heroin habit..

Ok Boatman Ill explain it 2 you. Lets say I want to buy a 100k 40+ foot cruising boat.The seller will already have it listed as self sellers might have to wait 10 years to unload it. Now say I see a nice refitted xyz ketch in a model I love and the asking price is 109k. The seller has already committed to a commission of between 3 and 6% prob. So get a buying broker costs me ZERO $. The minimum I get from a broker is his database which will tell me what price others have paid for xyz ketchs in previous years and what condition they where in. So lets say the average selling price for my yacht is 89k but the average listing price is 101k. Without having a buyers broker the selling broker assumes I do not have this information and his duty is to the seller as the seller is paying him.

There is no way a buyer can get selling price information except thru a broker as far as I know...Believe me I have looked.

Now lets say I ask the sellers broker how good the sails are...he says GREAT! THE owner represents the Sails are ready to go ( and new sails can be more than an engine)

A white lie as the broker really knows the sails are as old as the boat and even if they were never used he knows they are done most likely. But if the question comes from my broker the answer will be The sails are original to the boat.as every POS boat being sold in the US has GOOD SAILS. In reality unless they are in rags they say good condition. When you by a new boat either the sails are only a few years old or they need to be replaced.A cruising boat with bagged out sails is not much fun. IT goes goes slow. Wont point and heals the boat like a drunken ho.

Engine rebuilds see above. If the engine has paint on the hoses or belts then the engine was covered in rust and someone spy some rustoleam on it to hide the fact.


Why would you want to ditch a FREE resource when making such a large purchase? Do you brits have so much money you can throw it out.Now you know Boatman

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I just do not get this buyer/seller agent (who are usually like dodgy backyard car salesmen) crap that goes on in the States.. don't folks have the basic nonce to sort out/find their own deals???
Or.. are they just so used to paying through the nose for crap service its become akin to a heroin habit..

I don't get it either. I think you are right though. They just want to pay for something to avoid ferretting it out themselves.. "trust no one without facts, ask why, then WHY? then WHY? then WHY??? ...."

[StuM]

Originally Posted by parrotsailor

Now lets say I ask the sellers broker how good the sails are...he says GREAT! THE owner represents the Sails are ready to go ( and new sails can be more than an engine)

A white lie as the broker really knows the sails are as old as the boat and even if they were never used he knows they are done most likely. But if the question comes from my broker the answer will be The sails are original to the boat.as every POS boat being sold in the US has GOOD SAILS. In reality unless they are in rags they say good condition. When you by a new boat either the sails are only a few years old or they need to be replaced.A cruising boat with bagged out sails is not much fun. IT goes goes slow. Wont point and heals the boat like a drunken ho.

If you can't tell the condition of the sails during your inspection and test sail, then I guess you do need a broker to hold your hand.

[FutureStories]

Originally Posted by parrotsailor

Why would you want to ditch a FREE resource when making such a large purchase? Do you brits have so much money you can throw it out.Now you know Boatman

Agreed. I am a broker and I don't understand why more people don't use a buyers broker. The commission is set for listed boats. Boats on YachtWorld sell faster. Boats aren't privately listed on YachtWorld. So you might as well use a broker you trust to get you some info.

Picking a buyers broker:
Look up some listings in your area. Call the broker (even if you're not interested in the boat) and see how honestly he represents his listings. And talks to you with respect. Then test his response time. You'd be amazed how awfully slow some of these guys are!

Once you've got your buyers broker send him lists of boats you're interested in. Have him talk to the selling brokers. They'll be much more transparent with your broker than you. I compare this to going to court with a lawyer. No matter how well spoken or knowledgeable you are you're never taken as seriously. Also it shows your really ready to buy. Not just a dreamer.

Also it's nice being able to have them handle all the logistics. The commission is already built in. You might as well have someone working for your half! You can have them schedule showings, help you find a good surveyor, schedule the survey, arrange the haul out etc...

Buying a listed boat WITHOUT a buyers broker is senseless.

One of the reasons I got into brokerage: I was sick of looking at boats with 5 year old pictures, waiting days to get responses on boats I wanted to see, having to figure everything out myself when I was putting more money down for a boat than I had ever spent on anything as a whole in my life (excluding college)