What's the deal with Boat Brokers?

[ranchero76]

It's great that "for sale by owner" sites do exist (including this one).
And they do work, especially when boat properly presented and price is right. I hope they will continue to gain popularity.

[ranchero76]

That's bizarre that post where guy described real problems with brokers and dishonest sellers was removed by moderators. The problem exists, it IS a huge problem and it's MUST be discussed. People wasting their time and money on these clowns.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

Just out of curiosity, how many ampere hours is your current bank? I'll even allow for 10% margin of error, when estimating this....

Asking a boat broker how many Ah's the battery bank is, is really a meaningless question because it essentially tells you nothing. Even if he knows the face value rating, it will be a wrong answer anyway. Unless you know the average daily consumption of the vessel under your usage, and the remaining physical Ah capacity of the bank, & perhaps 99.5% + of boat owners don't know this, how would the broker?

It's like asking a used car dealer over the phone; "What does it have for tires?" "It's got four Michelin's." Oh great you think, Michelin's are excellent, only those Michelin's only have 1/64" of tread left when you get the car.

"Ho many Ah's?", "It's a 450Ah bank." Only when you get the boat you discover the battery bank is toast and can barely produce 150Ah's, or its a 450Ah bank of dual-purpose/car starting batteries with 4 years use or two years beyond useless, but hey its a 450Ah bank, says so on the sticker....

Heck even the expensive survey you pay for can't tell you the Ah capacity of your bank. About the best they can do is to tell you if it can start your engine or not...

Of course you’re right about the stated Ah number telling you next to nothing about the batteries actual capacity but I can see how someone might ask that question just to get a general idea of the Ah capacity or to try to get a feel for how much space is available to put batteries. For example, when I was buying my boat I had looked at it once briefly but hadn’t noticed any batteries present (they’re well hidden) but the listing sheet said the bank consisted of 5-8D Lifeline AGM batteries one year old, so while I still had no idea what the actual useful capacity was, I knew there was adequate space designated for batteries so I wouldn’t have to rebuild the boat to fit enough batteries to power a couple days worth of living aboard and the fact they were only a year old told me they probably had at least some useful life left in them. But now, 4 years later, you’re right that I couldn’t tell you within a couple hundred Ah what the actual capacity is! I think it’s a question a boat buyer might ask, not really expecting an accurate answer, just a general idea.

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

Of course you’re right about the stated Ah number telling you next to nothing about the batteries actual capacity but I can see how someone might ask that question just to get a general idea of the Ah capacity or to try to get a feel for how much space is available to put batteries. For example, when I was buying my boat I had looked at it once briefly but hadn’t noticed any batteries present (they’re well hidden) but the listing sheet said the bank consisted of 5-8D Lifeline AGM batteries one year old, so while I still had no idea what the actual useful capacity was, I knew there was adequate space designated for batteries so I wouldn’t have to rebuild the boat to fit enough batteries to power a couple days worth of living aboard and the fact they were only a year old told me they probably had at least some useful life left in them. But now, 4 years later, you’re right that I couldn’t tell you within a couple hundred Ah what the actual capacity is! I think it’s a question a boat buyer might ask, not really expecting an accurate answer, just a general idea.

Hahahahaha, I can see this question being raised by a prospective buyer of a 'USED' electric car in the not so distant future. How many salesmen will know the answer to that, & will you be able to sue the dealer if the battery dies a week later?
When you buy a 'used' boat, it is exactly that. Expect the batteries to be 'used' too.
I have items on my boat that have never been used, such as the propane heater, stove, pumps, etc. they are all 'as new' but classified as 'used' ... & there will be no warranty either because the manufacturer's time limits have expired. Will a prospective buyer expect me to provide warranty? If so, why?

[Cadence]

It seems this has become. " Beating a dead horse. "

[mikemilt]

Originally Posted by shadow

Hi All,



Am I the only one that keeps getting coupled with lazy, uninformed, don't give a crap yacht brokers?



I've purchased many boats in my life and I literally have an 80% ratio of the brokers being just useless.. I know more about the boat then they do. Getting information out of them seems like a root canal. They constantly give incomplete information and I have to keep begging them to give me more..



Am I the only one that keeps experiencing this?



Love to hear other people's stories..

I just inquired about a boat and asked if the keel was encapsulated or bolted.... he wasn’t sure and asked me to look into it REALLY !

[shadow]

LOL, that's about right!!!

[picklesandjesse]

Originally Posted by mikemilt

I just inquired about a boat and asked if the keel was encapsulated or bolted.... he wasn’t sure and asked me to look into it REALLY !

I listed a NZ built cold molded boat with one of Australia's top brokers a couple of years ago and the broker ( about 35 ) had no idea what it was. The other older broker in the corner of the office rolled his eyes. It was obvious that the younger one was a hotshot salesperson. Later I took it off the market and sold it myself. Made money on it too........ very rare these days but it was a NZ built boat.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by mikemilt

I just inquired about a boat and asked if the keel was encapsulated or bolted.... he wasn’t sure and asked me to look into it REALLY !

He was probably being sarcastic, pegging you as a lookyloo, thinking that a serious buyer would already have known this most basic element of a boat he was interested in.

[mikemilt]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

He was probably being sarcastic, pegging you as a lookyloo, thinking that a serious buyer would already have known this most basic element of a boat he was interested in.

Maybe but I’m not going back to him this builder had many models and although I now know the answer I won’t work with a broker ie salesman that is not prepared to answer basic questions it’s a buyers market and they need to realize that

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

He was probably being sarcastic, pegging you as a lookyloo, thinking that a serious buyer would already have known this most basic element of a boat he was interested in.

+1

When I sold (privately) our previous boat I was continually amazed at the number of lazy potential buyers who came to me asking the most basic of questions — all of which were explicitly answered in the sales website I set up. I got to the point of simply responding: “Go read the website. It has all the basic info about the boat. After that, ask me all the questions you want.”

As a buyer I would never waste my, or the seller's (or broker’s), time asking questions I could easily research myself. Why would I? All it does is tell the seller that this person really isn’t interested in this boat.

We’ve heard a lot about “lazy” brokers. This certainly happens all too often (likely b/c the broker can’t really afford to service the sale properly), but I found there are a lot of lazy buyers out there as well.

[daletournier]

Fourteen mths ago i was buying a boat, not a cheap boat. At the time I sold my boat privately in Phuket via word of mouth. I went into each broker in Phuket and told them i just sold my boat and Im in the market for a larger yacht in the 200k range. At that time i was real a buyer, a very substantial amount of money in the bank and was willing to fly almost anywhere to buy the right boat at the right price.

Not one of these brokers put anytime into selling me a boat or followed up with one single call. There was Hunter 49, been for sale along time and is still for sale now. I put a low ball offer in, broker didnt get back to me. Thats just poor salesmanship, my offer was the start of a conversation, he had a opportunity to build a relationship with me that may of resulted in the purchase of a boat.

I contacted a broker in Hong Kong, we arranged a viewing and I flew over. He arrived the next morning to pick me up. In the car on the way to the boat he said" i should of informed you earlier but the owner has the boat booked on a ship this Friday to ship it back to Canada, hes already paided a large deposit that is non refundable therefore the price isnt negotiable" I wasn't very happy, this information should of come to my attention prior to flights and accommodation. I looked at the boat but the combination of non negotiable and time restraints just soured the deal for me before it begun.

I went to Mac Donald's for a coffee. I knew of a Catalina 470 for sale in Australia (my home). I rang the broker. I politely said im sitting in Mac Donalds in Hong Kong, ive just been screwed around by a broker and im not interested in the deal. My plan now is to fly to Europe to boat shop there, im cashed up but dont want to waste my time or yours, if the boat advertised is as clean as you say it is Im willing to offer xxxxx subject to inspection, plwase put offer to owner and get back to me. He immediately rejected the offer without contacting the owner.

Ok short version. I flew home to see friends, decided to look at the boat anyway. Offered 10K less than my intial offer purely based on his stupid game playing. He rejected it flat out. Three days later Im looking at tickets to europe, he rings accepts offer. Im now in the Seychelles on that boat. This broker nearly cost the seller a sale he definately cost him 10k.

All the guys i dealt with seemed like good blokes BUT sales is a profession involving the building of relationships and follow through, i didnt experience that.

I've made my money by selling.

[Jannie Radiance]

Originally Posted by shadow

Hi All,

Am I the only one that keeps getting coupled with lazy, uninformed, don't give a crap yacht brokers?

I've purchased many boats in my life and I literally have an 80% ratio of the brokers being just useless.. I know more about the boat then they do. Getting information out of them seems like a root canal. They constantly give incomplete information and I have to keep begging them to give me more..

Am I the only one that keeps experiencing this?

Love to hear other people's stories..

IN South Africa the same!

[shadow]

Originally Posted by daletournier

This broker nearly cost the seller a sale he definately cost him 10k.

I wonder how many sellers got screwed out of a potential deal because of lazy and useless brokers? I would imagine a lot of sellers would've taken the "low ball" offer, etc.. if they were presented with something.. Who knows, but getting tired of it though..

LOL

[jillf]

I must have been EXTREMELY lucky. We worked with Greg Haught at United Yacht Brokers out of Stuart, FL. He was extremely knowledgeable and conscientious and treated us like we were buying a million dollar boat. We bought our boat in 2009 and I last talked to him in 2011 or 2012. After we bought our boat he oversaw a refit for us. He was AWESOME!!!