Want To Buy: WHO TO BUY A BOAT FROM??

[clakiep]

Always take the boat out at sea together with the seller before buying. This will tell You all You need to know. If he refuses cut Your offer in half.

Capt. Claus - ocean tramp of the eighties

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by CMO Tashina

Yup, that would be me, a lawyer who hires a competent pro. But, hey, the person asking seems to have a fairly jaded view of lawyers.

YEP-- I recently bought a boat from one. lol

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Shrew

The weird, somewhat polarizing post followed by popcorn emogee would lead one to believe this is nothing but a troll to get a bunch of white collar boaters to respond in an attempt to defend this odd and misguided conclusion, which lacks facts or reason.

I'm often more afraid of the DIY work, than deferred maintenance or professionally serviced boats.

Yep.

Blue collar =/= Mechanical Engineer but he want's an owner who is both.

Honestly don't really care too much about the prior owner but the condition of the boat.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Really? I mean really? Clean as a whistle

Photo or it ain't true..

[XtaSea]

I bought one of my boats from a lawyer and sold the same boat to a lawyer. They were both very pleasant & lucrative transactions.

Anytime I develop a character or personality filter, I fail bigly. My gut feelings have failed me too. So these days I rely more on my own ability to evaluate the boat and less on the owner and surveyor.

[Rob_P]

I suggest not buying a boat from the guy on the corner wearing a trenchcoat who approached you and said:

Pssst! Hey buddy, wanna buy a boat?

[SeaStory]

Originally Posted by Shrew

The weird, somewhat polarizing post followed by popcorn emogee would lead one to believe this is nothing but a troll to get a bunch of white collar boaters to respond in an attempt to defend this odd and misguided conclusion, which lacks facts or reason.

I'm often more afraid of the DIY work, than deferred maintenance or professionally serviced boats.

We often DIY because the professionals want to cut corners. We have found two different riggers that we really like (slight preference for one over the other, but trust them both), but the great electrician around here retired (and he was built for the job, a tiny man who could get into the spaces!), the local "propane guru" doesn't seem to actually be propane certified, is about to retire and anyway, can't get into the area under our propane locker. Even between the rigger and the electrician, it was us who finally figured out that the problem with the steaming light was that the previous owner had hooked it to two positives, rather than a positive and a negative.

The guys at one of the yards in charge of inspecting all the thru hulls are a joke. The first time we took the boat, they changed the wrong one. The next time, they insisted they had checked them all and they were fine. I made them check again and they finally figured it out and changed it with the boat hanging in midair. Seriously, the seacock handle flopped around like a flounder out of water, it didn't take a very careful inspection to notice there was a problem. I had even left them a copy of the original diagrams, with the problematic seacock highlighted. We no longer use that yard.

After I did my interior cushions, a friend asked me to do hers and I pointed out a couple of minor flaws and said a professional would probably do better. I was wrong - I should have done her cushions for her.

So no, I will not allow my boat to be "professionally" maintained without double checking everything myself.

It is, however, that time of year to pay someone to wax the hull...

But then, my boat is not for sale. We often say we will sell if someone offers us $1,000,000 to make up for all the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into it.

[Gazzza]

Is there anywhere on the web that discusses what safeguards to take when buying from a private seller. and what are steps to follow?