Boat Broker

[TCM1968]

I’m curious as to weather or not I am alone in my thinking. We are currently in the process of buying another boat. During our first experience buying our first boat I came away with a not so great impression of how boat brokers work. For example situations where brokers either acted as if they were to busy to show a boat or wouldn’t return calls at all. Sometimes a broker would even resist showing a boat I was interested in looking at. This latter case not so bad if he is looking out for me as the buyer but not so much the seller. And since the seller is who is in essence paying him to sell the boat I remember asking myself how I would feel if a potential buyer wanted to look at my boat which I had listed and my selling agent was deterring buyers from even looking then why did the accept the listing in the first place?
Fast forward to today. We have found a boat we are wanting to purchase from a listing on YachtWorld. We contacted the listing broker and had to conform to his convenience to arrange a time to look at the boat. Letting that slide do the the fact we wanted to look the next day after calling and he claimed he had prior commitments, not a major deal as we were able to make arrangements for one of the other brokerage brokers to show us the boat. Only downside to this was this broker new nothing as to the history of the boat. Boat has been on the hard since last October when listed for sale. After going though the boat we decide to put an offer in, conditioned upon survey and sea trial of course. Now this part goes smooth and quickly by the listing broker and our offer is accepted and we are under contract.
Now the fun begins. I contact my boat surveyor and he has a available date to do the sea trial about a week out. So I contacted the broker to set it up and I am told they will not be able to get the boat put back in the water for almost two weeks. I protested and put up a argument and explained this was unacceptable for my timeline as his response was simply too bad and walk away if you don’t like it. Not even so much as a “let me see what I can do for you” So once again we concede and schedule sea trial a a later date when both the marina and the surveyor available. So I then ask the broker to give me a list of anything they may be a known issue with the boat before we put it in the water in case there is something that needs to be negotiated prior to the boat being put in the water as it is my responsibility to pay to have the boat put back on the hard if I do not accept it after the sea trial. The batteries were dead so there was no way to test any of the electrical systems while on the hard, not to mention the batteries are probably crap now.
I don’t hear anything back from the broker until the day before the scheduled sea trial and now he says that the two main raw water seacocks need to be replaced. You guessed it, another 2 week delay! Now here it is again the day before the scheduled sea trial. And as of the two days ago the seacocks are not installed.
Now I know the responsibility falls upon the owner to have the boat seaworthy for trial, but the broker has done nothing to help in this process. By even advising the owner what he needs to do to sell his boat.
My question is if your going to list your boat with a broker and ask $200,000 that means this broker is going to get paid $20,000 for what? 10 minutes work to post a listing on YachtWorld? To me this is absolutely ridiculous.

[Allied39]

LOL, sounds like you just need to vent.
Keep in mind a saying, or perhaps its a prayer; give me the strength to change what I can, the patience to accept the things I can't and the intelligence to know the difference.
What is it that you expect while dealing with people, especially when making money is involved? (rhetorical question by the way)

[Shrew]

Here we go again. 1 days notice to schedule a meeting that will more than likely take 1-3 hours is not really reasonable. The broker can't control the yard. If there are boats to move, then there are boats that need to get moved. Admittedly, 1 week seems like a lot, but things happen.

1 week from offer to survey to sea trial is very, very fast in most cases.

It's the survey that turns up what needs to be done, not the broker.

You simply need to be slightly more patient and a little more reasonable. Or, move on if you feel like you're not getting the respect you deserve.

[TCM1968]

Here we go again... another reply from someone who can’t reply to a thread without insulting the OP first. And acts as if his time is being waisted by replying as if he’s obligated to do so.

[TCM1968]

Also the point to this thread isn’t really timelines that are out of ones control, but more of a question as to a broker has had a boat listed for 9 months. And has no idea what works and what does not on the boat. The reason one would use a selling agent is for their expertise and added exposure to the boat. Boat owners may not have a clue what it takes to get the best value for their boat. I would think that for a 10% commission the broker would be obligated to put some more effort forward to 1: go through the boat with the owner at the time of the listing and be informed on the general condition of the boat and its systems. And 2: advise the owner on what things they can do to help the sale.
Not just post it on YachtWorld and sit back and wait. It has now been a month since my offer was accepted and if tomorrow I find out nothing works on the boat then I have waisted a lot of time and money for nothing and something that could easily been avoided had the broker knew anything about what he was selling. Now if the sea trial goes fine then no big deal. But that’s a big if.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by TCM1968

Here we go again... another reply from someone who can’t reply to a thread without insulting the OP first. And acts as if his time is being waisted by replying as if he’s obligated to do so.

Yes, this topic has been hammered many, many times. Here is the most recent example.

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3164650

I have not insulted you. I, along with your broker, should have treaded more lightly and recognized that you have a high expectation for how the world should work. My sincerest apologies.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by TCM1968

My question is if your going to list your boat with a broker and ask $200,000 that means this broker is going to get paid $20,000 for what? 10 minutes work to post a listing on YachtWorld? To me this is absolutely ridiculous.

A good broker does a whole lot more than that. Not all brokers are good. Not all brokers are bad. Maybe I've been lucky, but I have dealt with more good brokers than bad ones over the years.

[TCM1968]

Originally Posted by Shrew

Yes, this topic has been hammered many, many times. Here is the most recent example.

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3164650

The first reply to this thread was correct, I needed to vent my experience. I had and have no desire in this instance to search this forum to read someone else’s past venting rant.

You however are a troll. You post “here we go again” then post how tired you are of this topic, then research this topic to prove just how much you dislike talking about this topic. For someone who is so tired of talking about this you sure have spent a lot of time on it today.

I get notifications from this forum showing the latest topics. You know what I do with topics I’m not interested in?....I scroll right on past with out giving any of my attention. You should try that sometime. Or maybe get out of your bed and go find a friend for some interaction although I suggest a different tactic than you use here.