Using a buyers broker - need help

[goboatingnow]

Forget “ buyers brokers “ no need. Cruise the sellers brokers lists find what you want and discover current asking prices. If that fits your pocket start making offers.

You may also need to look outside the US . The US is not a sailing nation and sailboats are relatively rare. It’s mainly a mobo marketplace

Ive transacted 9 boats in 4 countries no purchasers brokers necessary.

Buying a boat is easy there are 4-6 key steps. That’s it.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Rumrace

The manufacturer of your boat likely knows where consistent used sales offices are. It’s a small industry. Lots of flakes selling scrap boats or valuing like they are not a parts list. It’s more like used cars than real estate.
The broker with no inventory or exclusive listing is likely one of boatings bottoms feeders. Boating pan handlers. There is more margin in used.
If you can’t Sue them for bad advise don’t take them serious.
Hope you find your new home soon.

Manufacturers know or care very little about the used markets. They have little data on brokers or sales info.

[ItDepends]

I know that on this forum "buyer's brokers" are frequently touted as the answer to all problems. But they are NOT.

Here is the issue: In the current hot boat market good seller brokers with good inventories and good customer lists have no need for buyer's brokers to bring them leads. They have absolutely no interest in splitting their commission with someone who brings nothing to the table as far as they are concerned.

Many of the best brokers with the best boats run exclusive listings only. You either talk to the listing broker or find another boat. It sounds like your buyer's broker has just run out of other brokers who will talk to him. with the kind of boat you want to look at.

[goboatingnow]

One broker is bad enough two is an nightmare as far as I’m concerned.

[dspd204]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

One broker is bad enough two is an nightmare as far as I’m concerned.

Amen!

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by SaltyQ

dspd204 - Seems that establishing a relationship directly with the seller at the beginning helps things go more smoothly.

Usually, the LAST thing a broker wants is you talking to the actual seller.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

Usually, the LAST thing a broker wants is you talking to the actual seller.

Many don’t have a problem actually. My last one didn’t

[BlueH2Obound]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Many don’t have a problem actually. My last one didn’t

The last broker we dealt with (the seller's broker) didn't have a problem with it either, but said that he needed to clear it with the seller first (which he did, and which he should have). But then our boat was a bit of a Unicorn.
Personally we would not have purchased this boat unless we had been able to speak directly with the sellers (they owned the boat for 32 years), but that's just us.

The sellers are still actively involved in our ventures, following us on our blog, and always there when we have questions about the boat. They've saved us a TON of time troubleshooting/wire chasing on gremlins! Absolutely fantastic people. Of course if we ever badly ding the boat, we may have to change our names and leave the country as they may hunt us down and do us serious damage!

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by BlueH2Obound

The last broker we dealt with (the seller's broker) didn't have a problem with it either, but said that he needed to clear it with the seller first (which he did, and which he should have). But then our boat was a bit of a Unicorn.
Personally we would not have purchased this boat unless we had been able to speak directly with the sellers (they owned the boat for 32 years), but that's just us.

The sellers are still actively involved in our ventures, following us on our blog, and always there when we have questions about the boat. They've saved us a TON of time troubleshooting/wire chasing on gremlins! Absolutely fantastic people. Of course if we ever badly ding the boat, we may have to change our names and leave the country as they may hunt us down and do us serious damage!

Sounds like they really didn’t want to get rid of it either
They really liked that boat and you better get your new identities ready just in case

[mike mck]

Lots of thoughts on it I see. Well here is another opinion. I am a power boater so take it for what it's worth.
I have used a buyer broker for multiple purchases over the years. I found it well worth it. There is no cost to you and your broker can handle most of the paperwork, He hold your deposit until an acceptable sea trial which he is involved in. Often a buyers broker knows not only the market but the areas other brokers and their tendencies. Very handy in negotiations of price.
I found it very helpful in buying my last 2 Hatteras sport fishers.
If you get a decent broker there is no cost to you he has your best interest in mind while the sellerd broker has only the sellers interest in mind.

[Chrisatlantic]

I’ll second what Mike said above. I used an excellent buyers broker in buying my 55 foot catamaran and even though I am an experienced sailor and pretty up on the boats and systems I found his help invaluable. I believe that I got the right board for me, we got the best price that we could and I think it unlikely that I would have without his help. I would be happy to provide his information if you care to PM me. I’d post his name and contact info here but without talking to him I think I’ll do it by private message.

[gonesail]

agree .. the sellers broker would most likely be fine. also splitting the commission can be a problem. if you already know what you want .. go for it.

[littleships]

Originally Posted by SaltyQ

For the past 15 years my wife and I have been meticulously planning/saving towards buying a sailing catamaran (used) for liveaboard. We sold our house and most of our possessions and moved to Fort Lauderdale to begin the boat buying process. Since this is our first boat purchase we feel more comfortable using a buyers broker.

I'd like to think we're the ideal buyer that brokers are looking for - we know exactly what we want, are cash buyers, and are extremely motivated to buy now.

Before we made the move I began discussions with a broker in Fort Lauderdale (someone frequently recommended here on this forum) on our plans and the models we are interested in. After arriving in Fort Lauderdale the broker took us to see two boats - none of which were what we are looking for. Afterward, we'd find some candidates online, but the broker could never get us on anything and eventually stopped responding to our messages and calls altogether.

So, we decided to move on and find another buyers broker. We reached out to another who is also frequently recommended here on this forum. Initially, it seemed we had success - the broker pulled a report of several candidates meeting our requirements and we got as far as making an offer on a boat, but the seller ultimately went with a different buyer. Since then the broker has not responded to our requests to look into other boats.

We have now been in south Florida for 6 months and have made little progress and I'm at a loss on what to do next. I had assumed that working with a buyers broker would be much like working with a real estate agent, but that hasn't been the case in our experience.

We're feeling quite defeated at the moment. Seems the next thing for us to do is to reach out to another buyers broker in hopes that this time things will be different, but thought I'd share our experiences here to see if we could get some advice.

Try me. Read my 100% unsolicited testimonials first. Been around boats for 40 years. Broking for 20 It is a difficult market right now. But not impossible.

[Chrisatlantic]

Originally Posted by gonesail

agree .. the sellers broker would most likely be fine. also splitting the commission can be a problem. if you already know what you want .. go for it.

No I don’t agree with either of those points. I would not want the seller’s broker to represent me, he represents the seller. And in all the boats I looked at, with only one was there a problem splitting a commission and that was one with a seller that in other ways turned out to be an incredible flake so good riddance.

A good buyer’s broker has relationships and a reputation across the industry and I believe can access more boats then just the ones you’ll find advertised on Yachtworld.

[ItDepends]

Originally Posted by Chrisatlantic

No I don’t agree with either of those points. I would not want the seller’s broker to represent me, he represents the seller. And in all the boats I looked at, with only one was there a problem splitting a commission and that was one with a seller that in other ways turned out to be an incredible flake so good riddance.

A good buyer’s broker has relationships and a reputation across the industry and I believe can access more boats then just the ones you’ll find advertised on Yachtworld.

Just because you disagree doesn’t change the fact that there are many exclusive listings on the market right now. Those brokers will not talk to your buyer’s broker. If you have only ever dealt with buyers brokers you probably would not have ever seen or heard of any of those boats. Hence your ignorance of that as an issue.