How do you sell your large sailboat without a broker?

[grantmc]

Originally Posted by longjonsilver

How do you handle the money and title transfer ends of the deal without a broker?

Quite simple and as straight forward as you wish it to be

With boat I bought recently I made a verbal offer, was accepted. Seller downloaded a sale and purchase agreement from a boat sales site he/she was happy with. I read it and agreed it with the details and so agreement completed with specifics and signed.
Seller provided a bank account number.
I deposited funds.

And sure it could have all gone bad, but so it could have with a broker. You could just as easily use a solicitor.


in respect to the artic cruiser I am starting to wonder why the original poster hasn't come back with more details on the boat being sold.

[goboatingnow]

I sold my boat via Apollo duck , it was north of $100,000 sale

Verbal agreement , I didn’t bother asking for a returnable deposit. Agreed selling price , Seller paid for lift and survey ( which to me is a better indication then a deposit )
On handover day , he provide a bankers cheque and I have him a notarised bill of sale and an indemnity

It’s not complicated

[pragmatist]

Originally Posted by Jack C

Hi Penny,

Great marketing concept and execution. Can you tell me what web site builder you used? Or did you just code it in HTML?

Thanks for that ! Used html with a bit of PHP and SQLite database but it could be done in straight html (or a package) which offered the thumbnail to larger picture concept (fairly readily available IMHO).

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by longjonsilver

How do you handle the money and title transfer ends of the deal without a broker?

In the UK.. at the pub over a pint or three of beer..

[Group9]

We put our 42 foot boat on sailboat listings.com and sold it about six weeks later. We had a lot of calls from all over the country (and even one from Canada who flew down to look at it).

[s/v michaela]

I too am going to sell my 75' steel Yacht, in prep for acquiring yet another. This is a very special yacht as it was the murder crime scene on NBC dateline's "Who killed the Radio Star". It has also been featured on discovery ID, MSNBC,True Crime Daily, The Womens' Channel, Showtime's Sins and Sinners, and hundreds of other programs and articles. She is fully refit and around $2.6 million has been put into her. Besides being beautiful, she would make an excellent dinner cruise operation (because of the macabre background) or a murderabilia collectors show piece/museum. If there are any Interested buyers I would sell her for 50% of the refit. Pm me

[Kd9truck]

Sailboat listings.com! You self broker, they give you the agreed price in the form of bank check, or cash, you give them the tittle. I would get a copy of there ID.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by longjonsilver

How do you handle the money and title transfer ends of the deal without a broker?

Err , just like anything , the seller pays and takes possession , the seller might oblige with a bill of sale if the purchasers asks nicely ! ( you can download a few from the net )

[h20]

Think car dealers and realtors lie? Lol.
Ever meet a surveyor and boat broker?
Tricks and lies. My last survey i thought my list was good combined with the survey. He missed 10k. I'm thinking maybe if I buy another boat EVER. Spend two weeks on her before the offer.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Kd9truck

Sailboat listings.com! You self broker, they give you the agreed price in the form of bank check, or cash, you give them the tittle. I would get a copy of there ID.

Even if they finance it. Our last boat we sold through sailboat listings, they had to finance it. We just met at their credit union and their loan officer took care of everything. We signed the Bill of Sale over and walked out with a cashier's check.

[COOGOR]

I had announced my boat with various online sites...but the buyer finally came from the facebook group 'boats for sale'

[Happ]

Find forums of like boats. That’s how I sold my last boat.

[lo2jones]

Originally Posted by jayarmstrong

A friend of mine has a large 56 foot aluminum hulled sailboat that was used for arctic sailing. I am helping him sell it. The only way i have found so far is to use a broker... we use a broker?

Using a broker is safer. For sale by owner has some short falls. If the asking price is over say $200,000, they may end up hiring a lawyer the help with the paper work, purchase agreement. Brokers and their clients are backed up by the the solid and time tested CYBA contracts.

[raahell]

You've rec'd lots of great tips on advertising your boat. What about protecting yourself once a buyer is ready to commit?

Your friend will most definitely need a thorough Vessel Purchase & Sale Agreement that covers all aspects of the negotiation, survey(s), decision dates, who is responsible for which costs, inventory etc. That is probably the one true added value that a broker can bring to the effort, although frankly I've seen some very poor Vessel Purchase and Sale Agreements by some brokers. You have to do your research there.

We have purchased and sold two sailboats without a broker. On our 1st purchase (as sailing newbies) we had a very simple one page contract which worked out, luckily! When we sold her 10 years later, we'd heard so many horror stories of what can go wrong that we took the time to create a fulsome contract. Essentially, I found a number of vessel purchase agreements on-line and assembled our own from these, based on the circumstances of our sale. We're glad we did as there were several times when the buyer wanted to negotiate something or was confused about who paid for the in-water survey costs (for example) and I could simply refer them to the purchase agreement that we had both signed.

My other piece of advice is not to show dated photos/videos of the boat. There's nothing more irritating to a potential buyer to take the time and expense of going to see the vessel, based on "like new" images of a vessel, only to realize that the photos must have been taken many years previously and probably by a PO! This actually happened to us twice last summer when we were in search of a new sailboat. An owner has to be a real idiot to think that a potential buyer is not going to see the difference. Instead, it's an excellent way to foster immediate distrust of the seller!

[Fantazia]

Firstly do not use a broker. Second and thirdly, do not use a broker. I have bought and sold boats in Australia, and Antigua, and in every instance , bar one, I have been mistreated (read ripped off) by brokers.
They specialise in insisting that the buyer sign a “conditional “ contract before seeing the biat and mostly pay a “ conditional” deposit, before viewing. I have never but had to lower their “suggested” price before selling, and more often than not, I have had to “ relent” due to ongoing docking and ownership costs while I wait.
It seems that their method is to sign you up and then wait you out!

Just like an agent, they have “no skin in the game”.