What percentage of asking price would you offer?

[Bulawayo]

Precisely.......

Originally Posted by dwedeking2

My goal as a buyer is to pay the least amount. It's not a personal attack, just that those $$ have value to me. Each one I can save is that much sooner I can leave or that extra comfort I can put on the boat.

I don't see why people get upset at a lowball offer. Just say no and move on to the person with a better offer. There is no assigned value to an item, it's all relative to an individuals circumstances / desires.

[Bulawayo]

Totally agree ......and despite people chucking out rude comments it is my prerogative to offer what I wish, just as its the sellers to reject or accept as they wish.

Originally Posted by dwedeking2

My goal as a buyer is to pay the least amount. It's not a personal attack, just that those $$ have value to me. Each one I can save is that much sooner I can leave or that extra comfort I can put on the boat.

I don't see why people get upset at a lowball offer. Just say no and move on to the person with a better offer. There is no assigned value to an item, it's all relative to an individuals circumstances / desires.

[Leighton]

A slightly different question but on the same topic - When an offer is made on a yacht what additional conditions is suggested to be added to the offer contract, apart from the ones which normally appear on a offer contract.

Things that spring to mind are;
1. The seller allows the yacht to be left on its current mooring for a period of x months at the buyers cost.
2. The Seller will complete all registration paperwork associated with change of ownership.
3. The Seller will deliver the yacht to designated marina.
4. ??

Does anyone have any other conditions they've used which give benefit to the Buyer?

Leighton

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Lowballers are not necessarily jerks, but in my experience of boat selling, the two categories certainly did overlap too often.

I have no real problem receiving (and usually ignoring) a lowball offer. No real sweat of my brow. It's the ones who insist on doing the sales dance, and hence wasting my time, before dropping their crappy offer. It's the ones who think they know more about my boat, my circumstances, my motivations... these are the jerks.

If you're a lowballer, then don't waste my (and probably your) time. Make the offer right up front. If the seller chooses to carry on, then it's all good.

You nailed it.

No one wants to sell their boat to a jerk.

When I make a low offer, I go in with the offer first, conditional only an inspection...so no one wastes any time or travel. FWIW, I offer cash payment in full for an immediate closing, and sail the boat away within a few hours of taking possession.

I've done this a few times...maybe 5.

I've made plenty of offers that were simply ignored, which is fine. The surprise to me is how many times I hear back a month, or even a year later, accepting my low offer.

There are other factors involved other than money. I think my passion for sailing comes through every time I talk to someone about a boat.

Also, since I bought all my boats "low", it enabled me to sell my boats "low", paying it forward.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

In selling a yacht this strategy makes the listing "go stale." The boat languishes on the market for a long time, with ongoing expenses mounting. And buyers keep seeing the ads for this over-priced boat. By the time the asking price drops to a reasonable range, potential buyers no longer pay it any attention and wonder what's wrong with it.

Accurate comment Terra Nova. I see these stale ads all the time on kijiji and ebay.

When I sell a boat (I've done this 8 times), I use the DUTCH AUCTION method.

I pick a (high) start price, and drop the price $x per week. Its important to state this clearly in the ad and keep to it....it gets people interested and excited.

For example, I listed my most recent boat at $15,000 with a price drop of $500 per week (every monday). Although the starting price really was too high, I had many people watching my ad carefully every week to see if it was sold, till I finally got to that magic number where it seems everybody wanted to buy it. Also, I started the ad in July, so I could take people out on sea trials, and hopefully sell before haulout. The boat sold in mid september. I showed the boat about 10 times.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...da-150816.html

FWIW, I used the same method to sell my house (privately) and it was also a great success.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Leighton

1. The seller allows the yacht to be left on its current mooring for a period of x months at the buyers cost.
2. The Seller will complete all registration paperwork associated with change of ownership.
3. The Seller will deliver the yacht to designated marina.
4. ??

1) Months? Is it a project boat? I expect to move the boat immediately when I take possession.
2) All the paper work really should be done on the closing day, but it's a good clause.
3) NO. Why would I want someone else to drive my new boat? What if he crashes it or the engine seizes? My boat...I deliver.

When I make my (usually low) offer, my only condition is a thorough inspection (by me or a surveyor). I pay in full, and take the boat away within a few hours.

FWIW, I'm not speaking hypothetically, I've bought (and sold) 8 sailboats (plus a bunch of inflatables and outboards)...with prices ranging from $100 to $100,000.

[Scott Berg]

All this applies to boats expected to sell at over 100K...

I've offered asking price (subject to survey of course) and less than the asking price from time to time. Most responsible brokers price boats to sell within 90 days or so; while extreme lowball offers may work from time to time I've found that owners who overprice their boats really can't accept the market conditions, especially for older boats, so even reasonable offers tend to be rejected out of hand. Soldboat data is pretty good for this and your broker (if he or she is doing their job) will have given you a good idea of what offer is likely to move the seller to accept or counter. There is no 'formula', just offer what the boat is worth (to you), no more, and, if you want to buy it, no less <grin>

[monte]

Originally Posted by Leighton

A slightly different question but on the same topic - When an offer is made on a yacht what additional conditions is suggested to be added to the offer contract, apart from the ones which normally appear on a offer contract.



Things that spring to mind are;

1. The seller allows the yacht to be left on its current mooring for a period of x months at the buyers cost.

2. The Seller will complete all registration paperwork associated with change of ownership.

3. The Seller will deliver the yacht to designated marina.

4. ??



Does anyone have any other conditions they've used which give benefit to the Buyer?



Leighton

A good point. The sale isn't just about price and buyer and seller can accommodate each other in various ways. The seller might agree to allowing the buyer to use their slip indefinitely, or for a period between selling and buying his new boat. No cost to the seller, but a potential saving for the buyer. The seller may agree to deliver to the buyers port. Again it might be a win/win situation. The seller might include a week or a month instruction on board. The seller may offer to reduce the price in exchange for other goods or services. The price might be fixed with a long settlement period, up to a year, and deposit increase to allow both parties to arrange themselves with work, selling homes, finishing sailing plans etc. The seller might remove equipment to accommodate the buyers budget.
Really anything goes and there's plenty of ways to reach an amicable agreement besides $£€¥

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by hamburking

You nailed it.

No one wants to sell their boat to a jerk.

When I make a low offer, I go in with the offer first, conditional only an inspection...so no one wastes any time or travel. FWIW, I offer cash payment in full for an immediate closing, and sail the boat away within a few hours of taking possession...

Nice approach hamburking. I'd have no issue with this at all .

Regarding additional conditions, you can try and negotiate pretty much anything you want. Don't expect all sellers to agree though.

It's my experience (as both a buyer and a seller) that if the deal does indeed leave everyone feeling good, then it's pretty easy to negotiate these additional details. When I sold my last boat the buyer asked me help him rig it at Spring launch. We made it part of the sales contract. And when I bought my current boat, I negotiated an extended stay at the PO's slip so we could make some necessary updates before sailing her home. In both cases I've stayed in touch with the new/previous owners, and have given and received good advice even years later. Had one side felt taken advantage of, or somehow felt the deal was too one-sided, all the easy side deals would have been hard to impossible.

I know some hard-core capitalists don't think "fairness" has any place in a transaction, but this is where they simply don't understand basic human behaviour. People are not simple economic maximizers. Emotion play a large role in all deals, and none more than with cruising boats.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by monte

A good point. The sale isn't just about price and buyer and seller can accommodate each other in various ways. The seller might agree to allowing the buyer to use their slip indefinitely, or for a period between selling and buying his new boat. No cost to the seller, but a potential saving for the buyer. The seller may agree to deliver to the buyers port. Again it might be a win/win situation. The seller might include a week or a month instruction on board. The seller may offer to reduce the price in exchange for other goods or services. The price might be fixed with a long settlement period, up to a year, and deposit increase to allow both parties to arrange themselves with work, selling homes, finishing sailing plans etc. The seller might remove equipment to accommodate the buyers budget.
Really anything goes and there's plenty of ways to reach an amicable agreement besides $£€¥

While specifically and unfortunately true, these are the deals/deal-makers to avoid. The Poles have a name for this, a name I can neither remember nor pronounce, but it roughly translates, I'm told, to "pissing in the soup." Where a buyer demands so many loopholes and concessions that it is inevitable the seller will feel as if all the life has been sucked out of him.

No. Better to make a clean deal where, shortly after haul & survey, money is exchanged and title is transferred, and complete responsibility for the vessel's care and well being, including insurance, is now in the hands of the buyer. If buyer intends to remain in seller's slip, arrangements are made with dock/harbor master for transferring lease or use till end of month, typically.