Help me buy a boat

[Jdege]

I've been looking at boats, for a while. And I think I've found one I'd like to make an offer on.

So far I've:

* Met with the broker,
* Crawled through the boat, looking at this and that, opening up lockers, lazarettes, bilge panels, etc.,
* Talked to a marine surveyor in the town where the boat sits,
* Talked to the management of a boat yard/marina near me where I'd plan on keeping the boat,
* Did a bit of research on what would be involved in trucking it from where it is to where I want it,
* Checked on insurance,
* Etc.

The next step, I think, would be to make a formal offer, conditional on survey.

Can anyone point me to suggested or recommended language?

There are websites full of boilerplate legal documents for all sorts of things. Are there any for this?

If this were a $400,000 boat, I'd hire a lawyer.

If it were a $4,000 boat I'd hand him the cash and take my chances.

But it's a $40,000, which puts me somewhat in the middle. It's too much money to just take a gamble, but not enough to justify significant transaction costs.

[Paul L]

You tell the broker you want to make an offer contingent on survey and seatrial(usually). They will send their standard contract offer form. Read careful and adjust as needed. Send in a deposit and see how it flies.

[nightowle]

Paul is correct. The broker has a standard form which is usually titled a "Purchase and Sale Agreement." That's all you need to get the ball rolling.