The "Buying Process"

[tmouse 3]

Please talk me through the process with the broker.

What are best clauses to include ?

[floatsome 0]

Finance, if you dont have any money!

Survey - by a proper surveyor

Sea trial

Full inventory sign off when verified

Sight all registration and safety certs

 

A lot of S+P agreements have these and also reference to the boat being unencumbered when sold.

[wheels 543]

A Broker should have all the legal usuals on a sales form he will go through with you. Should!. But always leave yourself an out. So for instance, "Sale upon arranging finance suitable to the Buyer" for instance. "Sale upon survey to acceptable to Buyer" is another. This leaves you with an out where if something is not 100% for you, you can say we didn't get Finance that was suitable. Right at the moment, it's a buyers market and you can pretty much wright in what terms you want. It doesn't mean the seller will accept, but you have a good chance.

Be clear with the requirments of the Deposit. Make sure it is fully refundable should you not go ahead.

As Floatsome states, a full inventory sign off is a good call. We got caught with that one.Non ones fault really, I just tend not to be pushy and it was my fault. When we bought Leisure Lady, she had never been sailed. The Broker told me the Sails seemed to be brand new andall the winches and gear were stored below ready to be fitted. I failed to verify that and did ask on the phone if the Broker could arrange for the sails to be looked at, which never happened and I never pushed that point. It was sometime after we took over the boat that we got to the point of fitting the gear. I found there were two winches. Old non tailing. that was it. Nothing else. We unpacked the sails. The Headsail wasso old, it was hand stiched. None of them fited the boat.They had all come from something else. For someone pushy they could have taken the seller and Broker to task on that. But it would have been no more than an argument because Inever got anything varified on paper thaty I could come back at anyone with. So it all becoems hearsay.

[Guest]

Pay the deposit into a solicitors trust account, not to the broker.

[Guest]

Never trust broker.

Nautical equivalent of used car salesman, real estate agent etc.

 

Sellers.

Add clause only commision can be deducted.

Other items (crane etc) must be billed direct to seller to stop greed.

[markm 30]

Remember, the broker works for the person who's paying him, this is seldom the buyer so it's not his job to look after the buyers interests.

 

That said, there are good brokers out there and they know it's not in their long term interests to see either party screwed, they'll walk away from anything that involves one party or the other trying it.

 

Mechanical inspection can be a good clause to have in there too, particularly if the engines getting on in years.

 

Other thing to keep in mind is that survey clauses give the right to the buyer to remedy a flaw to the surveyors satisfaction, it isn't an automatic out. This isn't usually an issue to a serious buyer but if you decide you want to change your mind, it's sea trial that you can do that, not later.

[Steve Pope 243]

That said, there are good brokers out there and they know it's not in their long term interests to see either party screwed.

 

Tell that to the seller who has been screwed in the short term.

[Infinity 1]

How much are Brokers charging these days? Searched the websites a couple of the bigger firms but no mention of their rates.

[Guest]

Never trust broker.

Nautical equivalent of used car salesman, real estate agent etc.

 

 

I really do find that so insulting. I challenge anyone here, and a lot of you know who I am, to name a fib I've told. Bet you a gazillion bucks no one can.

The normal commission is 7% + GST or 6% + GST for a sole agency. This gets split amongst the lister, the seller and the company. Bet you another gazillion that no-one here would put the number of hours into a sale that I just did for a launch in Opua for the amount that I just got paid.

Yes, we're definitely supposed to be working for the seller. Anyone tried doing that in a buyers market?

[Grinna 2]

Never trust broker.

 

Dunno if I'd go that far. I'm sure there are some brokers who might be prone to exaggeration or may forget one or two details, but in general the brokers we talked to weren't that bad. One broker we encountered was somewhat vague about certain vessels that he didn't want us to look at but he did try to find us a vessel that fitted our description (after he showed us a whole heap that didn't fit our description ... but I suspect that was so that he could work out if we actually meant what we were saying).

[Guest]

Hey Zen, get used to it, I sell Real Estate

[khayyam 77]

it may still be sound advice not to trust the broker, even if half (or more) of them are perfectly honest. how do you know which sort you've got?

[Grinna 2]

Point is, I think you can find examples of dodgy vendors and dodgy buyers .... possibly more so than the brokers.

 

Maybe you shouldn't trust anyone too much.

 

Don't think a real dodgy broker would stay in business very long.

[Farrari 4]

Point is, I think you can find examples of dodgy vendors and dodgy buyers .... possibly more so than the brokers.

 

Maybe you shouldn't trust anyone too much.

 

Don't think a real dodgy broker would stay in business very long.

 

But what about a real dodgy Real estate agent

[Guest]

1. Pay a deposit to solicitors trust account, not a brokers. (Most brokers say trust account however its just a standard bank account)

2. Be very very wary of the BIA Sales & Purchase Agreement. This gives you the right to reject on sea trial, not survey. It gives the seller the option to remedy a survey fault!!! This differs from the US, European and Aussie contracts which give you the option to walk away from a boat for pretty much any reason.

3. Choose a good surveyor, one that doesn't have predisposed views on certain boats. (Hey, we all have our favourites, but a surveyor is being paid to confirm the condition of the type of boat you like, no judge it based on the type of boat he prefers).

4. Bear in mind that if you're buying a used boat, it won't be in new conditioin.

5. Make sure you get and check a copy of the brokers listing inventory

[Atom Ant 0]

If you buy my boat you'll find the buying process to be enjoyable and stress free!

[smithy09 50]

If you buy my boat you'll find the buying process to be enjoyable and stress free!

[dutyfree 170]

Let me concur with Dan on surveyors, ask around a few people about the different ones. Some are very picky, which is fine if you know that as you can then research what it will cost to fix etc rather than filling your pants and walking away. One survey I had done on a yacht I bought even listed the missing screws on locker hinges. Was very useful for maintenance! Some definitely have personal biases as we all do, but as Dan says, you want to know what is right or wrong, not what they prefer in boat design.

[Fogg 427]

However confident I feel, I still always try to get a knowledgeable friend to accompany me for a viewing or during the haulout/survey stage - it helps to have a fresh and objective set of eyes who is less emotionally attached to the potential purchase than yourself.

[Steve Pope 243]

Don't be in a rush, rather like the builders motto "measure twice and cut once" (or in my case 3 or 4 times) Rose tinted glasses can have a lot to answer for, each time you check out a boat it will throw up something that you didn't notice previously. If it is an import make sure all the paperwork stacks up if you intend to keep it in NZ. Offshore cruisers are often on the market at the end of a circumnavigation or similar long journey (or the wife has got to missing the grand kids) and will be in need of a refit. 15 to 20 years old is once again refit time, sails motor, rigging, wiring, solar panels etc. etc.

Be prepared to walk away!