Pricing

Just came back from looking at what could be the one. Did find a couple of minor problems that need to be corrected but nothing right now that would be a deal breaker. however I feel the boat is a little over priced. Not sure if I should make an offer now or if I should have a survey done than come with an offer. One problem is since the boat is up in New England a sea trial at this time is out. The boat is stored inside so that part of the survey would be no problem. Don't want to lose out if I put it on hold for to long. Suggestions ???

Greetings,
Mr. 13. Put in an offer conditional on a survey. Offer somewhat less than what you feel is appropriate to give yourself some upward "wiggle room". All they can say is no. There are lots of boats out there. Don't let your emotions enter into your thought processes. Oh, and if you haven't already, get yourself a "buyers broker" to look after YOUR interests. They should have a very good idea of what to offer and how to play the sale.

You should come to some kind of agreement on the price first before you spend hundreds or thousands (you didn't mention how big it was) on a survey. It's still a buyers market out there.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. 13. Put in an offer conditional on a survey. Offer somewhat less than what you feel is appropriate to give yourself some upward "wiggle room". All they can say is no. There are lots of boats out there. Don't let your emotions enter into your thought processes. Oh, and if you haven't already, get yourself a "buyers broker" to look after YOUR interests. They should have a very good idea of what to offer and how to play the sale.

Click to expand...

Russell Clifton said:

You should come to some kind of agreement on the price first before you spend hundreds or thousands (you didn't mention how big it was) on a survey. It's still a buyers market out there.

Click to expand...

^^^^

Excellent advice. If I may add, take a step back and make sure the emotional side of the equation doesn't take control- it IS a buyer's market, and you are in the driver's seat with regards to the purchase.

. however I feel the boat is a little over priced.

Compared to ??????

Compared to what you have seen in various other boars , or what you would like to pay to go motoring.

--How do the comps on yacht world compare?
--Find it's near twin, for sale and in the water and go look at it.
--What is the vessel?
--For boats in storage the offer can be made " subject to sea trial"
--Have all the financial stuff in place from your end so they know you're serious, this can save you big bucks.

For boats in storage the offer can be made " subject to sea trial"

This will usually require at least a 10% deposit , to avoid Looky Lous that just want a boat ride.

FF said:

For boats in storage the offer can be made " subject to sea trial"

This will usually require at least a 10% deposit , to avoid Looky Lous that just want a boat ride.

Click to expand...

And it is not just for boats in storage. This is usually a normal part of ANY boat purchase.

I was a broker in Connecticut many years ago and we did sea trials all year long. The buyer paid to have the boat re-winterized by a mechanic. Yes it was an extra expense but it was a way for the sale to proceed. The buyer and seller might split the cost of launch and haul again and if you wait just a few more weeks you might not need to cover the boat again.
Check with your surveyor and ask if he will do an out of water inspection in advance. It can be done on his time schedule, ask him what he can do to get the survey job and get paid, maybe some small extra charge for travel time. If he finds a disaster in advance no need to go to the expense of sea trial Yachtworld has a commercial side for brokers with a site called soldboats.com not available to the public.
Send a pm to me with info on the boat you are looking at and I will check soldboats for you.

At a certain point, once you have decided what you can afford to spend and what that means is generally available to buy, it's more about how it's equipped and maintained than comparing boats of the same model and relative age. What does your nose tell you when you first step into the cabin? Is the bilge clean and engine room squared away? How old are the batteries and are the posts and cables clean and free of corrosion? Same thing on through hulls. Has it been kept primarily in fresh water or salt? How does the ground tackle look--is the anchor right-sized and does the chain or road appear clean and well maintained? How old are the electronics and how well is is equipped? How many hours on the engines? Does it have a furnace or reverse cycle and what brand is it (some are problematic and less desireable). What type charging system does it have? Does it have an inverter? Log book available--maintenance records--? I could go on, but before you make an offer and before you pay someone to do a survey, do some assessment yourself. Go spend a few hours on the boat looking at each element--sit in the engine room and each other part of the boat just look at each thing--without the salesman if they will allow it. Try to get some of maintenance records and spend time reading them. You can get a rough order of magnitude on some of the value added or subtracted--batteries cost X and there are 5 of them--the charger is older or of low amperage--the electrical wiring looks messy--it looks like someone spray painted the engines (look for covered signs of leaks or rust) yourself--I have found that over buying 5 larger boats, that doing this exercise knocks the love-at-first-sight right out of you and makes you more objective.

the charger is older or of low amperage-

Many Constavolt units are close to 60 years old and still work just fine.

A smarter big complex charger is only required if you mix and match batt types .