Boat Brokers

It's human nature to bitch and blame rather than praise and give credit so it's little wonder for the overwhelming negative stories. In real estate we used to have our own blanket statement, buyers are liars and sellers are yellers. Amazing how often that was proven true.

The brokers I have used over the years have been excellent. I don't just walk in the door but rather pick my broker through recommendation of others. I try to be a good customer too by not running the broker in circles looking at boats I can't afford or just want to look at. I try to engage the broker in an understanding of my needs and lifestyle so that he can best advise and guide me. I do research as well so I am a knowledgeable buyer. I expect the broker to tell me not to waste my time looking at boats that are not in great/good condition. I think it's important to understand that the broker/client relationship must be built on mutual respect. I also understand that the buyer and the seller must, in the end, both feel they got a fair deal.

That's my philosophy and it has served me well. YMMV

It is a nice Sunday afternoon here in South Florida, sunny around 75 degrees. I could be at the beach, or working in my garden or out in a boat but I am at my desk in the office. I am waiting for a client who just called to say they would be here not at 11 AM as we discussed earlier today but at 1 PM. Meanwhile when I arrived for that 11 AM appointment there was a broker at my office from another company, with a client who I had spent a lot of time with in the last two months and shown four or five different boats. Wrote up an offer from that guy to buy a boat, asking $1,500,000 and his offer was $1,000,000. The seller made a reasonable counter offer, the buyer would not go up a dollar. Instead of calling me back he called a different broker to show him a boat here at the boatyard that I already showed to him around Dec 1st. This is normal in my business, but I get to play with boats, go for boat trips and meet a lot of really good people, so I put up with the others. After 20 years of selling boats I expect to make enough money without paid vacations, without paid health insurance, paid holidays, paid sick days, or a pension plan. Maybe 10% commission is not enough after splitting it with the house.
But I will repeat, I get to go for boat rides, I did a trip from Lake Erie to Florida this fall, I went for a yacht ride in Italy this year, it is worth it to me.

I have a number of friends who are brokers. Most of them are social friends. When I have been in the market, I will stop by and look at boats they represent with the understanding that we are looking, not buying. I think it's fair to ask about boats at their docks without committing to an offer. I believe that they are OK with that.

In buying our last boat, we used a broker that I have known for a number of years. The brokerage arranged for showings from Olympia to Bellingham. I spent a lot of time in the office asking a lot of questions. Separate from their efforts, we found a boat in Canada that we really liked. I asked our broker to call on our behalf and arrange a showing. They did and, when we got serious, they acted as our buyer's broker. They handled negotiations and acted on our behalf with the customs broker and the documentation people in Anacortes. A great job with lots of communications between the two brokerages.

The point is that there are a lot of honest brokers who are trying their best to make things work. The selling broker was happy, we were happy and our broker got paid for their efforts. Nobody loses when everybody is above board.

Actually, the point was that we purchased our previous boat from a private seller. It took over three years to clear all the problems in that sale. Not saying that it can't be done, not saying that brokers don't make mistakes, but I am thinking that there is a reason that brokers get more than a boat ride now and then!

yachtbrokerguy said:

I
But I will repeat, I get to go for boat rides, I did a trip from Lake Erie to Florida this fall, I went for a yacht ride in Italy this year, it is worth it to me.

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Prediction -- you will live a long, and happy, life.

yachtbrokerguy said:

... Wrote up an offer from that guy to buy a boat, asking $1,500,000 and his offer was $1,000,000. The seller made a reasonable counter offer, the buyer would not go up a dollar. Instead of calling me back he called a different broker to show him a boat here at the boatyard that I already showed to him around Dec 1st.....

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Sounds like a form of negotiation, he still wants to buy it, but only at a bargain hunter price.
Hopefully you also meet some decent genuine people who are a pleasure to work with.

Hello ' bcam '

Do you still have those broker contacts? Do they service people from the Seattle area? Does a broker give help/advice on surveys-financing-insurance-moorage to a newbie?
I am just starting my search and learning the whole process. My aim is a live-aboard, below 100K, without major repairs needed. I cannot tell from reading the broker stories, if this is still doable in the PNW? Obviously, if I use the services of a broker, by being a total beginner, I would heavily rely on the broker's knowledge and honesty. I cannot afford a ' bad ' purchase. Thanks.

You might want to consider looking into a " buyers broker " - they in theory, work for you as the buyer -

buyer broker

I am planning to hire a broker, but it would help to find the right one, based on recommendation from people, who already had good experience with one.

My boat was listed by the broker as FAIR condition in one place and "turn key" in another. The truth lie somewhere between those posts.

Utazo

A bit off topic but as you mentioned living aboard in the PNW and I see you are located in Krikland I want to give you a 'heads up'. Moorage in the greater Seattle area is tight. Liveaboard moorage is very very tight. I advise you to get on the waiting list at the marina of your choice. For some of the marinas the liveaboard waiting list is years long. You can always turn it down if you have not yet purchased when your name rises to the top of the list.

kthoennes said:

The offer was accepted pending a survey. The survey came back generally good . . . except one outdrive wouldn't move up or down. We proposed that we'd have that same broker's mechanic fix it and take the $450 off the purchase price. Nope, they wouldn't budge and they scotched a $36K deal over a $450 pump (if that's indeed what the problem was). It was really annoying because we paid more than that for the survey itself. That was kind of the last straw, and ever since then we try to private-party our boat purchases whenever we can, and purposely try to avoid brokers.

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I must be missing something because it sounds to me that like either buyer or seller could have conceded the $450 issue, but both refused. If it were me (knowing that you spent more than $450 for the survey), I would have agreed to suck up the $450 but with the understanding that if the problem turns out to be bigger, seller pays the excess.

Yes, this is a wise advice. I might just do that, since the moorage situation around Seattle is just crazy. Prices are sky-high and very few slips available over 50' foot. If one still works and has to commute, going out of the city is not a good option. Traffic is a disaster in Seattle now.
A 50' slip, if you can get one, in a decent marina is around 800-1K for liveaboards. Does it really worth it? If you just love the boating lifestyle, but you are not in the high income crowd, it doesn't, in my opinion.
I just hate to think that I need to wait until retirement, when I can finally put my boat (don't have it yet), to a nice marina and be able to pay for it.
I understand we all have different ideas how the boating should be and I have nothing against luxury, if one can afford it. However, I thought about Seattle as a boating paradise, even for regular folk like me. Work, have an income, buy a boat, live on it, enjoy the ride. That was the idea 20 years ago. What can I say, as I learn more and more about boating in this region, this type of simple boating pleasure is going away.

Portage_Bay said:

Utazo

A bit off topic but as you mentioned living aboard in the PNW and I see you are located in Krikland I want to give you a 'heads up'. Moorage in the greater Seattle area is tight. Liveaboard moorage is very very tight. I advise you to

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I would like for all brokers, delivery captains, surveyors, parts suppliers, insurance agents, and the like to ad the "Commercial Member" flag to their avatar if not already done. Lurking here and mining the membership for business is, at a minimum, disingenuous.

utazo89 said:

Hello ' bcam '

Do you still have those broker contacts? Do they service people from the Seattle area? Does a broker give help/advice on surveys-financing-insurance-moorage to a newbie?
I am just starting my search and learning the whole process. My aim is a live-aboard, below 100K, without major repairs needed. I cannot tell from reading the broker stories, if this is still doable in the PNW? Obviously, if I use the services of a broker, by being a total beginner, I would heavily rely on the broker's knowledge and honesty. I cannot afford a ' bad ' purchase. Thanks.

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I have used the same broker to buy 3 and sell 2. He is located in Seattle at Hiebert. His name is Russ Reed 1-425-501-1504. He's a good man.

tracie said:

You might want to consider looking into a " buyers broker " - they in theory, work for you as the buyer -

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Does boat broker commission work like real estate commission?

ie. If there is a buyer broker and seller broker they split the commission down the middle. OR is having two brokers gonna make it cost more?

IronZebra said:

Does boat broker commission work like real estate commission?

ie. If there is a buyer broker and seller broker they split the commission down the middle. OR is having two brokers gonna make it cost more?

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Unless you work out a different deal, they brokers split the commission. Keep in mind that the "buyers broker" is still technically working for, and being paid by the seller.