Showing boat after deposit has already been made

[jhall767]

So by handing the seller and their broker the survey you are putting the pressure on that the issues will probably have to be addressed for any buyer. The seller/broker may be evasive in answering questions but they know they're taking a risk that it will be discovered pre-sale or potentially worse - post sale.

On the other hand - I'm here, ready to buy and all we have to do is fix the problem and I might even take care of having it fixed myself if we can agree to the cost.

 

[smitty477]

So by handing the seller and their broker the survey you are putting the pressure on that the issues will probably have to be addressed for any buyer. The seller/broker may be evasive in answering questions but they know they're taking a risk that it will be discovered pre-sale or potentially worse - post sale.

On the other hand - I'm here, ready to buy and all we have to do is fix the problem and I might even take care of having it fixed myself if we can agree to the cost.

"So by handing the seller and their broker the survey you are putting the pressure on that the issues will probably have to be addressed for any buyer."

I do not know how many surveys you have seen but have you found them all equivalent in content? Have you found surveyors to be liable for their accuracy? Have you seen any omissions? Or perhaps items incuded that were inaccurate?
If any of these have been the case why would you rely on a document that you did not source and cannot verify in any way?

 

[Marco Flamingo]

So by handing the seller and their broker the survey you are putting the pressure on that the issues will probably have to be addressed for any buyer. The seller/broker may be evasive in answering questions but they know they're taking a risk that it will be discovered pre-sale or potentially worse - post sale.

On the other hand - I'm here, ready to buy and all we have to do is fix the problem and I might even take care of having it fixed myself if we can agree to the cost.

Yep.

And although there are no requisite forms ala the Washington Form 17 used in real estate transactions, a potential purchaser can create a "paper trail" using email. It is nice and sometimes faster to speak to the broker/seller, but it is also nice to send questions and receive answers by email (that are then saved).

Form 17 is about 50 check-the-box questions. "Is the house connected to the sewer main?" Yes, no, don't know, N/A. Doesn't seem like it would be too difficult to come up with a similar form for boats.

Salishpaddler,

I looked at the brokerage pictures. The only suspicious thing that I saw was the fuel delivery system. It is not a complicated rat's nest of greasy mismatched fittings and obvious past leaks. What's up with that? I've never seen anything like it.

Mark

 

[jhall767]

"So by handing the seller and their broker the survey you are putting the pressure on that the issues will probably have to be addressed for any buyer."

I do not know how many surveys you have seen but have you found them all equivalent in content? Have you found surveyors to be liable for their accuracy? Have you seen any omissions? Or perhaps items incuded that were inaccurate?
If any of these have been the case why would you rely on a document that you did not source and cannot verify in any way?

Every survey is drastically different. I can tell you this from experience though - Each successive surveyor will go out of their way to find more wrong than the last guy. More surveys is usually not good for the seller.

And who would be the person to "rely" on the document? The seller knows the issue. The next buyer will get their own survey.

 

[salishpaddler]

I'm a bit confused why you went through the trouble of a P&S, Survey and Sea Trial only to turn down the boat for it It's side decks and beam. These would seem to be attributes you could have assessed with a simple viewing of the boat.

Not at all. One has to spend some time on board to fully ascertain how well it's going to fit in the months to come. I shadowed the surveyor and learned a great deal in the process. The survey revealed a boat with very few flaws and the price was compelling. It was a difficult decision but I realized as time passed it would become an increasing irritant for me. It was time and money spent with no regret. I've been in the hunt for the perfect boat for me and I learned that one wasn't. I believe this one is. At some point the boat is going to finds its owner.

 

[BandB]

Not at all. One has to spend some time on board to fully ascertain how well it's going to fit in the months to come. I shadowed the surveyor and learned a great deal in the process. The survey revealed a boat with very few flaws and the price was compelling. It was a difficult decision but I realized as time passed it would become an increasing irritant for me. It was time and money spent with no regret. I've been in the hunt for the perfect boat for me and I learned that one wasn't. I believe this one is. At some point the boat is going to finds its owner.

Sounds to me like you were very wise in that you recognized that it wasn't enough to find the perfect boat, it had to be the boat that was perfect for you. You didn't realize until spending time on it, that it wasn't that. When you did realize that, you didn't force yourself to compromise. I can imagine many boats that I might find very attractive until spending a few hours on it and actually running it at sea. Too often people compromise because they've already made a significant investment of time and money.

I knew a couple that was very firm that there could be no steps on the main level, not from cockpit to salon or salon to helm. However, there was one boat they absolutely loved and the broker convinced them as to the wisdom of the step up from the cockpit to salon and, after all, it was only a single step. On the sea trial they were loving the boat and totally convinced until......the surveyor was talking to someone in the cockpit as he stepped into the salon, tripped and fell. He wasn't hurt, blamed himself, boat surveyed perfectly but they said "no." They just imagined their elderly parents tripping and falling.

 

[bgillroy]

Great discussion ..... What's quite unbelievable as well is that hundreds of boats change hands to unwary buyers without benefit of proper survey.

 

[salishpaddler]

it wasn't enough to find the perfect boat, it had to be the boat that was perfect for you.

Exactly