Selling our boat, with a new twist.

[bumpkin]

When I bought my boat, the surveyor found some deferred maintenance that needed to be done. The surveyor detailed what was needed and his estimate of the prices. I showed the seller the list and he agreed to lower the price rather than keep the price we agreed upon and pay for the work.

I would worry about your broker if he didn't go through the list with you and come up with an amount that you and the buyer could agree upon.

Good luck with your sale.

 

[Mambo42]

Agree with Larry M, best way to advertise the boat is to just be open and explain when items were bought or installed, what maintenance you normally do, which items you know about that need attention etc. And then you simply state that all of this is calculated in the asking price.
That does take away any trumped up repair issues they may think of.
Important however is of course that you can demonstrate when you bought all these items and in what condition they are.
Also agree with others that if a buyer wants to have everything new it is not your obligation as a seller to pay for all those items. When I bought my boat the engines were running, but I decided to take the cylinder heads off, clean the pistons, rebuild the cylinder head, put new injectors in, new valve seats and springs etc. Obviously I paid for that service, did not even think to try to get it off the asking price.

 

[GeoStr]

I'm calling the broker and telling him what he can do with the survey and the work estimate.

I've sold 13 boats, power and sail, with & without brokers. Best advice I can give is find another broker. Their bad if they do not hire an accredited surveyor.
Good luck !

 

[Slider70]

When I bought my last boat it had been used extensively - 29 years old - and not maintained properly previous year and a half due to health concerns of the seller. Previous to that it had been properly maintained. But, it needed love, a fair amount of it. I went in eyes open. Seller had priced it accordingly. I made an offer subject to surveys and it was accepted.

Vessel survey showed what I expected. I could do the work needed
doing. Mechanical survey found the starboard engine riser leaking needing immediate replacement. He suggested the port wasn't far behind so should be change too. Job was just under $6K Canadian.

The seller and I agree on each paying have of the rises replacement costs. Now nine years later still happy with my purchase though if I was to do another one (I'm 79 so this is likely my last boat?) I would have done a bit more detailed inspection as I didn't try anchoring as I was incorrectly assured by the broker that it was OK and the rode looked in good condition only to find after purchase that I had to rebuilt the anchor winch - my bad. Still I was happy with the complete deal.

So, anything can be discussed between buyer and seller. Either party can walk away if not satified.

 

[Nepidae]

IF nothing else, I think this shows that if/when you decide to sell your boat, it would be judicious to get your own survey before the buyer wants one.

I'm not implying that you should offer your survey, just have the knowledge of the situation before you have issues like this seller.

Hopefully this seller changed brokers and yards.

 

[ancora]

What screwed up the sale was the buyer bringing a mechanic with something to gain. Of course the mechanic was going to find $42,000 of engine work. The buyer, being a checkwriter, knowing nothing about engines, believed the mechanic's estimate and wanted an "adjustment" to the agreed price. Since we had already dropped the price, we said no.

 

[Cartouche]

We have sold three boats before this, but this is a new twist for us. After a sea trial and a "survey" (payed for by the buyer) we get the questionable survey. The "surveyor" somehow missed the two GFCI receptacles on the boat, a throwable life ring, a carbon monoxide detector, etc. I'm wondering if he is an accredited surveyor or not. In California a surveyor should be a SAMS or a NAMs member. He refers to ABYC as a governing body...they are not. What really set me off was an estimate of work to be done on the boat that came with the survey, from a local repair shop for a mere $24,000. Yeah, what a buy. I'm calling the broker and telling him what he can do with the survey and the work estimate.

Same thing happened to us on our last sailboat had a buyer with a deposit and he came back to us with a ridiculous survey looking for a 25K drop in price, (on a 100K deal) I refused his offer and instructed my broker to return his deposit and look for another buyer. buyer came back and said he still wanted the boat, and we agreed (I replaced an Espar heater that we had never tried to start) and carried on Just before closing he asked us to allow another surveyor to come aboard so he could get Insurance coverage (1st survey would have to have had all the bogus items fixed) We refused and he was only able to get Liability coverage until he took possession of the boat. Moral of the story is treat people as you would want to be treated.

 

[SIBERNUT]

I have a 26ft boat with trailer for sale. When "buyer" hit me with a low ball, i said "I suppose I could sell the trailer elsewhere".

 

[sjisailor]

Another good idea is to get your own survey done before listing. If it is high quality then a buyer might go with it and then everyone is on the same page (note: buyers, I don't really recommend that; get your own survey. But OTOH having two is a bonus.) Or you could decide not to share it if unhappy.

For our previous boat, we did that and saw some errors, which the surveyor apologetically corrected. Sharing it helped close the sale faster.

 

[Cartouche]

Another good idea is to get your own survey done before listing. If it is high quality then a buyer might go with it and then everyone is on the same page (note: buyers, I don't really recommend that; get your own survey. But OTOH having two is a bonus.) Or you could decide not to share it if unhappy.

For our previous boat, we did that and saw some errors, which the surveyor apologetically corrected. Sharing it helped close the sale faster.

I Think the OP as referring to purchasers (Definitely in our case with the sailboat) that purchasers bring surveyors in to help reduce the price rather than give an honest value for a boat and the condition at time of sale. When we sold our Mainship the surveyor (Who I recommended, and had used many times while I was selling boats) mis takingly told the purchaser that the bearings were shot in our stern Thruster, the Thruster had no clutch and when out of the water the prop turned the motor making it feel like the bearings were shot, rather than effortless smooth turn like the Factory bow thruster. (it was installed the year before) and cost us $500.00 on the sale, rather than arguing the point. The thruster made it all the way from Kingston to New Jersey, so I would say with confidence it was indeed okay at the time of sale.