Selling your boat yourself

[Newtrawlerowner]

I think this issue has been mentioned before but I wanted to ask how sellers have handled the actual transaction. I inquired with YachtCloser and they no longer act as the middle man. They ill do title search and offer other services but no longer accept payment until paperwork has been transferred. Curious how others have done this when selling yourself.
I also wanted to ask if anyone here has been contacted by a buyers broker and what was negotiated?

 

[Discoverer]

I sold the boat by myself in the past without any brokers. What exactly is your question?

 

[Mac2]

I’m guessing obtaining the paperwork/contract and individuals needed-escrow agent etc. helpful hints to sell like a recent survey etc.

 

[O C Diver]

I think this issue has been mentioned before but I wanted to ask how sellers have handled the actual transaction. I inquired with YachtCloser and they no longer act as the middle man. They ill do title search and offer other services but no longer accept payment until paperwork has been transferred. Curious how others have done this when selling yourself.
I also wanted to ask if anyone here has been contacted by a buyers broker and what was negotiated?

I sold mine in 2023. A friend of mine just finished selling his KK 42 last month.

While I didn't use a closer, my friend did. It's not hard to find a closer (usually a lawyer) who can handle as much or as little paperwork as necessary. They can generate purchase agreements, hold deposit money, and handle title or documented vessel paperwork. I believe my friend spent around $1,500. The closer does the paperwork and the seller and buyer do the arrangements for survey and sea trial.

In my case, it was a simple purchase agreement (downloaded off BoatUS website) with a deposit. The owner ended up needing an insurance survey which doubled as a sea trial. Owner transferred the money to my account, we notarized the documents, and we both left happy.

Regarding buyer's broker, that's on the seller, just like the survey. I could be wrong, but all the boats that I've sold (never with a broker) were to people who knew what they wanted and were ready to buy after seeing the boat. Simply, they didn't need a broker to sell them on the boat. You will get some tire kickers, and then you will get a buyer who doesn't want somebody to beat him to your boat.

Ted

 

[Mac2]

I sold mine in 2023. A friend of mine just finished selling his KK 42 last month.

While I didn't use a closer, my friend did. It's not hard to find a closer (usually a lawyer) who can handle as much or as little paperwork as necessary. They can generate purchase agreements, hold deposit money, and handle title or documented vessel paperwork. I believe my friend spent around $1,500. The closer does the paperwork and the seller and buyer do the arrangements for survey and sea trial.

In my case, it was a simple purchase agreement (downloaded off BoatUS website) with a deposit. The owner ended up needing an insurance survey which doubled as a sea trial. Owner transferred the money to my account, we notarized the documents, and we both left happy.

Regarding buyer's broker, that's on the seller, just like the survey. I could be wrong, but all the boats that I've sold (never with a broker) were to people who knew what they wanted and were ready to buy after seeing the boat. Simply, they didn't need a broker to sell them on the boat. You will get some tire kickers, and then you will get a buyer who doesn't want somebody to beat him to your boat.

Ted

That’s what I was thinking. A name brand boat with a great reputation (yours and your friends) will sell themselves.

 

[Taras]

The important part to me is having an independent 3rd party to handle the Title Search and transfer of funds from an escrow account. The key for the buyer is to be sure the title of the vessel is free of any loans, liens or emcumbrances. You can google Maritime Title services near you. They hold the "deposit" for the vessel in the escrow account and will execute the contract and pay the seller the funds due at closing.

 

[Shrew]

Here is an interesting story that I've carried with me since I was a kid.

My parents went under contract on a house to be built. While the house was being built they listed their house for sale. When the new house was partially built, the builder passed away. It turned out that the builder placed the deposit (a large sum) into his personal account rather than an escrow account. The deceased builders personal assets then went into probate where his children and creditors all went to war over it. In the meantime, my parents kept extending the closing date on the old house because we all had nowhere to go and a large portion of cash funds were in probate.

Eventually the buyers of the old house threatened to sue because the bank loan closing date was expiring and the new interest rate was 1+% higher. The law suit not only was going to force us into homeless but my parents were going to be sued for the 1+% increase in interest over the 30 year life of the loan on a house the SOLD.

I get money held in escrow for all large transactions. I feel the same way about handing over money without being handed a clean and clear title.

 

[Newtrawlerowner]

I sold the boat by myself in the past without any brokers. What exactly is your question?

My question is when the buyer was ready to perform the survey, did you get deposit and was that paid directly to you or to a third party as escrow?

 

[Dennis C]

I sold mine and I believe the buyer used Yacht Closures. No problem. Yes, they do not handle the funds. The buyer did a direct bank transfer to my account. I then told the buyers agent to release the paperwork. The onus is on the buyer. As a seller all you care about is getting you funds.

 

[Discoverer]

My question is when the buyer was ready to perform the survey, did you get deposit and was that paid directly to you or to a third party as escrow?

I didn’t use an escrow company. After accepting the offer, I received a deposit. Once the survey and sea trial were completed and all subjects removed, the buyers gave me a certified check for the remaining balance.

 

[DDW]

If the boat is CG registered, the title search is very easy and costs a small fee ($25 as I recall?). I haven't sold, but bought, a CG reg boat without a broker. I handed them the money, they handed me the title (which must be endorsed and notarized on the back). Done.

 

[Shrew]

I didn’t use an escrow company. After accepting the offer, I received a deposit. Once the survey and sea trial were completed and all subjects removed, the buyers gave me a certified check for the remaining balance.

This is a problem from the buyer's perspective. It was easy for you because for a period of time YOU held the deposit and YOU held the title. There was no guarantee, other than your word, once you held all the cards and they held none.

To each his own. That isn't how I do business.

 

[Mac2]

This is a problem from the buyer's perspective. It was easy for you because for a period of time YOU held the deposit and YOU held the title. There was no guarantee, other than your word, once you held all the cards and they held none.

To each his own. That isn't how I do business.

Isn’t it standard practice for the buyer to lose the deposit if they choose to walk away for no good reason?

 

[mvweebles]

Isn’t it standard practice for the buyer to lose the deposit if they choose to walk away for no good reason?

In theory that might work. In reality, the two parties probably won't agree on what 'no good reason' really means. And then there is the problem of people who do not act in good faith or have unreasonable expectations. I once wanted to buy a used VW Westfalia. Agreed on a price and everything. I asked about having a mechanic check it out which I thought was standard practice. The seller in a nice way replied "No problem - you can have it checked out after you buy it." Frankly, I didn't think I heard him right so I rephrased and asked again. Nope, he wouldnt allow a pre-purchase inspection.

I hate when people expect 'trust' to enter into a business dealing.

Peter

 

[DWJensen]

We bought our current boat from a private seller and will be selling her privately once we find our new boat. We used a documentation company (ASAP out of Miami, FL) to act as our closing agent and to receive and dispurse funds.

Our deposit and final payment were wired to the agent's escrow account and at closing funds were wired to the seller. All transfer and final docs were handled by the agent under the terms of our purchase agreement/contract. We were protected by having our deposit held by a neutral third party and having a doc company handle all the paperwork (from seller and to us). The seller was protected by having all funds distributed to them via the same. We made this part of our purchase agreement and the cost was shared 50/50. IIRC, it was around $600 to each party for escrow, including wire fees and USCG documentation. It was an easy, safe, and painless process and we'll use them again.

 

[Mac2]

We bought our current boat from a private seller and will be selling her privately once we find our new boat. We used a documentation company (ASAP out of Miami, FL) to act as our closing agent and to receive and dispurse funds.

Our deposit and final payment were wired to the agent's escrow account and at closing funds were wired to the seller. All transfer and final docs were handled by the agent under the terms of our purchase agreement/contract. We were protected by having our deposit held by a neutral third party and having a doc company handle all the paperwork (from seller and to us). The seller was protected by having all funds distributed to them via the same. We made this part of our purchase agreement and the cost was shared 50/50. IIRC, it was around $600 to each party for escrow, including wire fees and USCG documentation. It was an easy, safe, and painless process and we'll use them again.

How was the deposit worded as far as the buyer losing it?

 

[DWJensen]

How was the deposit worded as far as the buyer losing it?

It wasn't stated how the buyer could lose the deposit, rather how under what case it would be returned. This was under the "Acceptance of Vessel" section of the contract. Basically it said that within seven days of completion of survey/sea trial that the buyer must notify seller in writing of acceptance of the vessel.

"If notice is not received by this date, Buyer shall be deemed to have rejected the vessel, and deposit shall be returned to Buyer."

We did have two small survey issues that the Seller agreed to have corrected. This was handled with a "Conditional Acceptance of Vessel" agreed and signed by both parties and attached to the PA.

 

[jleonard]

When I sold my Albin, I wrote up a simple 3 sentence contract on a steno pad.
The buyers had just taken a 5 hour spring launch run from my winter marina to the summer slip. I demonstrated everything on board and let them run the boat when we were in open water. I even did a WOT run so they could see it didn't smoke or overheat.
The previous 2 days they inspected the hull while it was still on the hard (I had just finished bottom painting) and the next day while tied at the fuel dock (bad weather so we couldn't take the trip) we demonstrated all the appliances, pumps, etc., including the generator.
Small non-refundable deposit, IN slip survey in 2 weeks, which everything was okeydokey except the Lehman wouldn't shut down with the stop button. That never happened before, so we completed the deal with my promise to fix it. (which I did later that day).
Simple, we both trusted each other. Sometimes you just know it.

 

[Shrew]

Isn’t it standard practice for the buyer to lose the deposit if they choose to walk away for no good reason?

That's not what I'm talking about. It's the issue is the grey area of the transaction.

One person has to provide money before they get a clean and clear title. Or the other person has to provide a title before the funds have cleared banks.

How do you get the title back if the funds don't clear? How do you get any money back if the title is forged or there are lien holders? Escrow addresses these issues and avoids unscrupulous parties.