Hi there Forum members.
I am selling my boat so how does it work?
I have someone interested he has viewed the boat and is keen to show it to family wife etc for approval.
At this point we have not taken it off the moring but have started the motor they want to go for a sail to see how she goes.
We have not discussed the price but he asked if i was negotiable of course i said yes but not to a silly offer.
The interested party will want a survey but to do this its a 3 hour motor there and back to slip the boat ,surveyor fees and slip fees and on the hard for a few days i imagine would be at purchasers expense.
My query is when do we agree to price or get a deposit or a commitment from the buyer as all the above although necessary is a lot of time and mucking around on my behalf.
Not sure the best way to proceed what do you recon would be a fair way to go about it or what is the norm
cheers

There are no rules for this transaction but here is what I think is reasonable:

There needs to be an agreement on price before you can go forward. You have already indicated a range by setting an asking price and advising the buyer that you will consider a 'not silly' offer.

The buyer requires family approval to confirm 'how she goes' and an out of water survey to confirm it is in satisfactory condition.

It is reasonable, and customary, for the purchaser to bear the costs of slipping and survey. The costs of getting the boat to the slip are usually negligible but could conceivably be added in, at least for the fuel required to get there and back.

As a next step, my advice would be to insist on a discussion on price and, when that is agreed, ask for a deposit of, say, 10% and document a simple agreement that the yacht is to be purchased subject to (a) a satisfactory sail and (b) a satisfactory survey at the purchaser's expense.

Before purchasing my current yacht, I had a similar agreement on a near new 34 footer. Having agreed a price, I paid a $10,000 deposit and we had a verbal agreement that it was subject to a satisfactory sail. I won't name the well-known brand but I was underwhelmed by the sailing performance and agreed to a second outing which proved to be no better. So I cancelled the sale and my deposit was back in my bank account the next day.

aus005 said..
Hi there Forum members.
I am selling my boat so how does it work?
I have someone interested he has viewed the boat and is keen to show it to family wife etc for approval.
At this point we have not taken it off the moring but have started the motor they want to go for a sail to see how she goes.
We have not discussed the price but he asked if i was negotiable of course i said yes but not to a silly offer.
The interested party will want a survey but to do this its a 3 hour motor there and back to slip the boat ,surveyor fees and slip fees and on the hard for a few days i imagine would be at purchasers expense.
My query is when do we agree to price or get a deposit or a commitment from the buyer as all the above although necessary is a lot of time and mucking around on my behalf.
Not sure the best way to proceed what do you recon would be a fair way to go about it or what is the norm
cheers

A agent will save you a lot of time and money.
I am a real estate principal and I alway use one.
He is selling a boat once a fortnight and you are selling one once every five or ten years.
He should be experienced and professional.
$5000 is the right price to pay to sell your boat.

Bundeenabuoy said..

aus005 said..
Hi there Forum members.
I am selling my boat so how does it work?
I have someone interested he has viewed the boat and is keen to show it to family wife etc for approval.
At this point we have not taken it off the moring but have started the motor they want to go for a sail to see how she goes.
We have not discussed the price but he asked if i was negotiable of course i said yes but not to a silly offer.
The interested party will want a survey but to do this its a 3 hour motor there and back to slip the boat ,surveyor fees and slip fees and on the hard for a few days i imagine would be at purchasers expense.
My query is when do we agree to price or get a deposit or a commitment from the buyer as all the above although necessary is a lot of time and mucking around on my behalf.
Not sure the best way to proceed what do you recon would be a fair way to go about it or what is the norm
cheers

A agent will save you a lot of time and money.
I am a Real Estate principal and I alway use one.
$5000 is the right price to pay to sell your boat.

There are a lot of times when a broker is a good middle man but saying $5000 is the price to pay is not always right. If the boat is worth say $100k then fine but if it's only worth $20k or $30k then it's too much.

Cockpit said..

Bundeenabuoy said..

aus005 said..
Hi there Forum members.
I am selling my boat so how does it work?
I have someone interested he has viewed the boat and is keen to show it to family wife etc for approval.
At this point we have not taken it off the moring but have started the motor they want to go for a sail to see how she goes.
We have not discussed the price but he asked if i was negotiable of course i said yes but not to a silly offer.
The interested party will want a survey but to do this its a 3 hour motor there and back to slip the boat ,surveyor fees and slip fees and on the hard for a few days i imagine would be at purchasers expense.
My query is when do we agree to price or get a deposit or a commitment from the buyer as all the above although necessary is a lot of time and mucking around on my behalf.
Not sure the best way to proceed what do you recon would be a fair way to go about it or what is the norm
cheers

A agent will save you a lot of time and money.
I am a Real Estate principal and I alway use one.
$5000 is the right price to pay to sell your boat.

There are a lot of times when a broker is a good middle man but saying $5000 is the price to pay is not always right. If the boat is worth say $100k then fine but if it's only worth $20k or $30k then it's too much.

He does the same work for both sales

woko said..

Bundeenabuoy said..

Cockpit said..

Bundeenabuoy said..

aus005 said..
Hi there Forum members.
I am selling my boat so how does it work?
I have someone interested he has viewed the boat and is keen to show it to family wife etc for approval.
At this point we have not taken it off the moring but have started the motor they want to go for a sail to see how she goes.
We have not discussed the price but he asked if i was negotiable of course i said yes but not to a silly offer.
The interested party will want a survey but to do this its a 3 hour motor there and back to slip the boat ,surveyor fees and slip fees and on the hard for a few days i imagine would be at purchasers expense.
My query is when do we agree to price or get a deposit or a commitment from the buyer as all the above although necessary is a lot of time and mucking around on my behalf.
Not sure the best way to proceed what do you recon would be a fair way to go about it or what is the norm
cheers

A agent will save you a lot of time and money.
I am a Real Estate principal and I alway use one.
$5000 is the right price to pay to sell your boat.

There are a lot of times when a broker is a good middle man but saying $5000 is the price to pay is not always right. If the boat is worth say $100k then fine but if it's only worth $20k or $30k then it's too much.

He does the same work for both sales

What no sliding scale, no percentage,no commission, couldnt imagine how that would instigate a broker / sales person to try to get the best price

Reputation hopefully drives most agents to achieve the best price, and you can alway put an incentive scheme into most contracts.

aus005 said..
Hi there Forum members.
I am selling my boat so how does it work?
I have someone interested he has viewed the boat and is keen to show it to family wife etc for approval.
At this point we have not taken it off the moring but have started the motor they want to go for a sail to see how she goes.
We have not discussed the price but he asked if i was negotiable of course i said yes but not to a silly offer.
The interested party will want a survey but to do this its a 3 hour motor there and back to slip the boat ,surveyor fees and slip fees and on the hard for a few days i imagine would be at purchasers expense.
My query is when do we agree to price or get a deposit or a commitment from the buyer as all the above although necessary is a lot of time and mucking around on my behalf.
Not sure the best way to proceed what do you recon would be a fair way to go about it or what is the norm
cheers

You should be doing lots of test sails (hopefully). I'm one for insisting on a test sail on more than a couple of grand, it's much harder to hide stuff when you're actually sailing the boat. The Seller pays any incidentals related to test sails.
The Purchaser needs to commit to a deposit before any survey is undertaken, the contract stating accordingly that it is dependent upon a survey. I agree that the purchaser should pay for the survey.

SandS said..

Gravy7 said..
There are no rules for this transaction but here is what I think is reasonable:

There needs to be an agreement on price before you can go forward. You have already indicated a range by setting an asking price and advising the buyer that you will consider a 'not silly' offer.

The buyer requires family approval to confirm 'how she goes' and an out of water survey to confirm it is in satisfactory condition.

It is reasonable, and customary, for the purchaser to bear the costs of slipping and survey. The costs of getting the boat to the slip are usually negligible but could conceivably be added in, at least for the fuel required to get there and back.

As a next step, my advice would be to insist on a discussion on price and, when that is agreed, ask for a deposit of, say, 10% and document a simple agreement that the yacht is to be purchased subject to (a) a satisfactory sail and (b) a satisfactory survey at the purchaser's expense.

Before purchasing my current yacht, I had a similar agreement on a near new 34 footer. Having agreed a price, I paid a $10,000 deposit and we had a verbal agreement that it was subject to a satisfactory sail. I won't name the well-known brand but I was underwhelmed by the sailing performance and agreed to a second outing which proved to be no better. So I cancelled the sale and my deposit was back in my bank account the next day.

thats interesting ....... the bit about you being underwhelmed by the sailing performance .....

what was it you didnt like ????

It was sluggish and unresponsive mostly due to the displacement being 1 tonne more than the boat I did purchase which also had a slightly deeper draft.

Gravy7 said..

SandS said..

Gravy7 said..
There are no rules for this transaction but here is what I think is reasonable:

There needs to be an agreement on price before you can go forward. You have already indicated a range by setting an asking price and advising the buyer that you will consider a 'not silly' offer.

The buyer requires family approval to confirm 'how she goes' and an out of water survey to confirm it is in satisfactory condition.

It is reasonable, and customary, for the purchaser to bear the costs of slipping and survey. The costs of getting the boat to the slip are usually negligible but could conceivably be added in, at least for the fuel required to get there and back.

As a next step, my advice would be to insist on a discussion on price and, when that is agreed, ask for a deposit of, say, 10% and document a simple agreement that the yacht is to be purchased subject to (a) a satisfactory sail and (b) a satisfactory survey at the purchaser's expense.

Before purchasing my current yacht, I had a similar agreement on a near new 34 footer. Having agreed a price, I paid a $10,000 deposit and we had a verbal agreement that it was subject to a satisfactory sail. I won't name the well-known brand but I was underwhelmed by the sailing performance and agreed to a second outing which proved to be no better. So I cancelled the sale and my deposit was back in my bank account the next day.

thats interesting ....... the bit about you being underwhelmed by the sailing performance .....

what was it you didnt like ????

It was sluggish and unresponsive mostly due to the displacement being 1 tonne more than the boat I did purchase which also had a slightly deeper draft.

so you tested a shoal draft cruiser , and ended up buying a deep fin club racer / cruiser ?

SandS said..
so you tested a shoal draft cruiser , and ended up buying a deep fin club racer / cruiser ?

No. Both were production cruisers. The difference in draft was 100mm so not really material. The main difference was, as stated, the displacement - 5.5 vs 6.5 tonnes.

I'm in the middle of selling my boat. None of the previous buyers wanted a test sail but this guy did and he put a deposit down pending survey.
She sails well so I should have pushed for more test sails in the past maybe.

SandS said..

Gravy7 said..

SandS said..
so you tested a shoal draft cruiser , and ended up buying a deep fin club racer / cruiser ?

No. Both were production cruisers. The difference in draft was 100mm so not really material. The main difference was, as stated, the displacement - 5.5 vs 6.5 tonnes.

interesting .... i promise this is is not 20 questions ....... so, you tested a 38 and bought a 34 ?

No, again. Both were 10m hull length European production cruising yachts. For the next 17 questions, why not send me a PM and let the forum return to the topic?

Aktually, it is leaving me with the feeling, that you are trying to take the micky out of him, publicly!

McNaughtical said..
I'm in the process of buying a boat. Broker wouldn't put an offer to the seller without a $1000 refundable deposit. Won't turn the motor on before seller signs off on my offer, and balance of 10 percent deposit paid. purchase is subject to satisfactory survey and sea trial.
A lot depends on how much you're buying or selling for. Selling a boat, I wouldn't agree to survey and sea trial before deposit paid. Too many who just come for a curious look and not serious.

I would be seriously concerned if a broker refused to start the engine without a contract and deposit paid...It's part of the inspection before you make an offer to hear it run and see if it leaks oil or water.
Unless it's a very very expensive boat...?

Wow thanks guys a lot of good ideas there.
So where can i get a suitable contract from as i dont have a broker can i download something or should i just write down the basics and get it signed.

I have used a bill of sale to sell numerous things. It can be modified to suit the transaction.

www.free-legal-document.com/bill-of-sale-template.html