How to make a good offer on a boat for sale?
- Thread starter Ward H
- Start date
A few thoughts.... and for full disclosure, I have purchased 2 boats (both in the $25-30k range) and sold one of them.
1) I think you can usually get ~10% off the asking price. Both boats I bought were listed around $30k, and I offered $25K...both accepted.
2) Timing could be important...I bought 1 boat in the winter, long before the season starts to heat up in the Chicago area. I sold my boat at the end of the sailing season, and was motivated since since I did not want to pay winter storage, and I already purchased my second boat.
Spring time is usually better for the seller...people want to buy boats when they can use them. End of season, or winter, is probably better for the buyer.
Not sure about regions that have year around sailing...maybe seasons don't matter there.
3) if you come across as being overly "picky" during an inspection, sellers probably would consider another buyer...no one wants a deal with a super-picky buyer who will want to find every excuse to lower the purchase price after a survey. That doesn't mean don't take a survey seriously and ask for fair and reasonable adjustments, but don't try to chisel the seller on unreasonable or minor issues.
4) financing or other contingencies can be a turnoff for the seller. They won't want to pass on another offer because someone has a contigency (especially to sell another boat). Get your financing set up in advance, and be confident you can close the deal.
My 2 cents...YMMV.
Good luck with your search.
Greg
1) I think you can usually get ~10% off the asking price. Both boats I bought were listed around $30k, and I offered $25K...both accepted.
2) Timing could be important...I bought 1 boat in the winter, long before the season starts to heat up in the Chicago area. I sold my boat at the end of the sailing season, and was motivated since since I did not want to pay winter storage, and I already purchased my second boat.
Spring time is usually better for the seller...people want to buy boats when they can use them. End of season, or winter, is probably better for the buyer.
Not sure about regions that have year around sailing...maybe seasons don't matter there.
3) if you come across as being overly "picky" during an inspection, sellers probably would consider another buyer...no one wants a deal with a super-picky buyer who will want to find every excuse to lower the purchase price after a survey. That doesn't mean don't take a survey seriously and ask for fair and reasonable adjustments, but don't try to chisel the seller on unreasonable or minor issues.
4) financing or other contingencies can be a turnoff for the seller. They won't want to pass on another offer because someone has a contigency (especially to sell another boat). Get your financing set up in advance, and be confident you can close the deal.
My 2 cents...YMMV.
Good luck with your search.
Greg
Electronics do not age well ( become obsolete quickly), but having the electronics on the boat you buy can be very important. Replacing, or adding new electronics can be costly and time consuming. As long the electronics work and are serviceable, they don't have to be the latest and greatest. Both of my boats had an older Autohelm wheel pilot, and other instruments...they worked and that was all I needed.
Greg
It's a sailboat so the most valuable and important thing on a $30,000 boat is good New sails. And cheep China sails are exactly that. Of corse the diesel engine is worth 10 grand. Of its value as well
Even if you don't care about what the surveyor has to say (some of us can do our own survey), I should think one must have a survey for the insurance on a newly purchased used boat.
That may be, but anybody can have the survey done post-sale to get insurance if necessary. My last insurance quote didn't ask anything about a survey, just had a questionnaire, pretty much based on a self-survey. Maybe I'm too naïve but in a case with an obviously well-maintained boat in the $20,000 range for a 30 footer, I don't think I'd feel like there is a lot of risk involved. If you can run the engine under load at speed for an hour during a sea trial, wouldn't its condition be fairly evident? I don't look at it as being at risk for the whole purchase price. I would figure that if I can't see anything after careful self-examination, the monetary risk for something I miss would be for substantially less money than the purchase price. The big ticket item I would worry about most would be the engine. Other items might hurt a bit to have to replace right away, but how much is really at risk when you are looking at a boat that is in prime condition, with maintenance records, etc.?
A seller with a boat in prime condition, and more than one interested party might easily prefer to favor a buyer who is going to avoid the survey. Why bother with the time and haggling afterwards if you don't have to? Just because he selects a buyer for that reason doesn't mean he has something to hide. So the question is, if you had to compete against another buyer, would you skip the survey if you can't find any defects on your own?
I think a seller may let his/her boat go for less if the buyer appears "in love" with it, and the boat is going to "a good home." This view would be anathema to the idea that every seller wants the last dollar possible from his/her boat sale. So find one you do "love" and make it apparent, don't try to nit-pick it to death, then tell the broker/seller that the offer you are willing to make is as high as you can go; period. Make the offer. If they refuse then find another boat and try again. Obviously, cash works best & the offer has to be a "reasonable" one.
Also, you can go lower on an offer if the first, higher one, is rejected. In some cases this works for some folks if the offers are not too close together in time. The seller might have gotten other offers much lower than your first one, and might be willing to come down to a second, lower, offer from you if it's still better than those others he's received.
Also, you can go lower on an offer if the first, higher one, is rejected. In some cases this works for some folks if the offers are not too close together in time. The seller might have gotten other offers much lower than your first one, and might be willing to come down to a second, lower, offer from you if it's still better than those others he's received.
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Scott,
I could take a diesel that has been submerged in salt water for a few days to a week and have it running in a few hours. It would run like a Swiss watch for at least your hour and more likely a year, but sooner or later all that salt in the bearings and cylinders is going to come back to haunt you.
On the same note, a Katrina or Harvey damaged boat could also be brought back to look fantastic and for some time be of no bother, but eventually there would be delamination in any plywood (bulkheads, flooring, cabinetry), electrical problems etc. and her true state would become evident.
These days it is especially important that one use the most qualified and capable surveyor available as there are going to be more and more hurricane damaged vessels on the market, looking great and selling at a premium price, to catch those like you who wish to trust the seller. No offense. We've seen this phenomena grow rapidly in the wake of hurricane Katrina in the land vehicle market.
Buyer beware is absolutely the only way to go into something like buying a boat and trusting anyone can be a mistake. The very best con men are those who inspire the most trust. Sorry.
DUE DILIGENCE
like someone also stated-boats are like cars they made a million of them
If it is not what you want walk away...
we bought our boat in February in KY..
we did our due diligence and were happy with that and the price-Surveyor was great as was the broker
like someone also stated-boats are like cars they made a million of them
If it is not what you want walk away...
we bought our boat in February in KY..
we did our due diligence and were happy with that and the price-Surveyor was great as was the broker
Hey, wait, I resemble this remark! I turned down an offer from a potential buyer because I didn't think my boat was a good match for him and I didn't like him. After a while I received another offer from someone who fell in love with the boat. After buying it he sent me text telling me how much he liked the boat. A year later he sent me another text telling me how happy he was with the boat. A very happy customer. To me, that was worth a few bucks.
A couple of years ago I moved to a new marina. In the yard was a Tanzer 22 that looked familiar, turns out it was my first boat. Sailed it for about 15 years, she was like a high school sweetheart. Now I look at her and sigh. The new owners (the 4th owner) just don't take care of her well enough nor sail her well or often enough. Every now and then I think I should buy her back, but that would probably cause me to be single again. So I just sigh.
This is all great advice -- you guys should publish this thread in a book.One more piece - a boat broker is just like a real estate agent, an indirect line to the seller. The only time I bought through a broker, I let the broker understand what I was thinking with my offer. I believe he transmitted that logic to the seller. My current boat was for sale for over a year, which is not uncommon in this buyer's market. I expected that the owners were sick of paying storage and insurance for a boat they had no interest in owning. I told the broker what I thought the boat would eventually sell for under those circumstances, and that my offer was substantially lower than their ask in hopes of reaching that price. We eventually settled around my guesstimate. Don't be frightened of "insulting" the seller with an offer - most people are not that sensitive and are looking to move their old boat.