After survey return, would you ask for price reduction?

[NC-C320]

The survey will almost always find problems ....same with house inspection before buying. People doing these inspections will want to show the person paying that they have been diligent, and worth the fee they are charging. So, only in a rare situation will a boat be so good that nothing is found, especially in older boats. Maybe I see it wrong, but I believe one of the reasons that people pay to have a survey is so they (1) have a way of walking away if they don't like the survey or have second thoughts about the deal that has been tentatively struck, and (2) as a means of hammering down the seller for a better price using the survey as justification. (Of course, they also may need a good survey for financing or insurance.)

The deal is never done until it is done, and sometimes it's reopened after the transaction is "complete"....i.e. you didn't disclose or kept hidden certain things that buyer should have been informed about, so my lawyer will be contacting your lawyer if we can't resolve this between us....price adjustment.

Shouldn't be that way, but it is....in business and other things as well as boats.

 

[LloydB]

The way I read your original post you negotiated the best price for the boat as it stands ready to sail except for the known disclosed items(those items existing but not discussed in the original post). You then put your money on that price provided the survey didn't discover additional expenditure. The survey did discover: fittings on the deck and rigging need re bedding, that the exhaust system has an exhaust leak and all the tubing in the fuel system needed replacing because it’s not USCG A1 tubing. The surveyor also recommended replacing the exhaust system. The exhaust and fuel MUST be repaired before using the boat so get a bid from a qualified shop as it's now documented, the price should be reduced that much at least. The bedding and exhaust system depend on safety and the strength of the surveyors recommendation. A test would be to ask yourself if you bought the boat today could you turn around and sell it, without making the repairs noted on the survey, for the same agreed price.

 

[Rich (P303)]

Hey Hobie 16... you have generated many responses! You will need insurance, and as other posts have said... your insurance carrier will have you sign off on all the required repairs your surveyor finds. Coming from a Hobie 16 (like me to your first 30' boat), you will have to shop around for insurance, as many will consider you too much of a risk and not underwrite. Good Luck.

 

[rardiH36]

Hey Hobie 16... you have generated many responses! You will need insurance, and as other posts have said... your insurance carrier will have you sign off on all the required repairs your surveyor finds. Coming from a Hobie 16 (like me to your first 30' boat), you will have to shop around for insurance, as many will consider you too much of a risk and not underwrite. Good Luck.

If so, consider adding your boat to your homeowners policy for liability only. No issue for me with AAA. My main concern though is that AAA has been totally ambiguous about if they will cover an environment citation. i.e. Say my boat gets holed and 20 gallons of diesel end up in the bay.

 

[Ray Bowles]

Rayhi, Did the surveyor have the boat hauled out of the water and inspect the bottom and was a sea trial done? If yes to both then the above posts cover just about everything.
If those items were not done then there could be major problems.
Ray

 

[J Hunter]

I'd guess the parts and materials for the repairs your surveyor deemed necessary are only 2 or 3 hundred bucks and you sound like you will be doing the work yourself, so you won't have any other cash expenses to bring the boat to good condition. That's probably not much more than you paid the surveyor for his opinion that pretty much confirmed the integrity of the seller and the vessel. Shake hands, enjoy your boat.

 

[petersea]

I am in the camp that you should ask for a reduction maybe 50% of the cost to have a yard repair issues. I disagree with the "maintenance" theory because if this was a car and it needed brakes or tires or exhaust it would also be maintenance but you would not pay top dollar for the car. The price is truly the deciding factor here if this is a once in a lifetime steal of a price maybe OK with out reduction but if you are paying going rate ask for a reduction. As others have said the owner has the option to reject and you will still have the survey cost on your dime so be careful of what you ask for and be willing to work out reasonable price. To all the people who say these are maintenance items please go back and read the original post. This is his first boat purchase he may not be aware of what maintenance is required or know what a bad exhaust system looks like. This is why he hired a surveyor to check out the boat condition because most first timers do not know what they are looking at. Also keep in mind the safety items MUST be fixed. (i.e. the exhaust leak) The owner will most likely have to repair for you or another buyer if you can't work this out. Without having a idea of the price vs value of the boat no one can really decide what is the correct thing to do. You may want to ask your surveyor for some "advise" in this area. Either way good luck with your boat !

 

[Stu Jackson]

To all the people who say these are maintenance items please go back and read the original post. This is his first boat purchase he may not be aware of what maintenance is required or know what a bad exhaust system looks like.

That's immaterial. A boat is a boat, whether it's a first or a tenth.

Chainplates ARE a maintenance item. They are SO easily done, but so many are neglected.

The exhaust leak could be considered a maintenance item, too. It would be on my boat.

The fuel lines, being so old, are also a maintenance item.

A definition of maintenance is: repairs required to maintain the condition of the boat and/or its various components. Any deferred maintenance leads to potential serious damage of any part on the overall performance of the boat. Long-deferred maintenance hints at neglect.

That said, we haven't heard back from the OP about the price he got compared to "street value" or any of the other items discussed.

Nice boat.

 

[petersea]

That's immaterial. A boat is a boat, whether it's a first or a tenth.

Chainplates ARE a maintenance item. They are SO easily done, but so many are neglected.

The exhaust leak could be considered a maintenance item, too. It would be on my boat.

The fuel lines, being so old, are also a maintenance item.

Stu, I think you may have missed my point here. You are clearly and experienced owner and maybe more aware of boat maintance then most. The original poster said it was his first boat and this is some of what a surveyor is supposed to find out. The survey showed a boat that had some maintance items that needed to be addressed. Maybe the purchaser was aware of these defects but if so he did not say and if he did know of they why would he bring it up now after the survey. The exhaust leak is clearly a safety issue at this point. Maintance would have been to repair it either before or when it started to leak not at time of sale because it was found defective in a survey. My point is that the purchaser paid for a survey to get a condition /value report of the boat. Needed maintance would go to value and depending on the price and how much maintenance it needed could be a reason for cost consideration. Almost any repair could be considered maintance but that does not change the fact that something needs to be fixed. I think he is entitled to re-negotiate.

 

[c_witch]

Hmm why complicate this for the guy? He stated that this was his 'First' boat purchase. It seems he likely put forth his bid not knowing about these issues which the surveyor has now disclosed to him. Asking for a price reduction on these items seems perfectly logical to me. The owner can agree/disagree or negotiate. The buyer can then decide to proceed or cancel. Hopefully he has a contigent upon survey in the offer agreement.

c_witch

 

[dive7mmwet]

I had a pre purchase survey done after that several items were found the surveyor said these were service items , I dis agreed the boat was listed as ready to sail. with that we took a 50-50 on cost for repairs and with this approach the owner was not too happy but did agree to our concessions on price sighting safety, deal done ! its a buyers market and way too many neglected "OLD BOATS" that should meet the chain saw vs the water!

 

[Chris Patterson]

How much toilet paper was left on the roll? Count the remaining feet, and deduct what is missing, say, at .03 cents per square.

Back to the bargaining table..

 

[Kettlewell]

Everything is negotiable, no matter what the agreement says, but my bottom line is always "what is the boat worth to me." If the original price is right and those items fall within about what I was expecting to be found I probably wouldn't ask for a reduction, but if I was expecting a turn-key boat and was paying for that level of condition I would probably try to negotiate down. To me that type of stuff sounds very good for a boat of that age, and I would probably be quite happy with the survey--the price negotiated originally determines whether or not it is time to renegotiate.