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Guidance for Yacht Buyers

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Yachtwatch, Jan 2, 2005.

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  1. Yachtwatch

    Yachtwatch Guest

    Im writing this to hopefully save someone from making a costly mistake with the purchase of a vessel. I sell a good number of yachts each year and what I find interesting is that alot of clients have almost too much faith in the brokers they work with. When it comes to questions and information they ask the broker. Remember brokers are in the business to sell. In many cases the broker wants to make a deal and will somewhat tell the client what he or she wants to hear being careful not to put his foot in his mouth, but also tell the client what they want to hear. Websites such as this one can be a big help in asking questions and getting feed back... both good and bad. The Key thing is to get feed back from non bias parties. This is only one example.

    Another example would be one that really kills me. The survey performed by a certified surveyer. More cases out of none the client asks the broker for a surveyer. I have seen too many times brokers hire a person (a surveyer that is a freind) to do the survey and give them some verbal information about the client and the boat so the surveyer knows how to structure the survey to make the client happy. I recommend clients doing there own homework I usually give then a list of of good surveyers in the area that I reccomend and ask them to call them and ask them questions. Questions I ask them to ask the surveyers are how long have you been certified, how many surveys have they done on the vessel they are in process of buying (make model, year) ask them detailed questions about the boat to see if they really know their information. When you are buying either a 50 grand or a 2 million dollar vessel, do not take chances or someones word. Do your own homework this can save you alot of trouble and money.

    Matthew

    matthewstropes@hotmail.com
  2. D'ARTOIS

    D'ARTOIS New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2005
    Messages:
    45
    Location:
    Holland/France
    What you are putting forward, happens sometimes in the lower end of yachtbuilding/yachtbrokerage.
    In this end, hardly. Brokers have only one asset: their good name!

    Another issue might be the fact that prospect buyers, having a particular yacht in mind, will ask the builder for any particulars about the yacht they would like to buy. There are also other means to find out about a specific yacht's condition. Very little remains a secret in this end of yachting!

    It would be a very unwise approach to the prospect buyer to play any games with them.

    Respectfully,
    D'Artois
  3. nilo

    nilo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2005
    Messages:
    681
    Location:
    Istanbul
    i would like to add my comments as a buyer of yachts. fyg, i am a ship owner and buy and sell ships and have owned a number of boats for private use and presently i own two boats, a 51 footer lobster boat, which i use as a day boat and a european build motor yacht.

    when i deal with ships, this is business and i decide on basis of commercial considerations. however, when it comes to buying yachts there are sentiments involved. so, altough agree that brokers may tend to influence buyers and take advantage of this short coming, it is also a fact that buyers tend to behave illogically. this may even be correct for interpretation of surveyor's findings.

    it is important that a prudent buyer should be able to communicate clearly with himself and with the broker.