Spent 4 hours showing the boat yesterday

So, should I assume that you folks, when selling a boat, or something, just stand there and wait for the buyer to ask questions? Call it an interview or whatever, my guess is you ask something to try to figure out the buyers situation and if they are serious.

Based on some of the comments here though I assume you folks just stand there and say "Any questions?", "None, well thanks for your interest, have a great day".

How can you close a sale if you are not asking questions? Guess I missed something from the smart folks here.
 
The first question I'm going to ask is, what kind of beer do you drink?

Knowing if they own/have owned a boat is one thing, but asking them if they've ever owned a big boat is another. Smaller, inexpensive boats (not like most Sea Rays, period) that are kept on trailers are bought/sold differently than multi-engine cabin cruisers with multiple complex systems on board. One is like a weekend toy, the other is more like a house, except much more complicated.

I bought my first boat from a dealer, in N Texas, at the end of August, sight unseen. I had visited the factory in Austin the week prior and I knew which boat they had coming. I got one hell of a great price on it, then moved to San Antonio the next week. When I sold it, we wrote out an agreement and handed it over.

My current boat involved a broker, insurance, loans, survey, hauling, prop work, air travel, sea trial, hotels, plans to cruise it back home... It's not the same.
 
This is a bit opposite of what you are doing but it is apropos.

No Not after what I have went through and I even stated I had the money up front. When the time comes and if I decide to trade up to something just a little larger or a different style for retirement I am going to look for nothing less then a dedicated seller. One who is going to have to understand about what a survey may find and what they are willing to do if something is discovered.

It is just to bad that there are not enough honest boat owners out there, but to many who have boats with issues and are trying to pass them off at over-inflated prices.

:thumbsup: To you!
 
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There are situations where employing a broker makes a lot of sense. Consider:

1. Generally, a broker will get more for a boat and sell it quicker than a FSBO....usually more than enough to offset his commission.
2. A broker is a professional salesman. His job is to find, qualify and sell your boat and he has no vested interest in the boat or pride in "his baby" to get in the way of attaining the primary objective of selling the boat.
3. Qualifying a buyer in this credit market is key. In this climate, it is going to be harder and harder to get financing for a boat purchase and lenders won't be allowing any funny business in the loan process like over valuing trades, adding acquisition expenses to and financing them in the loan for the boat, etc.
4.A broker has advertising venues and a budget that you do not have access to and cannot afford.
5. He is market current; you are not.
6. The broker must deal with serious buyers, mess with the tire kickers and fool with looky-loo's; its his job to ferret out one from the others. Can you?
7.You may not be a salesman; it is the broker's chosen profession.
8. You may not be inclined to deal with John Q Public who has no reguard for your time, wants a complete service history and 800 photos of every nook and cranny before he even comes to look at the boat; a broker knows how to handle Mr. Public.
9. A broker has the time to invest in making a sale; boating is your hobby....you have a job, a career, family responsibilities, etc. and may not have adequate time to properly sell your own boat.

A 10% commission might not be a bad investment, particularly in today's economy. If you are moving up, freeing yourself from your current boat allows you to make a smart buy in a serious buyer's market, and I can make the case that you will more than recover the broker's commission on your current boat in negotiating a smart deal on the new one.
 
When I shopped, the first thing I told the brokers was that I had a '97 250 that I had to trade. There were not many options for me, and they all were priced at the medium to high end. I saved the value of my 250 by buying direct from a seller's broker (not a dealer), then sold my 250 6 months later. My honesty and directness combined with the honesty of brokers (can't take a 250 on trade) cut out 75% of my options, but left me only with the viable ones.

Point is - honesty and directness up front can turn a bunch of deals off, but it will save everyone time and frustration because those deals would not have worked anyway.
 
I agree with Frank, get a broker. (not that he needs anyone like me to agree with him)


I like to go to in-water boat shows. Lots of brokers. Look around and pick one.

Now if you want to go for a ride on a boat. When the broker asks you if you own a boat... say nope, just sold my 2006 410 and i've got money burning a hole in my pocket.
 
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mrsrobinson said:
Why not? Lets me know if I am working with someone who has been through this process before...where's the harm? The only way to get information is to either ask questions or hope they volunteer it...right?

The gentlemen, and that's stretching it, I worked with here was clueless and fought me on everything I consider an industry standard when buying/selling a boat.
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What industry standards did he fight you on? Sounded to me like he just couldn't afford what he was looking at and tried to get the price down. I reread some early posts. You said he indicated he liked the boat and was ready to buy. You said "contact me when your ready to make an offer". Days went by and he still hadn't contacted you.....no offer. If you would have left it at that the rest of the nightmare wouldn't have transpired. As you can see now there was a reason that he didn't get back to you.
 
Woody said:
What industry standards did he fight you on? Sounded to me like he just couldn't afford what he was looking at and tried to get the price down. I reread some early posts. You said he indicated he liked the boat and was ready to buy. You said "contact me when your ready to make an offer". Days went by and he still hadn't contacted you.....no offer. If you would have left it at that the rest of the nightmare wouldn't have transpired. As you can see now there was a reason that he didn't get back to you.
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He refused repeatedly to give us a deposit.

"If you would have left it at that the rest of the nightmare wouldn't have transpired"

He called me and made an offer, I did not call him.
 
Woody said:
What industry standards did he fight you on? Sounded to me like he just couldn't afford what he was looking at and tried to get the price down. I reread some early posts. You said he indicated he liked the boat and was ready to buy. You said "contact me when your ready to make an offer". Days went by and he still hadn't contacted you.....no offer. If you would have left it at that the rest of the nightmare wouldn't have transpired. As you can see now there was a reason that he didn't get back to you.
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People said to contact him if he hadn't heard from the prospective buyer within 'X' days. Keep reading down in the thread. I don't believe he called the buyer though. It's obvious Greg can't rehash every detail, every word, every everything that transpired between him and the buyer. One transaction is different from the next... what works one time may not work the next. There is no cookie cutter approach to every transaction. Experience will help, but it's not the end all be all to a completed transaction. If Greg listened to your advice, then others would tell him to call the buyer.... damned if you do, damned if you don't. I'm sure Greg handled the situation fine.

Doug
 
mrsrobinson said:
He refused repeatedly to give us a deposit.

"If you would have left it at that the rest of the nightmare wouldn't have transpired"

He called me and made an offer, I did not call him.
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You wanted to know if he was serious about buying, what did his refusal of a deposit tell you?

This is your post:
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09-17-2008, 05:36 PM
mrsrobinson
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Posts: 1,307


Re: Spent 4 hours showing the boat yesterday
I took Frank's advise and replied with a message similar to his follow up comment

""I'm willing to take the boat off the market while you do your due diligence , if that helps you. All we need to do is to agree on the terms and deposit, then I'll work with you and even help with the survey/sea trial process any way I can".

The potentiall buyer replied asking how much we wanted for a deposit and when could we talk.
__________________


Sometimes you have to read between the lines. He was letting you know along that he wasn't a legit buyer.
 
Woody said:
You wanted to know if he was serious about buying, what did his refusal of a deposit tell you?

This is your post:
post_old.gif
09-17-2008, 05:36 PM
mrsrobinson
user_offline.gif

Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Posts: 1,307


Re: Spent 4 hours showing the boat yesterday
I took Frank's advise and replied with a message similar to his follow up comment

""I'm willing to take the boat off the market while you do your due diligence , if that helps you. All we need to do is to agree on the terms and deposit, then I'll work with you and even help with the survey/sea trial process any way I can".

The potentiall buyer replied asking how much we wanted for a deposit and when could we talk.
__________________


Sometimes you have to read between the lines. He was letting you know along that he wasn't a legit buyer.
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Not sure what point you are trying to make here..yeah, I was foolish, yeah, laugh at me, flame me, I can take it, you will not hurt my feelings...I open myself up to this each time I post.

I agree with you 100%. At the time it was a red flag...but again, "in this market" "take his money and run" was on the back of my mind (mainly from the response here) each time he did something like this. This was the first time I ever did this when selling something like this and yes, I was not comfortable with it.

Lesson learned...even in a market like this get a financial commitment.
 
I think there is only ONE prequalification.

A sizeable deposit, along with a suitable purchase contract. All else is worthless talk. Sure, spend some time. Show the boat. Provide reasonable pictures. . . do all the broker stuff. Or hire a broker to do this stuff for you.

But at some point. . nothing further happens until there is a deposit and a purchase contract.

Note that there are plenty of threads where people can't get the attention of a broker. This stuff works both ways. You have to give people access to the boat so they can make an informed decision.
 
"But at some point. . nothing further happens until there is a deposit and a purchase contract."


Bingo, which is what I take with me on the next one, regardless.

The Mrs and I are debating at what point do you share this with a potential buyer. Our thought is when there is an offer. Another thought is maybe after the first showing, She thinks we will scare them away too soon. So what I say? Let them know then what it will take to continue.
 
Greg, I am not laughing at you. A few post back you stated you wanted to continue the thread, scenarios etc. I am just responding to the posts the way I read them. I think you boat is what you say it is and think it is priced in the ballpark(I did do some checking). You come off as honest and unlikely to try to deceive your buyers.

Some good advice has been given here but it seems you'rer asking so many questions you'rer not taking the time to understand the answers. Keep at it and the guy that really wants your boat will show up and then you'll be looking for your next one.
 
mrsrobinson said:
"But at some point. . nothing further happens until there is a deposit and a purchase contract."


Bingo, which is what I take with me on the next one, regardless.

The Mrs and I are debating at what point do you share this with a potential buyer. Our thought is when there is an offer. Another thought is maybe after the first showing, She thinks we will scare them away too soon. So what I say? Let them know then what it will take to continue.
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The appropiate time for both the deposit and contract to appear is when your buyer makes an offer that you accept.
After that the contract and the terms within govern all future interaction.
 
With all due respect, Greg, what you an Mrs. decide is the right time to ask for a deposit isn't as important as following industry standard practice. Ask for a deposit prematurely and you look like either a desperate seller, or one with something to hide.....ask too late and you run the risk of losing the sale to a competing boat or being taken for a long ride while the buyer keeps you tied up for his own purposes.

Once you and the buyer sign the yellow sheet with the terms on it, the negotiating stops........the deal is governed by the agreement from then on.

The right time is when the seller makes you an offer, as Woody offered. By then, you will have sold the boat and closed the buyer by asking him to buy. When an offer is made, the yellow pad comes out and you list the terms of the deal. I like just asking the seller for his contingencies as my pen is hovering over the sheet of paper. Most will cover the basics, but not press you for the hard stuff or tough schedules when you put that kind of pressure on them.

Another point worth mentioning is when you close or ask for the purchase, be prepared for "I'll need to sleep on it". At that point, politley ask "When can I expect to hear from you?" If you get an answer, end the meeeting, lock up the boat, and thank him for his interest and say how happy you are to have met him and give him your card with all your contact info on it........if he "hems and haws" around on that question, end the meeeting, lock up the boat, and thank him for his interest and say how happy you are to have met him and give him your card with all your contact info on it. Either way, you cannot afford to look eager. On the guys who said the'd call back and don't, give them a few extra days and call them to follow up........an "I'm leaving town and thought I should let you know I'll be out of touch for a while, so I thought I'd see if you had any other questions about our boat I can help you with" - kind of a call.
 
fwebster said:
There are situations where employing a broker makes a lot of sense. Consider:

......2. A broker is a professional salesman. His job is to find, qualify and sell your boat and he has no vested interest in the boat or pride in "his baby" to get in the way of attaining the primary objective of selling the boat.....

6. The broker must deal with serious buyers, mess with the tire kickers and fool with looky-loo's; its his job to ferret out one from the others. Can you?

......
Click to expand...

I agree with these statements. These are the two main reasons I chose to go with a broker when I sold my two previous boats. I spent time doing it myself for a while then felt a relief giving it to the broker.
 
fwebster said:
Another point worth mentioning is when you close or ask for the purchase, be prepared for "I'll need to sleep on it". At that point, politley ask "When can I expect to hear from you?" If you get an answer, end the meeeting, lock up the boat, and thank him for his interest and say how happy you are to have met him and give him your card with all your contact info on it........if he "hems and haws" around on that question, end the meeeting, lock up the boat, and thank him for his interest and say how happy you are to have met him and give him your card with all your contact info on it. Either way, you cannot afford to look eager. On the guys who said the'd call back and don't, give them a few extra days and call them to follow up........an "I'm leaving town and thought I should let you know I'll be out of touch for a while, so I thought I'd see if you had any other questions about our boat I can help you with" - kind of a call.
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I agree. This amount of money is not chump change to most. If it were chump change to your buyer. . .they would be looking at a bigger boat :grin:.

Signing the contract is the real deal. The point of no return. The deposit money is representing the buyers FIRM committment to buy. Closing is a trifle. Yes, yes, yes there are "surveys" and "seatrials", but the contract is the committment. Seatrial is not meant to be a joyride, but rather a verification that the boat is what you represented it to be.

So when push comes to shove. . . . it is reasonable to have second thoughts before passing over the check. But . . at that point. . .with the price agreed. . .the check is the next step.
 
So get a contract signed, with a deposit. Is the deposit refundable? My guess is only if the survey turns up something that the two parties cannot work out, and get this in writing.

We have another interested buyer who wants to see the boat this weekend, so an opportunity to practice!
 
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