Why I dislike working with brokers

M

mrsrobinson

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2006
7,704
Virginia
Boat Info
2001 380DA
Engines
Caterpillar 3126
I made a verbal offer, followed by an email, on a Virginia Beach, VA 2004 340 on Sunday, less than 24 hours after driving 5 hours round trip to look at it. While looking at the boat the broker told me if I like it get an offer in quick because someone was travelling from out of town this coming Saturday to see it. Thus why I got an offer in quickly.

The broker finally replied to my verbal/email offer Monday stating he was working on it, which I took to mean presenting to the seller. I was waiting for the electronic purchase agreement, and for him to ask me for my address and such for the agreement. I texted him this morning asking for an update. No reply. I just called him, and he tells me he has another offer on the boat, $2k more than mine, and that I still "might have a chance". It's an electronic purchase agreement offer. I asked him why he never sent me one, he said I never gave him my information. I asked him why I never heard back from my offer, he gave me a song and dance about me not giving him my information to complete the purchase agreement, that he told me about the other offer, etc. All BS. Every broker I've every made an offer to immediately asked for my information so they could send me the digital/electronic purchase agreement. Then he goes on to say "I was getting the information you requested, and I have that now". All I asked for was confirmation on maintenance/service information he volunteered to me and/or I asked about, and confirmation on the engine hours, as I had 3 different numbers: what's in the ad, what I saw while on the boat and what he texted me when I asked him later in the day Sunday.

I hate dealing with brokers. My guess is he used my offer as leverage with the other interested buyer to get a higher offer pending their inspection this Saturday.

I have yet to find one who's honest, who know's the boat and can answer basic questions like "when were the risers/manifolds last replaced?".
 
Agreed. Very hard to find a decent broker. Most are just a step above used car salesman. You knew something was "wrong" when you didn't get it finalized Monday. It's not that hard to call the owner and handle an hour or two of back and fourth if needed.
 
Golfman25 said:
Agreed. Very hard to find a decent broker. Most are just a step above used car salesman. You knew something was "wrong" when you didn't get it finalized Monday. It's not that hard to call the owner and handle an hour or two of back and fourth if needed.
Click to expand...
Agreed, my gut told me there was something off about this one when I first called the broker and ask to come see the boat.

First he agreed to the time I proposed. Prior to leaving I texted him to confirm. He calls me back and says it's not a good time because the boats not clean. Strange since he knew I was coming and should have had it cleaned. He then asked if I could come the next day after he went to church. All I can think is I'm investing 5 hours of my time driving and all he can think about is church and not being inconvenienced. I told him no, and after a lot of back-and-forth he finally agreed to meet me Saturday, but asked that I come later in the afternoon which I begrudgingly did.

After looking at the boat, he said let's go back to my office to talk. It's well-known you're stronger negotiating over the phone not in person so I told him I'd get back to him on Sunday, which I did.

I'm just really pissed off about this one.
 
Did I see on another thread it was listed for 69k ? Seems awfully cheap for a 2004 340.
I would be leary from the start.
 
Craig said:
Did I see on another thread it was listed for 69k ? Seems awfully cheap for a 2004 340.
I would be leary from the start.
Click to expand...
Yes, the price was dropped 10K last week. The seller's spouse has serious health issues so he needs to sell. I did my due diligence and went over the boat and it shows very well. And I would have gotten survey, sea trial, engine compression checks and so forth prior to purchase.

East Coast comps are in the upper 60s to low 80s for 2003 to 2005.
 
Craig said:
Definitely sound like a slimey broker.
Click to expand...
I just talked to someone who knows the broker and knows the real story. The broker is selling the seller a larger boat. Part of the deal is the broker selling his 340. The broker has had a deal in the works for over a week for selling the 340, prior to ever talking to me and prior to me looking at it. I'm guessing I was his backup in case that deal fell through.

That is just unethical and should somehow be reported. I'm probably a little more frustrated than normal people would be because I've been dealing with this crap with brokers for over 6 months.

I had a similar experience with a Cruisers Yachts 370 I was looking to buy. In that case we reached an agreed price, I thought they were sending me the purchase agreement, the one they sent me was for another buyer already signed at a higher price. When I asked why they did that they said it was a mistake.

Oh, and by way the broker for the 340 is Sea DA Yachts in Virginia Beach Virginia, stay away
 
Last edited:
Man I feel your pain. We went through a bunch of fools before we got lucky in our search for Serenity. Although in retrospect I think part of the problem may also be caused by inconsiderate buyers. Or rather buyers who really aren’t buyers, but more like perpetual lookers. A couple times it seemed we surprised our broker either by being prepared, or doing something we said we would.

H
 
mrsrobinson said:
....he finally agreed to meet me Saturday, but asked that I come later in the afternoon which I begrudgingly did. After looking at the boat, he said let's go back to my office to talk. It's well-known you're stronger negotiating over the phone not in person so I told him I'd get back to him on Sunday, which I did.

I'm just really pissed off about this one.
Click to expand...
Why?
 
I understand your concerns but I do wonder if you hired a competent buyers broker if some of the stress would be relieved. There are some great people in the business but hard to find sometimes.
 
NotHerDecision said:
I understand your concerns but I do wonder if you hired a competent buyers broker if some of the stress would be relieved. There are some great people in the business but hard to find sometimes.
Click to expand...

I agree, as I said earlier, we went through a bunch of fools, until we met the two folks who found and sold us the boat we now have. It’s unfortunate we didn’t meet them earlier.
H
 
Woody said:
Why?
Click to expand...
I learned this in training at my first job out of college where I settled multi million dollar law suites. In my opinion it gives you time to pause, think, not show emotion, or be emotional, not get wrapped up in back/forth, etc. Just my opinion really though I have read quite a bit on it as well. It's like the car salesman who doesn't want you to leave the lot. I always leave and call back, or email back, and even more recently, texted back.
 
Last edited:
NotHerDecision said:
I understand your concerns but I do wonder if you hired a competent buyers broker if some of the stress would be relieved. There are some great people in the business but hard to find sometimes.
Click to expand...
I am actually doing just that. He's the one who called the broker and got the real story. I have not "hired" him, he's been helping me look for the next boat for a while. I like him, he's good. I increased my budget recently without telling him, thus why he did not find this one before I did. And I honestly was not convinced i was going to love the 340, so I wanted to look at it on my own first.

He's checking on one for me tomorrow near him.
 
mrsrobinson said:
I made a verbal offer, followed by an email, on a Virginia Beach, VA 2004 340 on Sunday, less than 24 hours after driving 5 hours round trip to look at it. While looking at the boat the broker told me if I like it get an offer in quick because someone was travelling from out of town this coming Saturday to see it. Thus why I got an offer in quickly.

The broker finally replied to my verbal/email offer Monday stating he was working on it, which I took to mean presenting to the seller. I was waiting for the electronic purchase agreement, and for him to ask me for my address and such for the agreement. I texted him this morning asking for an update. No reply. I just called him, and he tells me he has another offer on the boat, $2k more than mine, and that I still "might have a chance". It's an electronic purchase agreement offer. I asked him why he never sent me one, he said I never gave him my information. I asked him why I never heard back from my offer, he gave me a song and dance about me not giving him my information to complete the purchase agreement, that he told me about the other offer, etc. All BS. Every broker I've every made an offer to immediately asked for my information so they could send me the digital/electronic purchase agreement. Then he goes on to say "I was getting the information you requested, and I have that now". All I asked for was confirmation on maintenance/service information he volunteered to me and/or I asked about, and confirmation on the engine hours, as I had 3 different numbers: what's in the ad, what I saw while on the boat and what he texted me when I asked him later in the day Sunday.

I hate dealing with brokers. My guess is he used my offer as leverage with the other interested buyer to get a higher offer pending their inspection this Saturday.

I have yet to find one who's honest, who know's the boat and can answer basic questions like "when were the risers/manifolds last replaced?".
Click to expand...


Bummer
 
My story. Couple of years ago I was interested in a boat in Lauderdale. Called broker repeatedly, even on his personal cell. The day before i left i called to verify, "I'm looking at it outside my window " he said. Road trip from Grand Rapids, Mich. I arrive early in the morning. Can't find boat. He finally arrives, can't find boat. Come to find out the boat was sold 2 weeks earlier! But, he has others i may be interested in. Took a pic of his license and turned him in to Florida. It seems the state frowns on this type of behavior. He denied ever speaking with me, until i submitted my phone records. I never followed up so i don't know the outcome.
 
Jeepers said:
My story. Couple of years ago I was interested in a boat in Lauderdale. Called broker repeatedly, even on his personal cell. The day before i left i called to verify, "I'm looking at it outside my window " he said. Road trip from Grand Rapids, Mich. I arrive early in the morning. Can't find boat. He finally arrives, can't find boat. Come to find out the boat was sold 2 weeks earlier! But, he has others i may be interested in. Took a pic of his license and turned him in to Florida. It seems the state frowns on this type of behavior. He denied ever speaking with me, until i submitted my phone records. I never followed up so i don't know the outcome.
Click to expand...
Wow, I am shaking my head. Sorry to hear this.

How do I report a broker to my state?
 
I worked with a broker for quite a while to both sell my boat and buy one. It was a frustrating process that took longer than buying a house, but he was at least ethical.

Sometimes it's the seller that's the problem too. I looked at one boat that was a 4 hour drive away where the seller ended up being a total nutjob. He was such a boob he had no business owning a boat. It was getting an awlgrip job so that delayed seeing if for a while. When I saw it the boat was dirty, but I thought perhaps that was just from winter storage. At the survey the seller still had not done any cleaning - the broker had scrambled to try to clean it up. Turns out the diesel engine had major problems from the owner overheating it on multiple occasions, the shaft seal was bad from a misaligned shaft, which in turn trashed the transmission so it sounded like rocks in a washer. It was so bad the surveyor stopped the sea trial to return to the dock ASAP. The electrical system had major issues on the genny and the shore power, and the shower sump was bad in leaking. Plus so much more.

All this was despite the owner insisting the boat was in perfect shape and not understanding why I didn't want it. Even though he had been the original selling broker, he ended of "firing" the seller for massively wasting his time and mine.
 
b_arrington said:
I worked with a broker for quite a while to both sell my boat and buy one. It was a frustrating process that took longer than buying a house, but he was at least ethical.

Sometimes it's the seller that's the problem too. I looked at one boat that was a 4 hour drive away where the seller ended up being a total nutjob. He was such a boob he had no business owning a boat. It was getting an awlgrip job so that delayed seeing if for a while. When I saw it the boat was dirty, but I thought perhaps that was just from winter storage. At the survey the seller still had not done any cleaning - the broker had scrambled to try to clean it up. Turns out the diesel engine had major problems from the owner overheating it on multiple occasions, the shaft seal was bad from a misaligned shaft, which in turn trashed the transmission so it sounded like rocks in a washer. It was so bad the surveyor stopped the sea trial to return to the dock ASAP. The electrical system had major issues on the genny and the shore power, and the shower sump was bad in leaking. Plus so much more.

All this was despite the owner insisting the boat was in perfect shape and not understanding why I didn't want it. Even though he had been the original selling broker, he ended of "firing" the seller for massively wasting his time and mine.
Click to expand...
Shaking my head even more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,144
Messages
1,427,206
Members
61,057
Latest member
DrBones!
Back
Top