Advice to brokers

[El Capitan]

Guys and gals,

I know your jobs aren't easy. I'm sure you have to deal with buyers who demand much of your time and energy only to buy a boat elsewhere. But for gods sake please stop with the "...shes priced to sell..." and "...at that price she wont last long..." BS.

I've spoken with a few brokers already in my search for a 300 WE or 340 DA/EC and am a bit frustrated when the listing broker has no knowledge of the specific boat he/she is listing or even familiar with the make and model. Spend a little time researching the boats you have listed, it really comes across more professional and instills more trust and confidence in buyers.

Lastly, stop assuming all I care about is the price. Every broker Ive spoken to this week starts off with selling me on the price. "She may need a little love and attention but at that price she's a great deal". Really? really!? I'm not really interested in your biased opinion bro. Nor am I shopping based on price as my primary criteria. What I am looking for is...well....a cream puff. And I sure as hell am willing and expect to pay more for it. You see not all buyers are cheap-skates. Some of us place value on, well, value, not "cheap".

I'd much rather pay an extra $5k over and above average sale price for a boat that is in cherry condition. I'm looking to see tell tale signs of constant maintenance and upkeep. I want service history and records i.e. receipts, I'd love to know if you knew the owner and are familiar with the boat since it was kept at your listing marina. I would really appreciate if you would see to it that the boat was somewhat clean, I mean after driving a couple hours to take a first look at your boat (first impressions) its very much appreciated that the boat isnt covered in soot, and I'd really appreciate it if the boat actually looked like the dad-gum pics you posted.

IMO these are simple logical things buyers expect. In return, I wont pull your chain or waste your time. If the boat sucks then I'll tell you. If the boat is nice I'll tell you and we can discuss next steps in my purchase process, but please stop with the sales pitch and just show me you know what youre talking about.

Rant over.

 

[CliffA]

someone is having a bad day.......

 

[04cobra23]

Good luck finding that needle in a haystack.

 

[northshore]

I get a bit of the frustration but dropping it all on the broker is a bit misguided. No broker is going to tell you 'Yes shes a real $h|tbox'! They dont know your capabilities (what are you willing to take on) and what you are looking for till you tell them. Something I might think is a great fixer-upper might look like garbage to you.

Many times they don't bring the boats in to the brokerage - they get it handed to them by the owner of the brokerage. Much like the manger of the new car lot takes in the trades and the used car lot gets to deal with them. Another thing is the motivation of the seller. If the boat is in good shape and they have all the maintenance records, the boat will most likely show up at the brokerage clean and ready for sale. Knowing the info is there and the boat was taken care of, it's obviously easier to sell if the price is reasonable.

Hang in there, The guy I bought my boat off of had effectively kicked me off the lot a few years earlier (loooong story). I would refer anyone to him now - he was that helpful as were the rest of the people that he worked with.

If you really want to see the Good, the Bad and the Ugly in world - start looking for a used boat.

 

[bahamabreisus]

As a broker here in NC, I pride myself in knowing all my listings. I can tell prospective buyers all the ins and outs of my listings, before making you drive for hours, its a waste of your time as well as mine. Problem is there are to many brokers who have never even laid eyes on the boats they have for sale. The seller has taken the pics and sent them to the broker. I share your frustration, I have spent may hours going to look at boats with clients that were misrepresented to me also. If you have not seen it, heard it run, sea trialed it, how can you represent it, I dont know. Just my rant to join yours. Good luck with your search, there is one out there.

 

[mnm99]

Get a new Broker...When I bought my boat he wouldn't sell me something he wouldn't buy himself. Never talked BS. I bought my boat sight unseen...I had that much trust in him. He drove 300 miles 2 times to make sure I was getting the best for my money. He never sells a boat without seeing it and also never sells a boat without being at the Survey. He will get on a plane and go anywhere in the country to sell a boat without additional cost..Now that's a GREAT broker that i can call a friend now. I don't know who you are dealing with, but get rid of him/her.

 

[k9medic]

No broker is going to tell you 'Yes shes a real $h|tbox'!

I actually had a broker tell me that when we looked at a boat he was listing. I told him upfront that I had never looked at an aft cabin and only wanted to see if it would be something I would like.

In the end I ended up with that same model (albeit in better condition) boat.

 

[northshore]

I actually had a broker tell me that when we looked at a boat he was listing. I told him upfront that I had never looked at an aft cabin and only wanted to see if it would be something I would like.

In the end I ended up with that same model (albeit in better condition) boat.

Nice! (on several levels!)

 

[dpmulvey]

Don't confuse an honest professional broker with a salesperson looking for a buck.

I have my own issues with broker/dealers not willing to take any risk on trades but willing to sell you something at top dollar. Yet another reason boating is taking it in the shorts while golf is making a slow comeback.

 

[northshore]

Yet another reason boating is taking it in the shorts while golf is making a slow comeback.

My boat has never treated me as bad as my golf clubs do :smt013

 

[Jack380AC]

Get a new Broker...When I bought my boat he wouldn't sell me something he wouldn't buy himself. Never talked BS. I bought my boat sight unseen...I had that much trust in him. He drove 300 miles 2 times to make sure I was getting the best for my money. He never sells a boat without seeing it and also never sells a boat without being at the Survey. He will get on a plane and go anywhere in the country to sell a boat without additional cost..Now that's a GREAT broker that i can call a friend now. I don't know who you are dealing with, but get rid of him/her.

When the time comes, I want this guy to sell my boat.

 

[Carver370]

I have flown thousands of miles and driven countless hours to check out certain listings for customers only to find the listing broker has no clue about the boat they listed. One time the boat wasn't where they told us it was...... Then we found out that the owner had sold it 3 months earlier and it went to another state.

I share your frustration. Wish I had a cream puff 340 to sell you!

 

[fwebster]

I think your expectations may be a little high and perhaps if you looked at the bigger picture you might get a better understanding of why you have gotten the impression you have. A lot of brokers list boats that are not really local to them The local brokers in my area also list boats from other coastal areas up and down the coast. When the boat is 90 miles away.....180 round trip, it takes at least 1/2 a day to go look at a listing.

Add to that the fact that you are looking for a 20-25 year old boat with a relatively low selling price. If the boat is a $25K boat, the total commission is $2500. Then, if the selling broker has to split the commission with the listing broker call it 40%/60% (this isn't real estate....the split is negotiated on each deal), and the listing broker has to split the commission with his brokerage owner...call it 50%, then the guy you are upset with for not doing his job probably stands to net $500 on the $25,000 deal.

When you look at the numbers you quickly see why the brokers spend their time and effort on the bigger, later model boats with the potential to net a sizeable return for their time invested.

My advice on the older lower value boats is to only look at boats local to the broker and invest more of your time in Boat Trader, craigslist and other listings where you are dealing with the actual owner, not an intermediary with good reasons for not concentrating in the market segment you are in.

If you are located in Chicago and are expecting to shop for a boat in South Florida by getting brokers to do your due diligence for you, then be prepared for some false starts because the economics of the brokerage business just don't support what you are hoping to find on a cold call to a broker. When you develop a first name working relationship with a broker, then you can expect him to go the extra mile for you.

 

[JB MARSHALL]

My boat has never treated me as bad as my golf clubs do :smt013

LMAO I couldn't agree more

 

[bahamabreisus]

Don't confuse an honest professional broker with a salesperson looking for a buck.

I have my own issues with broker/dealers not willing to take any risk on trades but willing to sell you something at top dollar. Yet another reason boating is taking it in the shorts while golf is making a slow comeback.

As far as trades go, we are selling someones boat, not our own. In essence you are asking us to buy your boat in order to sell someones boat. Most of us do deal with wholesalers, but nobody wants to take their offers. Example, if you have a boat worth 100K, they are going to offer around 70K. Most people are not willing to take that hit.

 

[dpmulvey]

As far as trades go, we are selling someones boat, not our own. In essence you are asking us to buy your boat in order to sell someones boat. Most of us do deal with wholesalers, but nobody wants to take their offers. Example, if you have a boat worth 100K, they are going to offer around 70K. Most people are not willing to take that hit.

In my case, I was. give me "x" for mine which was well under ($10K) low retail,for the area. . I want that larger mid 40' aft cabin as a live aboard. If you can find me a 40 or 48 "Sneaker" with diesels, I'm there. I love early spring and late fall cruising a lot.

I got crickets.

You want my business once or do you want my (and my friends) business for life? Your call!. I tried to get my realtor to come out of retirement to work with me on my last purchase.

 

[mquiet]

I noticed an interesting point in the OP rant. He was only asking the selling broker and was not using one of his own to get the ball rolling with the selling broker to verify the boat. I know Bahamabreisus personally and he sold my 340 and then I used him to find me my 480. He poured months into finding me 7 to look at in a whirlwind tour or Florida. We settled at 2 to survey. I failed both during survey and we moved on. He found a needle in heap of needles and went to a third survey. Boat checked out and we closed. He then drove to Florida with me overnight from NC to Florida. We arrived at 4;30 am and pushed off the dock later that morning. THAT IS A BROKER! Thanks Reis (Bahamabreisus)


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[fr8dog]

A Marine Max broker on Long Island listed a 460 Dancer and described it as in “pristine “ condition. I made a deal based on his assessment of the boat. I set up surveys and sea trial and flew from Florida to New York for inspection and the surveys etc. I found the boat to have not seen wax in a long time, upholstery was severely worn. The interior was filthy and worn. The panels on the hardtop ceiling and sides were removed for some reason. The helm gauges were removed for troubleshooting, as they were not working. Canvas was in terrible shape. When I said to the broker “pristine?, seriously?” He said “I hope you don’t think I have mis-represented the boat?” I went home. I know there are honest brokers, but there are some very dishonest ones as well. Buyer beware!

 

[Quint4]

The broker for the boat I currently own was almost pulseless.....terrible. I did all the legwork and pushed the deal through from start to finish.

After sea trial and survey we were finally set to close the Friday before a beautiful Memorial weekend. The inept broker listed me as the seller on the contract faxed to the bank, costing the much anticipated weekend on the boat.

I do realize their are some great brokers out there (Ray Bock is one of them, Carver370) but I have a short fuse with people wasting my valuable time and money.

 

[northern]

The boat we have now was the result of a good broker finding what we wanted. We used to go to the Seattle Boat show and look. We had a detail list of what we wanted and at the bottom was in bold letters "If you call me with something other than the above I will never talk to you again" Got some calls "It is not exactly what you want but it is..........." Two years after we gave one broker what we wanted he called. He said I have been looking for you and now have what you wanted. He did and we bought.
Take the time to detail what you want and what you want to pay and see what a good broker can do for you.