Question on purchase agreement

E

egerrity

Member
May 21, 2009
50
Long Island
Boat Info
2008 260 SS
looking for another Sea Ray
Engines
496 MAG B3
I have sold my Sea Ray and will be joining the Formula family, but I still lurk on this site because I love the banter.

I have an agreed price on a boat that is being represented by a broker on behalf of the owner. The broke send me a purchase contract that looks pretty standard except that its a bit vague about what expenses are who's with regard to the survey.

The boat is currently shrink wrapped and winterized, drive off. The broker is telling me that the expense to commission the boat is mine, including uncover and hanging the drive. I was under the impression the boat would have to be in surveyable condition as the responsibility of the owner.
I can see me paying for the Surveyor (of course) and the launch and re-haul and side track.
Further, those expenses come off my deposit if the deal falls through, and the broker is dragging there feet on giving me prices for these items.
Any feed back would be great. This is my first used boat purchase. Maybe new is easier!!

Thanks
 
Contracts require the agreement of 2 parties. When a broker is involved, it becomes a 3 way negotiation. Just because the broker handed you a preprinted form doesn't carve the terms of agreement in stone. If I were you, I would change the contract to terms that protect you, but are fair for both the buyer and the seller. As I understand your post, that isn't he case with the contract you have been presented because it makes you liable for de-winterizing the boat and re-commissioning its systems. If you want to buy the boat while it is still in storage, I would change the terms so that you give the broker a healthy deposit.....at least 10% of your offer.......with the contingencies that the seller dewinterize the boat and recommission all systems when the weather allows, and that the boat has both hull and mechanical surveys and a sea trail, to be done at your expense with results that are acceptable to you. If you reject the boat because of the survey results or the sea trial, all of your money less any expenses incurred for the survey, is returned to you.

If he won't agree to that, then he probably has something to hide. If that does happen, then just wait on spring because the boat won't sell then without it being in the water and operable.
 
I can see both sides of the equation. I am trying to be fair, but protect myself from a bill at the end that I shouldn't be responsible for. Lets assume the Survey goes fine, sea trial goes fine and I accept the boat. I pay for the survey and launching the boat, and then I pay again to have it hauled to finish the spring make ready, wax, bottom paint and alike. The seller should pay for the commissioning prior to the survey. I would imagine he would want the boat to be is good working order so it will pass a survey. The contract requires a 10% DEPOSIT (5300), I have no problem with, and the rest is a cash deal. I just don't want to get blind sided by hidden charges. thanks
 
BTW... the agreement is a standard Yacht Purchase and Sale agreement like the standard template you find online.
 
IMO, buyer pays for survey/put in. If the deal closes, as the seller I would consider eating the re-commissioning costs. If the deal falls through, I would have a problem paying those costs if they weren't going to happen anyway, or if the boat had to be re-wrapped/etc.
 
I sure wouldn't want to or expect to pay to have the OD put back on. How does the seller expect to sell a boat that's inoperable unless it's one heck of a deal.
 
Thats the great thing about a contract like this. As long as the terms are not against the law you can hammer out whatever you want. In a buyer's market sellers will bend. In a seller's market the buyer bends. Just figure out what terms you require that are deal breakers and declare them. When I was negotiating the purchase of a 260 the rewinterization had to be covered by the dealership or I wasn't interested. In the end it looks like the boat won't need to be rewinterized as it is getting into the spring.

Good luck with your purchase
 
Each time i've purchased it's been the PO's responsibility to have the boat ready for survey, however if for some reason deal falls thru, then you would need to re-winterize if you under wintered it. This would include re-hauling it if you cant wait for it to be launched. Another thing, say batteries are dead, are you going to pay for new batteries for the PO? In my eyes the PO needs to be able to provide you with a boat ready to survey. Good luck with the new boat...
 
One option I've heard of is making the deal provisional on a survey, pending the end of winter - i.e. wait for the boat to be out of storage before doing the survey and finalizing the deal. If you do go that way, you have to make sure the contract prevents them from pulling out because another offer came in.
 
write a purchase agreement, pending sea trials and a survey. Put the sale on hold until the seller can prepare the boat for sea trial (when the weather is warmer). Then, perform sea trial. If you back out, the seller can choose to leave the boat ready to go for the next buyer. The buyer should not be responsible for costs needed to prepare the boat for sea trial and survey.
 
CougarCruiser said:
write a purchase agreement, pending sea trials and a survey. Put the sale on hold until the seller can prepare the boat for sea trial (when the weather is warmer). Then, perform sea trial. If you back out, the seller can choose to leave the boat ready to go for the next buyer. The buyer should not be responsible for costs needed to prepare the boat for sea trial and survey.
Click to expand...

This, IMO, would be standard situation majority go by and I personally wouldn't settle for less.

However, to Scott's point (being fair to the seller), thinking that if anything the boat will be ready for the next buyer is simply an assumption. On some occasions, sellers prefer to keep their boats on hard until they make a deal. Whatever reasons are, saving slip fees, saving bottom paint, etc. It's the seller's choice. It's his boat and he's entitle to do whatever he wants. In this case, yes, most likely he would expect any potential buyer to pay for anything related to "disruption of current state of the boat", meaning do whatever is necessary to get her ready and splashed, sea trialed and then put back the way she was.

Can the seller expect all that? Obviously yes. Will he get all of this? Most likely not. Will you accept these terms is entirely up to you.

The bottom line is that there's no "it has to be done that way" approach. However, there's a "normal" and logical process majority follows. Sellers that really want to sell and not "play games" understand that their boat will sell MUCH FASTER if, besides attractive price for a good performing vessel, they present very reasonable and attractive terms of the sale.

No matter how you twist it and turn it, everything is negotiable, and it all comes down to money. If whatever you're asked to pay for still makes financial sense at the end of the day, then go for it. Otherwise, simply move on.

Good luck.
 
I'm going to build on what FrankW said. The seller realistically can't sell the boat while it is in shrink wrap. Wait a couple weeks and make the seller get the boat ready for the season. After all he is selling a functioning boat, not one in parts. This also makes him install the canvas (so you can see what shape its in), and the electronics, and see how well the water/head system works, and what condition all the cushions are in etc etc etc. The other big thing is I think you want the hull to warm up. I'm not sure how accurate moisture testers are when the hull is below the freezing temp. Ice may not register.

A long time ago I learned the best way to sell something was to have it all shined up and complete, unless this is an estate or foreclosure sale I'd be very worried about a seller who didn't want to put his boat in the best possible light.

If he balks at that, then my thought is he is trying to unload a problem boat.

Henry


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
It's probably different for us on the west coast, because we don't tend to go through the rigor of weatherization like many do towards the east coast. But, i would be worried that if you had a purchase agreement in place, that a seller wouldn't pay for whatever costs are appropriate for sea trial. It's part of the deal when you sell a boat.

Let him cycle a few more months of payments and storage costs, then revisit the discussion.
 
This is why I asked this forum and why I will still stay with this forum. Thanks for all the detailed well thought out reply's.

We are back and forth now and it seems the seller will be "paying" for the boat to be up and running and ready for survey. Another point, I already know the bills are already paid for the launch and spring set up. I just don't want the yard to double dip. I guess in this case it me protecting myself from the yard. I also received a full price sheet for spring services to keep everyone honest. It looks like it will all work out.
I will update.
 
egerrity said:
This is why I asked this forum and why I will still stay with this forum. Thanks for all the detailed well thought out reply's.

We are back and forth now and it seems the seller will be "paying" for the boat to be up and running and ready for survey. Another point, I already know the bills are already paid for the launch and spring set up. I just don't want the yard to double dip. I guess in this case it me protecting myself from the yard. I also received a full price sheet for spring services to keep everyone honest. It looks like it will all work out.
I will update.
Click to expand...
In regards to the generic purchase agreement the broker uses....some things may not apply, some may not be agreeable to you....modify it, draw a line through what you don't like, type up an attachment to clarify the concerns and contingencies as you see/want them, that will be part of your offer and you have every right to do it so that generic contract better fits your specific boat purchase.
 
Woody said:
In regards to the generic purchase agreement the broker uses....some things may not apply, some may not be agreeable to you....modify it, draw a line through what you don't like, type up an attachment to clarify the concerns and contingencies as you see/want them, that will be part of your offer and you have every right to do it so that generic contract better fits your specific boat purchase.
Click to expand...

When you are dealing with the amount of money these boats go for I would ensure that it is written with a legally binding perspective. I would ask the broker to provide a modified contract with your requirements instead of write ins with initials everywhere or addendum.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,172
Messages
1,427,838
Members
61,084
Latest member
AntonioJamm
Back
Top