why not be you own broker buyer's agent

Sundancer123

Sundancer123

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Mar 25, 2007
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using a standard YBA agreement why could'nt you act as you own broker and collect the buying agent commission on your own purchase?
 
Whenever another broker calls about one of my listings I ask for their website. If they do not seem reputable or do not have any boats listed I will politely decline working with them unless they can prove otherwise.

I probably wouldn't try scamming the broker. Even when I go to buy my next boat I will omit that I am a broker from the equation.
 
can you explain how that would be scaming the listing broker- you are simply acting as your own broker aka the buying agent in the transaction and should be compensated as such
 
Just a sidenote a true broker should bring value to the deal. What kind of value are you bringing to the deal?
 
The fact of the matter is, you do not own or work for a brokerage company. Try telling the selling broker that you would like to do a co-brokerage deal with him as a non broker and see what they tell you.

I would be interested in having this topic in general discussion or somewhere more people would respond to see what they think of this.

I'm fairly certain this is the old accucu who was looking for a 510, a 390 Hardtop, and now a 48 Sundancer. From what I remember only looking to steal one.
 
A broker usually earns 10% commission for selling a boat. As a courtesy they will split this commission if another broker brings a buyer. This courtesy goes both ways. So i think where you logic is flawed is assuming the broker will do his part for less than the 10% commission. If you had boats for him to make up the lost commission on then I think you'd be fine. But you don't. There are not really "buyer's brokers" in the boat business anyway. There are new brokers that might not have any listings and make themselves feel better by callling themselves a "buyers broker". In my eyes you're either a broker or you're not. Brokers help buy and sell. What if you are buying a 50' boat but have a 45' boat to sell. Do you think a person (buyer's broker) exists that would say "I'll help you find a 50' boat to buy but you'll need to talk to this other guy to help you sell your 45' boat. This would never happen, hence no such thing as a buyer's broker.
 
Okay dumb question. Do you have to be state licensed to be a boat broker, like we are as Realtors?
 
Varies from state to state. But its nothing like having a real estate license. No classes or anything. In FL & CA every individual involved with selling boats needs to be licensed. In most other states you just need to work for a company that has a business license and boat dealers license.
 
In real estate, those people who want to represent themselves are referred to as “free agents”. These are people who think they can buy a home that is listed with a broker and be their own representative. These people cause the broker more work than when the broker actually represents the parties.

If it is the same for boat brokerage, I am not surprised brokers have no interest in compensating individuals with the broker co-op fee. I do not have experience or insight into boat brokerage but it seems similar to real estate.

As previously stated, the broker should add value to the transaction if they do not find another broker. I would expect the broker to make the transaction simple, advocate for me, verify the value, and negotiate the rough spots. I am confident there are things others could add to the list.

What is a “YBA agreement”? If it is a purchase agreement similar to what Realtors use for home sales, it will most likely have a copyright for member use only and would be legally invalid for non-copyright holders to use.


MM
 
I think there is a bigger picture here than just the shared commission..........

In some cases, there are other forces at play. Many Sea Ray dealers are also brokers but are too small to have many listings. Their "inventory" of boats for trade up customers is usually other brokers. It is simple enough for them to call a distant broker and explain that they have a customer interested in one of their listings, then work out a commission split. Most of the time the listing broker will co-broker the boat to move it, but sometimes the listing broker takes the position that the buyer will eventually come to him for the boat via yachtworld.com or another ad source. What the listing broker doesn't realize is that the buyer's local conditions may be such that he won't be able to get his boat serviced rent a slip to keep it in if he does not buy thru his local dealer.

Yeah, I know all about the "restraint of trade" argument, but the bottom line is the guy who owns the property can do as he pleases and it isn't worth trying to sue him over it. Further, Sea Ray usually doesn't get into this discussion unless someone has a boat requiring warranty service and even then the local dealer usually takes care of his own customers first.
 
Rather then trying to pull a fast one by claiming you are a broker you can simply negotiate the brokers fee--just like buying a house.

When we purchased our house, we were the first to look at the house and the broker actually offered up some commission because she did not have to advertise and took many hours off her showing the house and etcetera.

Do the same thing with the boat.
 
MaddyDean said:
Rather then trying to pull a fast one by claiming you are a broker you can simply negotiate the brokers fee--just like buying a house.

When we purchased our house, we were the first to look at the house and the broker actually offered up some commission because she did not have to advertise and took many hours off her showing the house and etcetera.

Do the same thing with the boat.
Click to expand...

One thing to keep in mind is that not all listing agreements are exclusive. I bought my boat from the owner directly (after he posted on here) even though it was brokered. He did not have to pay the commission because he brought the buyer. So, we were able to factor in his savings into the sale price and both benefit. If the boat your looking for is listed with a way to contact the seller directly I'd try that.
 
A buyer has no authority to try to negotiate the comission down on the sale of a boat. That is the sellers job if he pleases or needs to.

The real answer here is no broker is going to let a private individual work a co-brokerage fee unless he is working for a boat brokerage company.
 
Carver370 said:
A buyer has no authority to try to negotiate the comission down on the sale of a boat. That is the sellers job if he pleases or needs to.

The real answer here is no broker is going to let a private individual work a co-brokerage fee unless he is working for a boat brokerage company.
Click to expand...

No one said anything about "authority" but everything is negotiable. You want to sell a boat--you have not spent that much time brokering the sale, why wouldn't you go 7 or 8 percent down from 10? Sell this one move on to the next.

Not only would you have moved a boat and got a check but you are also more likely to get repeat business and referrals.
 
You are missing the point..........

The seller is bound by his contract with the listing broker (i.e. listing agreement) to pay the agreed upon commission. Certainly, the buyer can negotiate a sales price with the seller thru the broker, but the buyer has no standing whatsoever in the agreement between the seller and the broker.

That said, I have seen several "soup to nuts" brokerage agreement forms lately that may put the brokers commission at play in the negotiation process due to the wording that restates the commission agreement thus making the contract a 3 party document.

For me, its not worth haggling over. I scratch up the contract to remove objectionable terms and make it make sense to me, then negotiate a suitable price.........I really don't give a rat's a$$ what the seller and the broker work out between them.
 
The buyer has nothing to do with the commission. It could be 1% or 90% as far as the buyer is concerned. All the buyer should be concerned with is what he/she is paying for the boat. How all the brokers and seller(s) split it up is up to them.
 
Interesting comments about the buyer and the commission. I think it is finally getting addressed in the real estate world. The NC listing agreement now has an options for the seller to not pay a buyers agent. Going to be interesting to see how many buyers are willing to pay for representation. Like Frank said there has always been a problem with the seller paying for somebody to compete against them.

CSR_Admin said:
The buyer has nothing to do with the commission. It could be 1% or 90% as far as the buyer is concerned. All the buyer should be concerned with is what he/she is paying for the boat. How all the brokers and seller(s) split it up is up to them.
Click to expand...
 
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