Advice on buying a boat in the Netherlands

[Blue_mischief]

I hope shortly to be looking at a couple of boats in the Netherlands. Advice wanted, please. Is the procedure pretty much as I understand it in the UK? (I am UK based and have only bought one boat before, a private sale in the U.K.) i.e. Have a good look, offer subject to survey, haggle, confirm offer subject to survey, survey, more "price discussion", finalise offer and acceptance, complete.
Is the role of the surveyor the same in the NL? Can I expect the same sort of report?

Any advice appreciated, including links to previous threads which may have covered the same ground.

 

[ditchcrawler]

I bought a boat from a broker in Enkhuizen some years ago and found the both the broker, Bach Yachting and the surveyor excellent and very professional. It was a far better experience than I have had in the UK. The surveyors report was brilliant ,
very precise classifiying items into ,good, more than adequate,adequate, moderate or bad, with none of the waffle I have experienced with some UK surveys. Look for a surveyor with HISWAS qualifications.
The contract I signed had the usual provisions for the seller to rectify any defects found in the survey or adjust the price.
However if they involved improvements they were down to the purchaser. If the repairs were more than 20% of the selling price the seller was entitled to rescind the contract and return the deposit.
I didn’t have any currency problems as the owner was British so I paid him a cheque having paid the deposit in euros.

 

[Lightwave395]

I bought a boat from a broker in Enkhuizen some years ago and found the both the broker, Bach Yachting and the surveyor excellent and very professional. It was a far better experience than I have had in the UK. The surveyors report was brilliant ,
very precise classifiying items into ,good, more than adequate,adequate, moderate or bad, with none of the waffle I have experienced with some UK surveys. Look for a surveyor with HISWAS qualifications.
The contract I signed had the usual provisions for the seller to rectify any defects found in the survey or adjust the price.
However if they involved improvements they were down to the purchaser. If the repairs were more than 20% of the selling price the seller was entitled to rescind the contract and return the deposit.
I didn’t have any currency problems as the owner was British so I paid him a cheque having paid the deposit in euros.

I bought a Dehler from a German guy through De Valk a while back. Very easy straightforward process and would have no hesitation in doing so again (aside from the exchange rate of course - it was 1.40 euros to pound back then...) with the added bonus of an interesting delivery home from Monnickendam to Hamble partly through the canals. As above the price was assuming the boat to be in good order with the sellers choice being adjust the price or fix any issues. I did have the engine serviced locally before we set off home.

 

[jwilson]

I bought a boat from a broker in Enkhuizen some years ago and found the both the broker, Bach Yachting and the surveyor excellent and very professional. It was a far better experience than I have had in the UK. The surveyors report was brilliant ,
very precise classifiying items into ,good, more than adequate,adequate, moderate or bad, with none of the waffle I have experienced with some UK surveys. Look for a surveyor with HISWAS qualifications.
The contract I signed had the usual provisions for the seller to rectify any defects found in the survey or adjust the price.
However if they involved improvements they were down to the purchaser. If the repairs were more than 20% of the selling price the seller was entitled to rescind the contract and return the deposit.
I didn’t have any currency problems as the owner was British so I paid him a cheque having paid the deposit in euros.

The major difference in brokerage sale agreements is that in Holland the buyer typically cannot back out after survey unless the estimated costs of repairs is more than a set percentage (10 or 20%) of the agreed price. UK brokerage agreements traditionally used the wording "material defects" to justify a pull out after survey and have deposit refunded.

For example, if a boat was viewed by a buyer afloat on a pontoon, and it was only possible to see the port hull side, and on survey significant but essentially cosmetic GRP damage was found on the starboard side, in the traditional UK system a buyer would be justified in saying that was a "material defect" and back out, even though on a £100,000 boat a very professional repair would be considerably less than 10% of that.

 

[Halo]

Check the VAT status and get here back here before Brexit.
or
Be ready to use her to ship vital post Brexit supplies from the mainland to UK !
(Brexnits - please dont jump down my throat I am only joshing)

 

[Birdseye]

Maybe but you have a point. If we crash out on the 29th March, and the EU becomes a foreign country then there may well be vat issues import duties etc

 

[Genoa]

Maybe but you have a point. If we crash out on the 29th March, and the EU becomes a foreign country then there may well be vat issues import duties etc

If the transaction is complete before B day, it doesn’t matter if it is 1 day or 3 years and 1 day, EU vat is uk vat. However if the transaction to purchase is B day +1 then who knows!

 

[michael_w]

Be wary of the standard HISWA (Dutch serveyors association). PM me if you would like a PDF of the English translation.

 

[Blue_mischief]

PM sent. Thanks to all for advice.