Boat for sale and paperwork required

Lisa&Paul

Lisa&Paul

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 Jan 2020
Messages
105
Location
Cyprus
Visit site
Sadly due to a change in circumstances we are having to sell our boat , we have an interested party and would be a private sale , we are based in Cyprus

1/. Is it down to us i presume to get a sloicitor to draw up a sale agreement .?
2/ I presume the costs involved would be the responsibility of us the sellers ?
3/ Have been quoted £300 to draw up sales contract , is this reasonab
Thanks in anticipation
 
I think the level of paper work depends somewhat on the boat value. On my sub £10,000 boats there was a simple receipt for the payment. What is your boat value
 
Sorry to hear you are reluctantly selling your pride and joy. As others have said absolutely no need for a solicitor and just to add to the samples you already got the following link contains a Bill of Sale format recommended by the Jersey Registry of Ships which is more than adequate British Registry of Ships forms
 
As others have said, no need for a solicitor, just treat like the private sale of a car/any item, make sure you have the money cleared before releasing the boat.

I can see that there may come a point when the boat is valued at a certain price where the buyer (and/or seller) might want a trusted 3rd party involved to hold the money while the boat is handed over though.
 
There is a model contract on the RYA site which is pretty robust. Basic structure lays out the rights and obligations of each party with the typical offer, acceptance, deposit, contract, survey and sea trials completion. depending on the sums involved you may want to use a lawyer to hold the deposit in an escrow account, although depending on your relationship with the buyer you may not ask for a deposit. Ensure you have all your paperwork in order, particularly the evidence that you have title to sell. Use either the MCA or RYA model Bill of Sale to transfer title to the ne owners. as already suggested the RYA book goes through the process in detail. However an alternative would be to use a broker just to handle the money and paperwork for a fixed fee.
 
Lisa&Paul said:
Sadly due to a change in circumstances we are having to sell our boat , we have an interested party and would be a private sale , we are based in Cyprus

1/. Is it down to us i presume to get a sloicitor to draw up a sale agreement .?
2/ I presume the costs involved would be the responsibility of us the sellers ?
3/ Have been quoted £300 to draw up sales contract , is this reasonab
Thanks in anticipation
Click to expand...
I would think that you need to have the contract done in Greek or Turkish, as when I wanted to do a lease in France I was told that unless the lease was in French it was not legally binding. I got round it by buying a French Lease, and using two computers set for Google Translate, typed each line in French into one computer then typed the reply into the other computer which turned it back into French and if there was no difference I kept the line, otherwise I altered it. Then obviously I had a French Lease with an English Language Copy.
Or as Tranona suggests get a Med Yacht Broker.
 
We recently bought our Aquador 32 privately using the RYA paperwork. It all went really well. The key factor being that you are both honourable people as at some point one of you, probably you as you are the vendor, will have the boat, the original bills of sale and the monies. Unless you use a third party to hold the cash. We are in Cornwall the vendor lives 5+ hours away so we met halfway and signed all the paperwork. We then headed home with photocopies of the original bills of sale a trusted him to forward the originals when the money cleared. A little tense for us for a few days but it was all good.
Similarly the same is true if you take a deposit, you have the buyers cash and he just has a note from you to acknowledge it. As long as you feel that you can trust each other then use the RYA for paperwork and guidance. It all went well for us.
 
Jim@sea said:
I would think that you need to have the contract done in Greek or Turkish, as when I wanted to do a lease in France I was told that unless the lease was in French it was not legally binding. I got round it by buying a French Lease, and using two computers set for Google Translate, typed each line in French into one computer then typed the reply into the other computer which turned it back into French and if there was no difference I kept the line, otherwise I altered it. Then obviously I had a French Lease with an English Language Copy.
Or as Tranona suggests get a Med Yacht Broker.
Click to expand...
Not at all relevant. This is a private transaction of a chattel, just like buying a TV set. There is no legal requirement to follow any set form, it is just a contract between buyer and seller and evidence of transfer of title. Of course this assumes both parties are happy with working using a contract in English.

It was not ne that suggested a Med broker - rather the opposite.

I have however made the assumption that the seller is British.
 
Hi , Thanks for all your replies ,

Yes I am British , buyer speaks English very well as lived and has businesses in Uk , have only known him for 6 months but friends that now him and his wife say they are minted and wants to pay cash lol
 
Lisa&Paul said:
Hi , Thanks for all your replies ,

Yes I am British , buyer speaks English very well as lived and has businesses in Uk , have only known him for 6 months but friends that now him and his wife say they are minted and wants to pay cash lol
Click to expand...
Get the “nice friend “ guy frogmarched off to a bank to count and verify the cash .They will check its legal tender or importantly check it’s not illegal .

I once sold a LHD Testarossa I imported into the U.K. to a Russian pair who allegedly were in the U.K. car buying .Offered cash .But I made the proviso they pay into my account over the counter at a bank .They did much to the annoyance of the ever increasing queue forming .Took 20 mins to count it , verify it etc .The car went to Moscow .

Did not want hooky £ , or someone return later and rob us etc .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

steved
Original boat paperwork
2
Replies
30
Views
922
steved
steved

Share this page

Top