Brokers and Boat Sales

[Fr J Hackett]

First of all a big thank you and recommendation for John Rodriguez (jonic) and Graham Knight (Nautco Ltd ) who handled the sale of Amoret.
For those of you that think brokers just take a few pictures put them on a web site and wait for the money to role in think again. These two guys worked their socks off to complete a sale of a perfectly sound vessel but when coupled with the surveyor from hell, inexperienced first time buyers and probably the client from hell with a few other shenanigans as well (more of those later) they did unbelievably well to pull it all together and get quite a few viewings and a sale all in 3months at close to my target price. You could perhaps do it yourself but whether you would get the viewings is debatable, the time spent showing people around for 3 hours at a time on Sundays and mid-week evenings (thanks again Graham) when you live 200 miles from the boat and dealing with the survey minutia and inane demands and questions that emanate from it I doubt it I certainly would not have had the time or patience.
For anyone thinking of selling it is a buyers’ market and it does seem that people think they can chip off 20 to 50% of asking price as of right and then have another go on the basis of a survey, this is where the broker earns his commission and I for one don’t begrudge it.
Surveyors now it seems firstly look to protect their PI and then give their client a fiscal lever to renegotiate through highly critical and sometimes difficult to interpret surveys rather than give a fair condition report, this too me seems particularly relevant on an older vessel. So it’s a point to remember when negotiating the initial price after first viewing and offer. I make no comment as to the rights or wrongs the surveyor after all works for the buyer so don't give him any ammunition. However surveys do seem to be a little different and aimed differently than they were 10 or more years ago.
So for those looking to sell, you still can and still can get a fair price but it does seem like damned hard work.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Sounds like congrats are due all round to those involved.

 

[jonic]

Gosh Peter, thanks very much. That is very kind.

It was not easy but you were excellent to work with, and kept your cool when many would have lost it.

...and she was a lovely boat.

Look forward to a pint at LIBS.

Good luck with the other thing too.

 

[Nicholas123]

I am curious to know how much you paid to have your boat sold for you & was it you or the buyer that ultimately had to foot the bill?

I suspect that a hell of a lot of boats you see sitting around out there is because brokers have flattered sellers giving the impression that they can sell their boat for x amount & now we have a growth of dodgy surveyors being engaged by prospective buyers in order to try & counter that move,apparently.

PS;Incidentally when I put my boat up for sale on Apollo Duck I almost immediately had a strange message from someone requesting that they come round personally & take a load of photo's,was that one of those brokers from boatshed touting for business?In the event I almost immediately sold my boat myself.
Brokers just seem to act like pimps to me.

 

[Clarky]

I am curious to know how much you paid to have your boat sold for you & was it you or the buyer that ultimately had to foot the bill?

I suspect that a hell of a lot of boats you see sitting around out there is because brokers have flattered sellers giving the impression that they can sell their boat for x amount & now we have a growth of dodgy surveyors being engaged by prospective buyers in order to try & counter that move,apparently.

PS;Incidentally when I put my boat up for sale on Apollo Duck I almost immediately had a strange message from someone requesting that they come round personally & take a load of photo's,was that one of those brokers from boatshed touting for business?In the event I almost immediately sold my boat myself.
Brokers just seem to act like pimps to me.

I don't know any of those involved above,and haven't used a broker to sell a boat, as any I have owned up to now havent been worth enough to justify it, but I think the above post is a little offensive,especially to Jonic who often puts a lot of helpful information on the site.
If I did have a boat worth a lot of money and didnt live closeby I would consider a broker for the above reasons.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I am curious to know how much you paid to have your boat sold for you & was it you or the buyer that ultimately had to foot the bill?

I suspect that a hell of a lot of boats you see sitting around out there is because brokers have flattered sellers giving the impression that they can sell their boat for x amount & now we have a growth of dodgy surveyors being engaged by prospective buyers in order to try & counter that move,apparently.

PS;Incidentally when I put my boat up for sale on Apollo Duck I almost immediately had a strange message from someone requesting that they come round personally & take a load of photo's,was that one of those brokers from boatshed touting for business?In the event I almost immediately sold my boat myself.
Brokers just seem to act like pimps to me.

For the sake of completness and to answer a couple of points jonic actually wanted to put the boat on at a lower price and I fixed the price. I will not disclose the brokerage fee that is something between a broker and client but should you have a boat to sell I am sure that you with a little effort could find a range of fees and services. Now of course I paid the brokerage fee as you would expect but I think you may be hinting at did I include the projected fee in my asking price, well thats for me to know and others to wonder about I could ask did you include your advertising costs in your selling price?
As for dodgy surveyors I did not imply the surveyor was dodgy what I did say was there seems to be a different style of surveying boats with different motivations other than what used to be the practice of giving a fair condition report on a vessel. I am afraid I cannot comment on brokers from boatshed only in this case the one I used to very good effect, I have used others in the past and used surveyors as well all to good effect but that was some time ago and perhaps not relevant to comment on them now. I also have no experience of sites such as Apollo Duck or it's readership which is the really important thing in choosing where or who to represent you in a sale, no use advertising in pig breeders weekly if you want to sell a Aston Martin is it.
Finally if you read my post rather than using it as means of espousing your prejudices you would see that I was not in a position to deal with all that is entailed in selling a boat and even if I were there would be significant hassle and costs in setting up advertisng and client account, etc to hold a substantial sum of money which was paid as a deposit, all of which was taken care of by the broker and is part of his costs and ultimately his fee.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

I'll second Pete's comments.

John also sold my boat, and he and Graham worked really hard to get me a sale in a tough market.

Generally, as John will confirm (!) I had a pretty low impression of brokers, but these guys really changed my mind.

They do a LOT more than just advertise it. John personally spent hours and hours helping me get the paperwork in order, and then I had very little to do other than provide the odd bit of extra info as required. They completely took all the hassle out of it for me, as well as helping an inexperienced buyer through the process at every stage from viewing, to sorting jobs that needed doing, through to reregistering, which I would have found difficult to do without showing bias!

I was thoroughly impressed by the effort both of them put in, and IMHO, was worth every penny.

 

[AliM]

I'll third Pete's and Neil's comments.

We tried advertising on Apolloduck and a few others this spring - no takers at all in 4 weeks, so we asked John for advice. He sold the boat within a fortnight, including a very long Saturday with Graham sweet-talking the buyers, and us hovering nearby. John sorted out all the paperwork and the money plopped into our account with virtually no hassle at all.

Yes, we probably could have done it ourselves, but the service, the help, and all the friendly advice was worth every penny we paid.

 

[shaunksb]

Yes, we probably could have done it ourselves, but the service, the help, and all the friendly advice was worth every penny we paid.

I sold my boat myself earlier this year but I wouldn't begrudge the fee's of a good broker.

Jonic seems to be recommended highly by those with experience of his service and you can't ask for more than that.

If I didn't have experience in sales I don't think that I would have tried it.

Boats are selling but i suspect the market is very difficult if your boat is not well presented and I've seen a few that aren't........


.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

I'll third Pete's and Neil's comments.
.

I'll fourth them. Our boat sale was complicated for a number of reasons I wont go into, and John certainly earned his pittance to drive the deal through!