Brokers & offers.

[Nicholas123]

Is there anything you can do if a broker refuses to pass on an offer to the seller?
I say this because a broker seems to have done this with me citing that his client is in poor health.

 

[V1701]

Persist with the broker, ask him if he has passed on the offer, yes or no. If not ask him why, if you're not satisfied with his answers think about naming & shaming him (but be careful what you say if you do). Ask around locally if you can to try to find out who owns it and contact them directly. It could be he wants the boat for himself or a mate or it could be the owner is in hospital intensive care...

 

[RivalRedwing]

I though they were obliged to pass on all offers, albeit with a recommendation / view

 

[John 32i]

Same thing happened to us....made an offer that was lower than the broker thought the owner would accept so he wouldnt pass it on......was a blessing in disguise - we went elsewhere and got a better boat for less money!!
My advice is keep on looking...its a buyers market as this time of year!

 

[Talulah]

Had this happen with us.
Initial offer put forward by broker to seller but seller declined.
Revised offer to broker but broker refused to pass it on stating we were wasting his time as he didn't believe seller would accept.
I contacted seller directly who accepted the revised offer.

 

[Nicholas123]

Thanks for all your advice.I have set my heart on this particular boat though it does seem over priced to me.I shall persist.
(there are some incredible bargains out there.I can't believe what I have seen other people getting).

 

[jwilson]

Is there anything you can do if a broker refuses to pass on an offer to the seller?
I say this because a broker seems to have done this with me citing that his client is in poor health.

Brokers should pass on all offers even if they know the seller will refuse, unless they have very specific and very recent instructions from the owner to reject anything under £xxxxxx.

 

[Cariadco]

Offer, somewhat below the asking price..?

I made a silly low offer, through a broker in Athens, years ago.
He slaged me off, saying I was a cheeky Welsh bugger...! but then said he was obliged to pass on my offer to the owner.

He called me back in an hour, saying, that much to his disbelief, the owner accepted my offer, so long as I took the boat by Saturday. This was Tuesday!!!

Survey, test sail etc etc etc.....All done. Maddest week of my life.

Saturday afternon I was sailing out of Athens with the new 'love of my life'....and the Broker and I have remained good friends for Years..!

The real story??? The owner was, at that very moment of my offer, sailing (delivering) to Greece, his brand new shiny 56 footer, and wanted rid of the Beneteau.....

Lady luck smiling on me or what???

Regards.

 

[prv]

I suspected something along these lines was happening when I bought my house. Obviously with a house you know where the owners live, so it's easy enough to write them a letter setting out your offer yourself. Could be trickier with boats.

Pete

 

[Nicholas123]

I though they were obliged to pass on all offers, albeit with a recommendation / view

The broker himself told me that it was a legal obligation to pass on offers to the client but he just seems to be ignoring me.Have emailed the administering body to see if there is any sort of sanction if they break that ruling but so far no reply......& if they just ignore you at the end of the day what can you do about it?

 

[Boo2]

if they just ignore you at the end of the day what can you do about it?

Try and get the boat owners' name from the Particulars of ship stations then google him/her and see if you can make contact directly through a club or something ?

Boo2

 

[Nicholas123]

Try and get the boat owners' name from the Particulars of ship stations then google him/her and see if you can make contact directly through a club or something ?

Boo2

Thanks for that.Trying to do that through a thread I am running at present in scuttlebutt.Regards.....

 

[jonic]

I am a broker and all offers, unless instructed not to, are passed to the owner.

What I don't do is pass on the owners response to derisory offers.

I usually say I am sorry sir your offer has been politely declined.

Instead of the "tell him to ***** ** ** *** ****!" that I was actually instructed to say

The broker wants the deal as much as you, but it has to be do able.

Boats have not gone up in value like a house so you can't easily make very low offers which just cancel out previous years paper gains.

Very low offers are effectively asking the owner to subsidise another's boating with large amounts of his own very real money.

It can and does cause great offence and will often snuff out a meaningful negotiation before it gets a chance to begin.

You may find some brokers are waiting for a more realistic offer at which to start so the the owner doesn't throw his toys out the pram and refuse to deal with the low bidder at any price. Which absolutely does happen.

Happened this week to me.

 

[Nicholas123]

The boat I was interested in seems unrealistically priced to me & I banged in an offer of just about every penny I have because I felt I had nothing to loose.I have seen much bigger bargains than I would have got had the owner excepted.
I don't feel the broker did the owner any favours by making communication difficult.We have a boat that in my opinion is over priced.An owner that looks about to snuff it if what I was told is true.At the moment the boat is in a subsidized mooring but upon his death I guess it will have to be moved & his widow/offspring will inherit all these problems.The broker takes none of this risk.
On a boat with a realistic market value of less than £10.000 quid it seems to me that having a broker has just complicated things unnecessarily.

 

[grumpy_o_g]

The boat I was interested in seems unrealistically priced to me & I banged in an offer of just about every penny I have because I felt I had nothing to loose.I have seen much bigger bargains than I would have got had the owner excepted.
I don't feel the broker did the owner any favours by making communication difficult.We have a boat that in my opinion is over priced.An owner that looks about to snuff it if what I was told is true.At the moment the boat is in a subsidized mooring but upon his death I guess it will have to be moved & his widow/offspring will inherit all these problems.The broker takes none of this risk.
On a boat with a realistic market value of less than £10.000 quid it seems to me that having a broker has just complicated things unnecessarily.

I would suggest that, if the owner is about to "snuff it" as you rather crassly put it, that neither he/she nor his/her nearest and dearest particularly give a stuff about you or the boat at this point in time. There are more important things in life than boats and losing a loved on is one of them. Perhaps discreetly check that the owner's health is as poor as is believed and, if it is, bide your time and await a suitable opportunity to place a bid - hopefully with a partially recovered owner rather than to his estate.

 

[jonic]

I would suggest that, if the owner is about to "snuff it" as you rather crassly put it, that neither he/she nor his/her nearest and dearest particularly give a stuff about you or the boat at this point in time. There are more important things in life than boats and losing a loved on is one of them. Perhaps discreetly check that the owner's health is as poor as is believed and, if it is, bide your time and await a suitable opportunity to place a bid - hopefully with a partially recovered owner rather than to his estate.

He's got a point.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

He's got a point.

+1.
The term "circling vultures" comes to mind.