Buying a boat from a distance......

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blackmagicthe1st

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Hi guys,

I don't often post but I do read a lot of your threads. Many hours can disappear on here.

I'm interested in a boat I saw advertised through a broker but it's not local so I can't jump in the car to go and see it. I have only seen one picture but it's not recent.

From what I understand the boat has been out of the water for 3 years as the owner hasn't had any interest in it.

It's a 1973 cruiser with twin 80hp ford diesels. I've never had a diesel before and don't know much about these engines, apparently they were put in 10 years ago and have low hours as the boat hasn't been used. Should alarm bells be going off in my head about that?

She is GRP however I'm concerned that if she is 1973 she may have osmosis or something similar and again, should I be steering clear of this at face value. The seller says she needs some upgrades and TLC, however is keen to sell and would be open to an offer.

I've never bought a boat from a distance before and I'm wary about buying a sinking ship....

What is the usual protocol? I have asked for recent photos and whether the onboard systems work but the broker is saying he doesn't know as he suspects the batteries will be dead given the length of time she has been sitting not used.

I was thinking a I should maybe instruct a surveyor to do a pre purchase survey, again something I've never done before, are these expensive and is there any right or wrong way of finding a surveyor? Can the broker be trusted to organize this? Is it expected that the broker will make the boat ready for a survey and sea trial should I wish to have one done?

Is it advisable to put some form of deposit down whilst I'm organizing surveys and time to go and see the boat etc? Or is it normal to make an offer subject to survey?

I've really never done this before but have been burnt badly with a past boat (engine trouble) I bought a few years ago.

Thanks for any advice you may have.
 
blackmagicthe1st said:
Hi guys,

I don't often post but I do read a lot of your threads. Many hours can disappear on here.

I'm interested in a boat I saw advertised through a broker but it's not local so I can't jump in the car to go and see it. I have only seen one picture but it's not recent.

From what I understand the boat has been out of the water for 3 years as the owner hasn't had any interest in it.

It's a 1973 cruiser with twin 80hp ford diesels. I've never had a diesel before and don't know much about these engines, apparently they were put in 10 years ago and have low hours as the boat hasn't been used. Should alarm bells be going off in my head about that?

She is GRP however I'm concerned that if she is 1973 she may have osmosis or something similar and again, should I be steering clear of this at face value. The seller says she needs some upgrades and TLC, however is keen to sell and would be open to an offer.

I've never bought a boat from a distance before and I'm wary about buying a sinking ship....

What is the usual protocol? I have asked for recent photos and whether the onboard systems work but the broker is saying he doesn't know as he suspects the batteries will be dead given the length of time she has been sitting not used.

I was thinking a I should maybe instruct a surveyor to do a pre purchase survey, again something I've never done before, are these expensive and is there any right or wrong way of finding a surveyor? Can the broker be trusted to organize this? Is it expected that the broker will make the boat ready for a survey and sea trial should I wish to have one done?

Is it advisable to put some form of deposit down whilst I'm organizing surveys and time to go and see the boat etc? Or is it normal to make an offer subject to survey?

I've really never done this before but have been burnt badly with a past boat (engine trouble) I bought a few years ago.

Thanks for any advice you may have.
Click to expand...

Hi,

I've been (and still am) in a similar situation in that I've bought a boat from a distance. Given the age of the boat and the brokers comments I'd definitely go and have a look at the boat prior to putting in an offer. You could also contact a surveyor to have a look on your behalf but typically you haggle on the price and pay a deposit first and only then are you allowed to do a sea trial and have a proper survey done. So yes, it is normal to make an offer subject to survey.

10 year old Ford diesels sound a bit funny to me but it would be helpful if you'd post some more details on the vessel.

Still, based on your description I'd tread very carefully here and if at all possible go and have a look (or arrange someone independent third party to do so) before jumping in with an offer.

Jim Pritchard did the survey for me and I'd very highly recommend him.
 
I bought my boat from a distance, it was around a 7 hour round trip away and I just couldn't spare the time away from work.

Volvopaul kindly went up and gave it a good proper going over as well as giving me a really valuable and objective view if the boat.
 
Normal practice is to view the boat, make an offer and negotiate/agree the price, pay a deposit subject to and pending survey and sea trail and following both make the final payment of the agreed amount or re-negotiate on the basis of issues found during the survey and sea trail...or walk away if they are not resolvable.

Making an offer before viewing can be done but you need to be crystal clear that the offer is subject to viewing, survey and sea trial so you can re-negotiate or opt out at any stage. There is a standard contract that covers this but make sure that the Broker adds subject to viewing as this isn't a standard clause.

Before paying a deposit (usually 10%) ensure that the Broker has a client account to safeguard your funds.

Personally I think making an offer and paying a deposit unseen is not the best way to go but having said that we did just that a few weeks ago but we knew the model of boat and I had spoken to someone who had viewed previously. Unfortunately it didn't work out because although we were happy to proceed once we had viewed the survey revealed some issues and we walked away. Because we had been careful to be clear what the offer was subject to and because we were dealing with a reputable Broker we got our deposit back in full with no issues.

In your circumstances it may be preferable to negotiate a price you are happy with in principle and then travel to view to confirm you are happy to proceed to the survey stage and to pay a deposit.

As for survey costs we were quoted £10 per foot plus vat.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
hlb said:
I can not understand any one buying a boat, without seeing it.

No surveyor can tell you if you will like it.
Click to expand...

I understand your point completely but in my case I knew exactly the boat that I wanted (in fact I had been swooning after one for years) and if the boat is virtually new, as it was in my case, it's more of a case of "is it what it is supposed to be". To ask a trusted fellow boater to confirm its ok is ok IMHO.

That said, reading the OP, this is a rather different situation and I would want to go and see it for myself prior to committing.
 
Make time or regret at leisure ?

Agree with all above posts about going to view boat,it is vital.Even if paying for a survey will not give any idea if the boat is for you.
Suppose survey is OK but when you get boat you have to go everywhere bent double cos no headroom.
Without fail 90% of boats I have driven long distances to see are 99% ****t,only a tiny percentage are any good and vaguely resemble the brokers/owners description.
If you really want to buy somebody elses heap of trouble this is a neat way to do it.
 
hlb said:
I can not understand any one buying a boat, without seeing it.

No surveyor can tell you if you will like it.
Click to expand...

Well I've just sold a boat (deposit paid), sight unseen - she'll be collected when she has finished her current contract.http://www.findafishingboat.com/offshore-105/DB42774

Oddly enough this is the 2nd time I've sold a boat sight unseen.. and no we're not talking pennies!

I guess it depends on whether you trust the seller
 
Thanks for the replys guys,

Don't worry, I fully intend to go see her. I'm in Northern Ireland and it's on Loch Lomond so I'll be looking at a flight into Glasgow I would have thought. I'm expecting up to date pictures from the broker next week so that shuld give me a better feeling as to whether it's for me before I fork out on a flight.

My big worries are that I could potentially lose the opportunity to get the type of boat I've been loking for. I saw something similar around this time last year but by the time I got to looking at it, the new owners were coming back from their first outting in it......

I'm also concerned about the engines, I don't know much about diesel engines, I've always just had Mercruisers. I'm worried I won't be able to get partd for them.....
 
" I'm interested in a boat I saw advertised through a broker but it's not local so I can't jump in the car to go and see it. I have only seen one picture but it's not recent."

: get lots of recent pictures and if you like what you see go and look at it.

"It's a 1973 cruiser with twin 80hp ford diesels. I've never had a diesel before and don't know much about these engines, apparently they were put in 10 years ago and have low hours as the boat hasn't been used. Should alarm bells be going off in my head about that?"

: if the engines are good and were laid up properly then there will be no problem.

" She is GRP however I'm concerned that if she is 1973 she may have osmosis or something similar and again, should I be steering clear of this at face value. The seller says she needs some upgrades and TLC, however is keen to sell and would be open to an offer."

: most boats have Osmosis to some degree without any problems, some makes are worse than others. If you state who built it there will be many on here to give advice.

What is the usual protocol? I have asked for recent photos and whether the onboard systems work but the broker is saying he doesn't know as he suspects the batteries will be dead given the length of time she has been sitting not used.

: I doubt very much the batteries will be any good so allow for replacing them.
 
robmchugh said:
Well I've just sold a boat (deposit paid), sight unseen - she'll be collected when she has finished her current contract.http://www.findafishingboat.com/offshore-105/DB42774

Oddly enough this is the 2nd time I've sold a boat sight unseen.. and no we're not talking pennies!

I guess it depends on whether you trust the seller
Click to expand...

Sold my last boat to a guy in Glasgow, 350 miles away. He hadn't seen the boat, but said all of the pictures and the description were enough for him. He paid by bank transfer, in full, without setting eyes on the boat.

Don't think i'd fancy doing that myself though.
 
E-mailed some surveyors yestersday, Had one come back to say he can't do it and another quoted £490 inclusive. Is that reasonable for a 35" cruiser?
 
blackmagicthe1st said:
E-mailed some surveyors yestersday, Had one come back to say he can't do it and another quoted £490 inclusive. Is that reasonable for a 35" cruiser?
Click to expand...

Hmm, sounds very expensive for a 35 inch boat, however if it's 35' then maybe more reasonable.................:)

But I'd still get on that plane first to look at the boat and check it out before appointing a surveyor. What boat is it? Also if it's been laid up ashore for 3 years the moisture content of the hull is likely to be low.
 
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