De Valk brokers Holland

[Sticky Fingers]

Anyone had any experience of buying a boat through De Valk in Holland?

Reason I ask is that their operation looks very professional; excellent website and top quality listings with many high res photos and detailed inventory, for (almost) all the boats they offer. prices seem OK. Example:
http://www.devalk.nl/en/yachtbrokerage/251307/BAVARIA-32-CRUISER.html

Wondered if the reality loved up to the presentation.

 

[grumpy_o_g]

I have absolutely no experience of the broker in question but almost every Dutch boat I've known has been immaculate (rather like their houses). The immaculate appearance doesn't always translate to the same level of engineering maintenance but usually does. I'd be quite happy to take a chance on viewing it knowing the Dutch but then I'd enjoy the trip anyway. Maybe you could ask the broker to send a couple of current photos or even just ask him if you could talk to the owner. No matter what happens you'll never be sure to you actually see it I guess.

Personally, any broker that can offer St Malo Pilot Cutter built by Gaffers and Luggers in Mylor that not only has a fireplace and proper central heating with radiators, a galley with two ovens, a microwave, a 4 slice toaster, a dishwasher and a 5 burner induction hob, but air conditioning and two 12KVA generators to keep the whole lot going and even has a heated Jacuzzi on the aft deck has to be OK with me. What a fascinating collection of boats.

 

[david_bagshaw]

My father put a boat on brokerage with them.
no sale achieved, but they were professional, however complaints were made the vessel couldnt reach 10kn, hardly surprising when she drew 2 mtrs, and the test area was near marken, where the water is barely deep enough to float, so some lack of understanding of the finer points.

That not withstanding, a good set up, along with the comments about dutch boats in general, though as ever the recession has "damaged" a lot of boats from a lack of maintenance.

 

[Tranona]

Good reports from friends who have dealt with them - at least for viewing. as suggested Dutch brokers in general have a good reputation with clear contracts. english speaking and well used to dealing with UK buyers.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Thanks. I also like the fact that the boats seem (on screen any way) to be exceptionally well presented, with no owners' clutter below, green slime on deck or filthy engines....!

 

[sailorman]

Thanks. I also like the fact that the boats seem (on screen any way) to be exceptionally well presented, with no owners' clutter below, green slime on deck or filthy engines....!

check out the Dutch contract of sale

 

[Sticky Fingers]

OK, anything in particular did you have concerns about?

 

[jonjo]

Yes I purchased a yacht through them 14 years ago, top notch outfit.

Holland has a two tier system for yacht sales, good examples are sold using a Hiswa contract which commits the seller to make good problems found at time of the sale survey. I doubt that more than 30% of UK boats for sale would meet the standard for a Hiswa based sale.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Sounds promising... I thought from sailorman's post that there was maybe something bad about the Dutch contracts. I'll get hold of one and take a look

 

[Tranona]

Sounds promising... I thought from sailorman's post that there was maybe something bad about the Dutch contracts. I'll get hold of one and take a look

As usual sailorman never explains his one line comments!

Anyway as suggested the HISWA contract limits the ability of the buyer to pull out if defects are discovered on survey to a %age of the contract price - that is minor items are not a reason. In practice it is not an issue assuming the surveyor and broker are realistic about the extent of remedial work required. On the other hand there is a requirement on the part of the seller to be up front about any known defects.

 

[sailorman]

As usual sailorman never explains his one line comments!

Anyway as suggested the HISWA contract limits the ability of the buyer to pull out if defects are discovered on survey to a %age of the contract price - that is minor items are not a reason. In practice it is not an issue assuming the surveyor and broker are realistic about the extent of remedial work required. On the other hand there is a requirement on the part of the seller to be up front about any known defects.

There is enough info on this site covering Dutch contracts. Do you think all users should be spoon fed

 

[Tranona]

There is enough info on this site covering Dutch contracts. Do you think all users should be spoon fed

How arrogant. If you are going to post a "warning" then at least have the courtesy to explain why. not everybody spends their life on here.

This site relies on people being helpful, not just posting one liners without any explanation.

 

[sailorman]

How arrogant. If you are going to post a "warning" then at least have the courtesy to explain why. not everybody spends their life on here.

This site relies on people being helpful, not just posting one liners without any explanation.

post 6 was helpful, it gave a heads up to check the contracts of sale.
What you think is just your opinion & add nothing to the OP

 

[Sticky Fingers]

It did give that heads up, just that I don't know what specifically to check for....

 

[overstag]

Nothing specifically wrong with Dutch contracts. The two major "standard" contracts used are HISWA and ANWB.
Dutch law specifies that the seller shall give full disclosure about any and all issues that are known to him, but the buyer is obliged to do a proper investigation as well. Many brokers have all their boats surveyed when they are put up for sale. So you can check the survey report as you view the boat.

 

[Tranona]

post 6 was helpful, it gave a heads up to check the contracts of sale.
What you think is just your opinion & add nothing to the OP

You clearly did not read what I wrote as I explained a feature of the contract, in response to the OP asking what the warning was about. Not opinion, although the second observation that it made little difference in practice is borne out by the experience of people who have bought in Holland.

Single string of words that do not even make a sentence are not helpful.

Suggest if you want to provide help you do so by posting something like overstag has just done (which is similar to what I posted). Very little effort required if you actually know what you are talking about.

 

[Bitterend]

I bought my boat in Palma thro' De Valk, the broker and office staff were friendly, professional and extremely helpful. The company also operated a client (escrow) account which is a practice not followed by all brokers. This was important to me as it was my first experience of dealing with a Dutch broker in Spain.

 

[ditchcrawler]

I bought in Holland from another broker Bach Yachting, and the whole transaction was professional and painless.
The contract did allow for the seller to rectify any defects discovered by the surveyor within a reasonable time and at his expense and to the surveyor's satisfaction.
If the cost of the repairs amounted to more than 20% of the selling price the seller was entitled to rescind the contract and the deposit would be returned.
If the repairs involved improvements the cost of the repairs are to the purchaser.
It all went very smoothly.

 

[Plevier]

I bought a boat through their Monnickendam branch in Dec 2013. They were very helpful and efficient. However the branch Manager that I dealt with has now moved to another branch. Recently I was a bit shocked to see that they - the Monnickendam branch - were using photos from the particulars of my boat to advertise a nearly identical one from the same seller (a small charter company) without declaring it. I thought that was very poor practice.
The HISWA contract about the 20% (or 10% or 15%, it varies) is common but can be varied by mutual consent. In my case we agreed that the seller would not accept this responsibility to repair, but if the survey showed up any fault at all I was entitled to withdraw with refund of deposit if I wanted. This was because the seller would only accept the offer if the sale was concluded within his financial year a week later! (In the event he actually did fix some things between payment and collection for goodwill.)

 

[Koeketiene]

Anyone had any experience of buying a boat through De Valk in Holland?

Reason I ask is that their operation looks very professional; excellent website and top quality listings with many high res photos and detailed inventory, for (almost) all the boats they offer. prices seem OK. Example:
http://www.devalk.nl/en/yachtbrokerage/251307/BAVARIA-32-CRUISER.html

Wondered if the reality loved up to the presentation.

We bought through De Valk in 2006.
Wouldn't hesitate to do so again.