Finding a broker to help me buy a boat

ChattingLil

ChattingLil

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Boats in Essex and London
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We are now looking for a new boat but the search is proving to be brain-aching. SO much to look at, SO many brokerages, SO many boats with the same broker, SO many inadequate adverts for boats that prove to be unsuitable once you drill into the detail.

What I need is an interested and engaged broker who knows where to look and who to ask. We know what our criteria is, but we do not necessarily know what the boat will be that satisfies the wish list. And we are open minded to consider everything.

Anyone know of such a broker?
 
ChattingLil said:
We are now looking for a new boat but the search is proving to be brain-aching. SO much to look at, SO many brokerages, SO many boats with the same broker, SO many inadequate adverts for boats that prove to be unsuitable once you drill into the detail.

What I need is an interested and engaged broker who knows where to look and who to ask. We know what our criteria is, but we do not necessarily know what the boat will be that satisfies the wish list. And we are open minded to consider everything.

Anyone know of such a broker?
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There is one bloke here abouts some have used :D
I know of a very nice Oyster Heritage 37 with all the bells & whistles, fully tooled-up, she is ready to go
 
ChattingLil said:
We are now looking for a new boat but the search is proving to be brain-aching. SO much to look at, SO many brokerages, SO many boats with the same broker, SO many inadequate adverts for boats that prove to be unsuitable once you drill into the detail.

What I need is an interested and engaged broker who knows where to look and who to ask. We know what our criteria is, but we do not necessarily know what the boat will be that satisfies the wish list. And we are open minded to consider everything.

Anyone know of such a broker?
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What are you looking for? Not all brokers deal with all boats; some are more discretionary.
 
chinita said:
What are you looking for? Not all brokers deal with all boats; some are more discretionary.
Click to expand...

Thanks. This is probably why I need help because we don't particularly know what we are looking for.

  • The purpose is to be a semi-liveaboard.
  • MUST have standing headroom of at least 6'2" for the main saloon.
  • MUST have big hanging wardrobe, or second heads that we can convert into hanging space.
  • MUST have three cabins: MUST have decent sized owners cabin with ability to reconfigure if necessary to fit a proper size double mattress. (no v-berth). MUST have second cabin for teenager. MUST have seperate saloon and seperate nav table.
  • Ideally no longer than 40' for reasons of handling and berthing costs. but will consider up to, say, 44.
My preference is for a motor sailer. Second choice would be a single screw river cruiser with full displacement. Third choice would be mobo - mobos we've seen certainly give us the accomodation we need v. LOA, but if we end up with a mobo we will never be able to afford to take it anywhere!

HWMO doesn't care a hoot as long as it has standing headroom and if we end up with a yacht, I must promise not to sneak it out while he is having a lie in. :D

Don't want to put my budget here in case I find something that is up for negotiation!
 
Looks to me as if you have a fairly clear view of what you want, presumably you have some idea of budget. Personally, I'd visit some of the bigger brokerages and find an individual you can trust.
 
Have a look at a Dutch steel motor boat AK type (aft cabin). They have the space you require for liveaboard and generally smallish engines 70-100 hp so fairly economical to use, displacement speed 10ky max. This gives some idea, this is fairly new but others similar at much lower cost. Bought from Netherlands will be well looked after. Here is a good large Dutch Brokerage.
 
What I'd do is decide where you want to be based, and then tour the local marinas etc, and look at all the brokerages. You have a clear idea of what you want - as I did when I was looking - so you can rapidly see what matches and what doesn't. You'll also see what boats "work" for the area you're interested in, though that is a bit hit and miss as sometimes it depends on which builders had agencies there.

Brokers are working for the seller, not the buyer, so no need to get involved with a broker (beyond getting the keys to have a look around) until you've seen a boat you like.

Most brokers, if you give them your details, will overwhelm you with details of boats, 99% of which are totally inappropriate for your needs. Better to look at boats than to look at paper.
 
Stork_III said:
Have a look at a Dutch steel motor boat AK type (aft cabin). They have the space you require for liveaboard and generally smallish engines 70-100 hp so fairly economical to use, displacement speed 10ky max. This gives some idea, this is fairly new but others similar at much lower cost. Bought from Netherlands will be well looked after. Here is a good large Dutch Brokerage.
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yes, we're quite keen on that kind of thing and have been looking that those. Suspect we will spend the summer having long weekends in france or n'lands. :) I was hoping to find a broker to take the leg-work out of it and to help me cut through the chaff!
 
Not sure many brokers would take on the legwork for you unless you pay them as a buyers agent, Seems to me you need to be more clear in your own minds what you want. The range of possible you are considering are so diverse. A river cruiser and an oceangoing motor sailor are very different animals. Only you can sort out what you want and refine your short list to something manageable.
 
ChattingLil said:
We are now looking for a new boat but the search is proving to be brain-aching. SO much to look at, SO many brokerages, SO many boats with the same broker, SO many inadequate adverts for boats that prove to be unsuitable once you drill into the detail.

What I need is an interested and engaged broker who knows where to look and who to ask. We know what our criteria is, but we do not necessarily know what the boat will be that satisfies the wish list. And we are open minded to consider everything.

Anyone know of such a broker?
Click to expand...

Just to sort of help - Howard Ford at Woodbridge will help you find one plus he shares commission - if you find a boat listed via another broker he will call them, share commission 50/50 and Howard will then give you half his 50%, plus he'll check all the paperwork and manage the purchase process for you. On a £40,000 yacht that's about £800 cashback. Plus he's a good broker.
 
First buy a copy of Good Yacht Guide. You will probably want the Motor Sailers (20-50ft) section.
This will show you cabin layout, dimensions and price guide.

It's no good taking shots in the dark, you need a clear idea of which boat designs suit your requirements before you start looking, then you can narrow your search down to two or three makes to go look at.
 
ChattingLil said:
Thanks. This is probably why I need help because we don't particularly know what we are looking for.

  • The purpose is to be a semi-liveaboard.
  • MUST have standing headroom of at least 6'2" for the main saloon.
  • MUST have big hanging wardrobe, or second heads that we can convert into hanging space.
  • MUST have three cabins: MUST have decent sized owners cabin with ability to reconfigure if necessary to fit a proper size double mattress. (no v-berth). MUST have second cabin for teenager. MUST have seperate saloon and seperate nav table.
  • Ideally no longer than 40' for reasons of handling and berthing costs. but will consider up to, say, 44.
My preference is for a motor sailer. Second choice would be a single screw river cruiser with full displacement. Third choice would be mobo - mobos we've seen certainly give us the accomodation we need v. LOA, but if we end up with a mobo we will never be able to afford to take it anywhere!

HWMO doesn't care a hoot as long as it has standing headroom and if we end up with a yacht, I must promise not to sneak it out while he is having a lie in. :D

Don't want to put my budget here in case I find something that is up for negotiation!
Click to expand...

Without an idea of your budget it's a bit tough.:)

But I specialise in blue water and liveaboard yachts.

Have a look at the main listing page.

There is also a blog which is updated regularly with news of yachts coming soon, before they hit the main market.

The best bet would be to send me an email, with details you do not wish to post on here, and I will try to help you.
 
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...boat..

Hi...decide what you want,as previously suggested,then look on apolloduck..most private boats get advertised there...as its free.And..there are a lot of boats on there..including mine.
 
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