Is this another new rip off for for buyers

Caer Urfa

Caer Urfa

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We are interested in a boat for sale on the Medway from a well known residential marina, however the marina is asking 5% commission of any boat sales final selling price which to me sounds a first class rip off, anyone heard of this before?
 
What part do they claim to be playing in the transaction?

Are they providing some service out of the ordinary?

Are they a party to some contract that entitles them to this commission?
 
It has frequently come up these forums and is mostly ignored by most reputable marinas
However your post suggests that a well known large residential marina, which has a certain notoriety, may be involved here.
It may well be in the terms of the rental or lease agreement between the owner of the marina and the owner of a residential boat.
Unlike agreements where your boat is kept in normal marina, the agreement regards a residential boat might similar to that of residential caravans, with which this site owner also is involved.
Knowning this particular chap,suspect he will go to some lengths make sure that agreements are complied with.
 
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I think Aquavista charge at least that if the boat is going to be kept at the same marina.

From their website: "This is called a sale on berth fee which is a percentage + VAT of the overall sale price of the vessel. This fee is applicable as a mooring location adds value to a boat and the ability to transfer this mooring can see purchasers bypass waiting lists for moorings."

Bit of a pisser at their marinas with no waiting list.
 
Caer Urfa said:
We are interested in a boat for sale on the Medway from a well known residential marina, however the marina is asking 5% commission of any boat sales final selling price which to me sounds a first class rip off, anyone heard of this before?
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It is the seller that pays. It is a very well established type of contract for residential "parks" such as caravan sites, holiday homes where the "home" is linked to the pitch (or berth on this case). Not the same situation as the term that is sometimes seen in non residential marinas which has been shown to be illegal as an unfair term.
 
If the boat is being sold with a berth ,would suggest a good idea to simply put up and shut up, considering the difficulties of finding another berth.
Cannot think of any other place that will officially accept livaboards .
 
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The matter comes down to the 'residential' determination ....

This basically puts in similar situation as the Mobile Home parks where the Mobiles are all sold with Site Owners % included. Most sites require sales THROUGH the Site Owner unless agreement reached. Not so easy to get out of with a mobile home as its difficult to move it off site without being seen.
But a boat ... unless a residential barge / static .... could be moved off -site ....
Site owner won't be too pleased though !! Especially if as usual - its part of the berth contract.

I was involved in such ..... so speaking from actual experience.
 
Caer Urfa said:
We are interested in a boat for sale on the Medway from a well known residential marina, however the marina is asking 5% commission of any boat sales final selling price which to me sounds a first class rip off, anyone heard of this before?
Click to expand...

If you do a trawl through posts about 8 9 years ago you will find a thread about my experiences with exactly that with Shotley Marina and how I eventually issued a small claims court action based on unfair contract which they eventually ( day before hearing) capitulated on and paid me interest on the fee they had levied and I was forced to pay under duress to ensure the sale was completed plus expenses and of course the original 5% of sale price in total over and above returning the fee it was a few pounds short of £1,000 that it cost them. There have been at least 3 such cases including mine the other two went to court and were won.
There was also a thread about this a week or so back to which I gave more information, it also appeared that the law on unfair contract has changed somewhat and purports to favour the person entrapped by an unfair contract.
I could go on.
 
Refueler said:
The matter comes down to the 'residential' determination ....

This basically puts in similar situation as the Mobile Home parks where the Mobiles are all sold with Site Owners % included. Most sites require sales THROUGH the Site Owner unless agreement reached. Not so easy to get out of with a mobile home as its difficult to move it off site without being seen.
But a boat ... unless a residential barge / static .... could be moved off -site ....
Site owner won't be too pleased though !! Especially if as usual - its part of the berth contract.

I was involved in such ..... so speaking from actual experience.
Click to expand...

No it doesn't at least in terms of selling a boat out of a marina
 
I am sorry I jumped with both feet without looking to closely although I still think there is some room for exploration. As far as I understand residential caravans on residential sites are bought through the site with very specific tenure and sale terms. If the residential boat was purchased through the site owners like the caravan scenario then the law as applied to the caravan sites may equally well apply to the boat However if it is a marina that allows people to bring their own boats and reside on them then it may not and will be like the case I outlined.

Once again and apologies to Refueler
 
Caer Urfa said:
We are interested in a boat for sale on the Medway from a well known residential marina, however the marina is asking 5% commission of any boat sales final selling price which to me sounds a first class rip off, anyone heard of this before?
Click to expand...
International Marine (Manchester) tried that on me around 1984 (before they went bankrupt)
I had already advertised my boat in Yachting Monthly and moved the boat to a pontoon space at Manchester Docks.
When I listed it for sale with International Marine I told the salesman that I had listed it elswhere, I had assumed that if they had an enquiry and shown a prospective customer the boat , they would be entitled to a commission.
In this case if the boat was to remain at the marina after it is sold I think you would have to pay.
 
Caer Urfa said:
We are interested in a boat for sale on the Medway from a well known residential marina, however the marina is asking 5% commission of any boat sales final selling price which to me sounds a first class rip off, anyone heard of this before?
Click to expand...
Rip off - yes. New - no.
They're all at it in many walks of life. All trying to make extra bucks. For example, google McCarthy Stone retirement apartments and look at the unsavioury contractual terms and conditions where people have lost thousands on resale and other restrictions being applied. Not trying to derail the thread, but the small print nowadays is often more financially threatening than the headline contract T&C.
 
There are many boats on that site ranging from ex lightships and tugs down to much smaller craft, suspect it is 99% residential and doubt many could even move now under their own steam.
On the positive side it is one of only two locations am aware of that offers moorings for residential boats and they do not need to conform to some sort of beauty parade to get in.
 
Not a tax, just a condition of the lease for the berth which you either accept of don't take the berth. Berths like that are scarce and the owner obviously aims to maximise his income from them.
 
Humm , a friend sold a Residential Barge this month from a residential house boat site on the Medway , it took him years to sell it ; The Site charged him a 4 weekly fee , (not calender Monthly) plus a fee of 5% was payable somewhere to someone ; they did advertise it though , so maybe it was that that the fee was charged for

Yes agree that if someone wants a Residential Site , them are pretty rare , then guess that a premium has to be paid all along the line , to obtain one
 
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