Mmm brokers - don't you just luv 'em

Goldie said:
A friend of mine had the same experience, travelling from N. Wales to the Solent to view, having emphasised to the broker that he was only making the journey if the boat really was as good as portrayed.
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It's been mentioned before, but many forumites have said they'd be willing to take a preliminary look at boats local to them, to help avoid this problem when the potential buyer's a long way away. Only last weekend Nathan in Preston visited a boat that a friend of mine based here in the south wanted to buy. I know I'd be willing to pop in to any Southampton yards or marinas to help out someone up north or in Wales or wherever.

Pete
 
prv said:
It's been mentioned before, but many forumites have said they'd be willing to take a preliminary look at boats local to them, to help avoid this problem when the potential buyer's a long way away. Only last weekend Nathan in Preston visited a boat that a friend of mine based here in the south wanted to buy. I know I'd be willing to pop in to any Southampton yards or marinas to help out someone up north or in Wales or wherever.

Pete
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You are so right.

Why on earth cannot this be formalised in some way? Either through this forum or whatever.

i guess that the answer is that it does not produce an income stream :(
 
chinita said:
Why on earth cannot this be formalised in some way?(
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You can still do it without anything being "formalised". Just post a thread titled "Would any kind forumite in XYZ be willing to look at a boat for me?" or whatever, and if there's anyone there prepared to spend an hour of their time being nosy on someone else's boat then I'm sure they'll respond.

Pete
 
Allan said:
I think that is a good idea. I'm happy to say I will look at boats in the Bristol and Cardiff areas.
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Excellent.

The nice thing about just doing it by informal posts, though, is that nobody needs to declare themselves up front, or indeed to have even heard of the idea before the day they notice the name of their town in a thread title.

Pete
 
AntarcticPilot said:
To be fair to them, I would actually be much happier looking around a boat on my own than with a broker looking over my shoulder. I prefer them to just give me the keys - and it seems to be the norm up on the Clyde anyway, at least, at marina based brokerages. I want to form my own impression of a boat, without input from a broker who doesn't really know my preferences, likes and dislikes!
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I agree completely with this,but wouldnt it be nice to have someone near who could answer any questions you may have.
 
michaelchapman said:
You lot seem to have been unlucky.

The brokers I have dealt with have made significant efforts to find the right boat for me, arranged visits in far off places and in several cases made long trips to show me the boat when the owner has not been available. In both cases, the broker left us alone went we wanted to be and we spent a long time looking all over.

Same thing with the builders I have visited. They have all been enthusiastic, and have shown us all over their yard, the boats they were working on and spending the best part of a day talking to us.
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I seem to have found the same broker as you michael,I made an enquiry for a boat in st Tropez on monday,my e mail was answered the same day along with
photos of the boat,& today I have received a PDF of the full history from launching to the present day (unfortunately all in french which is beyond me)
with an invitation to view anytime convenient to me.He will be happy to accompany me even though he is in marseilles,he also informed me of a price reduction.Now that is service.!!:):)
 
Having bought my first boat last summer I worked with two brokers both gave excellent service. I was able to define what I was looking for and give them my budget. After three months of "weekend tyre kicking" I made an offer on Camelia. I found everybody very professional and the vessel was shown as sold on the Internet an hour after I parted with my cash.

I would have no qualms recommending both brokers to anybody looking to buy or sell.
 
prv said:
Excellent.

The nice thing about just doing it by informal posts, though, is that nobody needs to declare themselves up front, or indeed to have even heard of the idea before the day they notice the name of their town in a thread title.

Pete
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But wouldn't a sticky be a better idea?

That way the availability of people in particular areas is always open to view.

I would be quite happy having my name on a sticky to look at boats on the Algarve for example.
 
I have been making enquiries about boats for sale for some time.
For a more distant boat. I have asked brokers questions by email. not many will give more than a general answere. it was sugested by one quite helpfully to contact one of a list of local surveyors who would be willing to have a quick look and give verbal report on condition of boat for much less than survey.
Then decide.
For closer to home. I ask the same general questions. re
Hull cond, blisters, delamination, leaks, smile, ever grounded, colision.
Usualy say not to thier knowladge.

I have to say most have been helpfull.
Some more than others.

This is the second time Ive looked for a boat.
The broker who sold me my first boat was extremly helpfull and in fact persuaded me to lift it and showed me how to do a quick survey of hull and keel and esure boat was safe.
It was a very cheep very small very old boat he made very little on.
But we confirmed it was solid, safe and ready to sail before i bought it and set of on 100' delivery home.
The only reason i have not bought from him this time is he doesn't have the right boat
 
Not all brokers are bad.

There are a lot of people who slag off brokers, and many deserve it.

But..

I live in Newcastle and wanted a boat in the Med.
From an advert in YM (I think) I contacted a broker in Barcelona who assurred me he had many boats of that description. (Sound familiar so far...)
I flew to Barcelona and booked a hotel for 4 days to find that perfect boat.
He had lined up around 6 for me to view, not exactly what I wanted, so a serious chat ensued where I detailed EXACTLY what I wanted, following which he showed me 4 more, 2 of which I struggled over which on to select until I paid a deposit and finalised a couple of weeks later. During the 4 days he spent 3 FULL days with us and would have stayed with us longer but we already had made our decision.
The broker was the most polite, patient and thoughtful man I could have wished to meet.
Yeh, sure he took his commission but he earned it.

His name:- Gert Van den Burgh
His company:- BoatshedBarcelona.com

Nice to be passing on a good view.
 
Isn't the offer of looking at a boat for someone you've not actually met a bit of a disaster??

My idea of fair wear and tear to the interior or the sail condition for example is unlikely to match persons unknown.

A good mate of mine is currently buying from Ancasta, by coincidence the same broker we bought from 6 years ago.

He has gone from having 'buyers desire' and enthusing about the boat to having 'cold feet' after reading the survey which has revealed a long list of defects.

This is why you need a broker and how the broker earns his money.
He needs to a) calm my friend down and b) speak to the owner about the things he is going need to get fixed if he wants to sell it.

Before we purchased our boat I looked at everything that was available within 250 miles. Some looked great in the photo's and not in reality, others including our boat looked much better on board.

If you are a serious buyer the odd disappointment shouldn't put you off.
 
xyachtdave said:
Isn't the offer of looking at a boat for someone you've not actually met a bit of a disaster??

My idea of fair wear and tear to the interior or the sail condition for example is unlikely to match persons unknown.

A good mate of mine is currently buying from Ancasta, by coincidence the same broker we bought from 6 years ago.

He has gone from having 'buyers desire' and enthusing about the boat to having 'cold feet' after reading the survey which has revealed a long list of defects.

This is why you need a broker and how the broker earns his money.
He needs to a) calm my friend down and b) speak to the owner about the things he is going need to get fixed if he wants to sell it.

Before we purchased our boat I looked at everything that was available within 250 miles. Some looked great in the photo's and not in reality, others including our boat looked much better on board.

If you are a serious buyer the odd disappointment shouldn't put you off.
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It is not the odd disappointment that is the problem it is spending time and often money that really gets you mad. Some times they are just down right rude. Yes there are good ones out there treat the potential buyer with respect and work to make the sale happen. If you want to find a broker to sell your boat go round a few as a buyer and sea how they treat you. If they treat you the way you want your potential buyer to be treated then you may have found a good one.

When we were buying our last boat we covered a lot of miles, and met some very good brokers who were a great help, some who really just wasted our time, and in the middle were the majority who shuffled the paper and handed out keys
 
xyachtdave said:
Isn't the offer of looking at a boat for someone you've not actually met a bit of a disaster??
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I guess that's partly why my instinct was to keep it an informal thing among forum users, who do somewhat know each other, rather than hold it out as an organised scheme on a permanent post with an assigned list of names covering different areas. But in any case the only decision someone should be making based on such a viewing is whether to travel, not any more than that.

Even if the person who looks has different standards to the potential buyer, it's still a second set of eyes that has actually seen the boat, recently, and doesn't stand to make any money from persuading you to buy it. That's got to be worthwhile extra information alongside whatever the broker says, and nothing says you have to treat it as gospel. Personally I would take photos, again it's of benefit that they're of how she looks now, not when she was put up for sale three years ago, or even recycled photos from the last sale!

Pete
 
xyachtdave said:
Isn't the offer of looking at a boat for someone you've not actually met a bit of a disaster??

My idea of fair wear and tear to the interior or the sail condition for example is unlikely to match persons unknown.
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I don't think it should be a problem.

Last summer I looked at three boats in UK and local to me for someone who was in Eire, ok, he was a mate but that was not really relevant.

I gave my opinion, backed up with facts and supported by photographs of the issues I felt were appropriate.

None of the boats were in acceptable condition to proceed but looked eminently attractive in the brokers description and attractive enough for him and his wife to fly over.

My viewing probably saved them in the region of £2k in travel and accommodation costs.
 
xyachtdave said:
Isn't the offer of looking at a boat for someone you've not actually met a bit of a disaster??

My idea of fair wear and tear to the interior or the sail condition for example is unlikely to match persons unknown.

A good mate of mine is currently buying from Ancasta, by coincidence the same broker we bought from 6 years ago.

He has gone from having 'buyers desire' and enthusing about the boat to having 'cold feet' after reading the survey which has revealed a long list of defects.

This is why you need a broker and how the broker earns his money.
He needs to a) calm my friend down and b) speak to the owner about the things he is going need to get fixed if he wants to sell it.

Before we purchased our boat I looked at everything that was available within 250 miles. Some looked great in the photo's and not in reality, others including our boat looked much better on board.

If you are a serious buyer the odd disappointment shouldn't put you off.
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Not sure what the vendor can't do themselves regarding your idea of the broker's role. The owner has to make the decisions and the broker seems like an unnecessary, and often weak, link in the line of communications.

I agree that people's ideas of good or bad will differ, but my complaint is about errors of fact:
"The boat is in the water at X", when in fact it is on the hard at Y.

"The boat has spinnaker and rigging" when none is present.

No owner would make these mistakes.

Brokers are an anachronism from a time when people who went yachting had a man to do everything for them, from warming their watch to selling their yacht.
 
Not an anachronism. They fulfill a role which some people both buyers and sellers find useful. There is no compulsion to use them and if they did not perform a useful economic function they would not exist as they only get paid if they are successful in negotiating sales.

There are plenty of ways of an individual to try and sell a boat on their own, but for all sorts of reasons they don't make that choice. This does not mean that all brokers are good at their job but neither are most people any good at selling their own boat.

Suggest you ask a broker how much of his time is taken up in unproductive activity dealing with people who have no intention of buying and with sellers who don't take selling their boat seriously.
 
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