Remote buying.

pessimist

pessimist

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Since I have no intention of traveling to view boats until a vaccine is available but would still like some sailing as soon as possible SWMO and I have been discussing the possibility of remote buying. The plan would be to request as many photos. of the boat as possible, send the owner a detailed questionnaire and (if satisfactory) make offer and commission survey.

Reasonable plan or lock down madness?
 
pessimist said:
Since I have no intention of traveling to view boats until a vaccine is available but would still like some sailing as soon as possible SWMO and I have been discussing the possibility of remote buying. The plan would be to request as many photos. of the boat as possible, send the owner a detailed questionnaire and (if satisfactory) make offer and commission survey.

Reasonable plan or lock down madness?
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Depends, I reckon. If you're looking at buying in Spain, I'd be cautious because that is quite remote. Buying in the UK not so remote. In both cases you'd probably need to wait until lockdowns have been relaxed. I'd be tempted to find a really trustworthy broker and ask them to check the chosen boat out and advise on condition and value, before making an offer and commissioning a surveyor. The sort of broker I'd have in mind is someone like John Rodriguez (Jonic on this forum); one of his partners has multihull knowledge.
 
It depends if you know what you want. I found that doing the secondhand boat shows gave me a better idea of what I wanted and didn't want.

A friend looking for a Westerley 33 saw one online in Swansea that looked quite promising. As I was driving back from S Wales a few days later I volunteered to go and look at it for him. It was horrid with many problems not clear from photos or the description.

Having said that, I sold my Snapdragon unseen. The buyer's friend had one and so was familiar with the model.
 
pessimist said:
Since I have no intention of traveling to view boats until a vaccine is available but would still like some sailing as soon as possible SWMO and I have been discussing the possibility of remote buying. The plan would be to request as many photos. of the boat as possible, send the owner a detailed questionnaire and (if satisfactory) make offer and commission survey.

Reasonable plan or lock down madness?
Click to expand...
We ( Yachts for sale at Yachtsnet - UK sailing yacht brokerage and boat sales ) have sold several boats sight unseen by the buyer. First one was a quite expensive modern Beneteau, buyer said ".... I've been on board one, this model is what I want, a survey will confirm that it's OK". Another boat was sold to a Frenchman in La Reunion, working on a contract, wanted a fast basic boat on his return. He flew back, picked up the boat (Nic 30) and sailed off across the channel. There have been a few others. It helps that we do really good photos, and I will have been over the boat in detail and will tell any potential buyer what if anything is wrong as well as what is good.
 
pessimist said:
Errr she is SWMO. :) But I'm interested in "why" too.
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Because even if you get lucky and the boat is ok, you will still have the associated costs for a boat you can't visit, let alone sail, for how long who knows. Are surveyors being given access to boatyards/moorings etc.

IMO keep your money until you can use your new boat.
 
Clancy Moped said:
Because even if you get lucky and the boat is ok, you will still have the associated costs for a boat you can't visit, let alone sail, for how long who knows. Are surveyors being given access to boatyards/moorings etc.

IMO keep your money until you can use your new boat.
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As I read the OP, the plan is not to travel to view boats "until a vaccine is available". This wouldn't stop them buying a boat, getting it delivered here, and sailing it in the UK after lockdown but before a vaccine emerges (if indeed it ever does).
 
pvb said:
As I read the OP, the plan is not to travel to view boats "until a vaccine is available". This wouldn't stop them buying a boat, getting it delivered here, and sailing it in the UK after lockdown but before a vaccine emerges (if indeed it ever does).
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That's how I read as well.
 
Geez, pessimist can't even decide if he should go to the supermarket or not. How's he going to make up his mind about buying a boat remotely?
 
pessimist said:
Since I have no intention of traveling to view boats until a vaccine is available but would still like some sailing as soon as possible SWMO and I have been discussing the possibility of remote buying. The plan would be to request as many photos. of the boat as possible, send the owner a detailed questionnaire and (if satisfactory) make offer and commission survey.

Reasonable plan or lock down madness?
Click to expand...
At this moment, a vaccine is unlikely to be available until next year sometime; even if one was developed in a laboratory today, it would take that long to get it to the point where it could be used for mass vaccination. There is also no guarantee that a vaccine will be effective in this case; the WHO recently pointed out that there is no evidence that even a previous infection confers immunity. I'm pretty sure I've had it (not badly enough to be hospitalized and not NHS staff, so not tested), but I'm still taking care.
 
Since it may be quite a long time until anyone can actually sail in this country, I would bide my time.

Curiously enough, some years ago, I did do what the OP is proposing. I was looking for a particular class of yacht, of which there aren't very many. One was for sale in Portugal, by a broker in the UK. I got a good impression of the broker, who was able to give me masses of good recent photos and detailed information about the boat. I agreed to give a 10% deposit, and bought, subject to a satisfactory survey in the UK, on the condition that the owner delivered the boat to the UK without delay. That way, I had the reassurance that the owner had enough confidence in the boat to undertake the trip back from Portugal to the UK. The boat duly arrived, and was, and is, fully up to expectations.
 
Thanks everyone for your suggestions, observations and opinions. Much food for thought. I realise that the rational decision is to wait until/if this is all over as I believe prices will tube. But..............
 
pessimist said:
Thanks everyone for your suggestions, observations and opinions. Much food for thought. I realise that the rational decision is to wait until/if this is all over as I believe prices will tube. But..............
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... he will stamp his feet shortly and demand ice-cream if he hasn't got a boat ! He once went 3 weeks between boats and was very badly behaved. This time its been nearly 6 months ! (P.S. I too will stamp my feet !!)
 
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