Selling a boat without any proof of purchase

[sputnik57]

My father sadly passed away and had been a boat owner his whole life. I'm trying to sort out his boat for my Mum. He was a fastidious keeper of documentation but for the life of me I can't find a receipt for his boat. He owned it since the mid 80s and it's about 40 years old. I can find just about every receipt to do with the boat going back years and I can find a marine survey he had done before he bought it but no original proof of sale of any sort. I also can't find the tax book for his car so I suspect he has it and the receipt for the boat squirreled away somewhere so safe that we can't find it.

Can anyone advise me as to what is best to do? The boat is in a marina at the moment so is expensive for Mum to keep while I try and sell it for her.

Unwelcome content deleted
not in great nick but seaworthy as far as I understand and pretty messy. But likely not worth a whole lot.

 

[Boater Sam]

I would not worry about it. You have a paper trail, it has been in the family too long to have any finance on it, any prospective purchaser will not be concerned. Boats are not like cars when it comes to sale.

 

[Tranona]

Nothing to really worry about. Many old boats are like that. You have more than enough evidence that your father had clear title to the boat - length of ownership evidence of use and maintenance. I assume you are the executor and if so you effectively own the title to the boat on behalf of the estate, so when you sell it you provide a Bill of Sale (The RYA and MCA have model documents on their sites) to the buyer passing clear title to them. You then have to account for the proceeds in the estate accounts as that money belongs to the beneficiaries which may of course include you and your mother. Don't get too hung up about hanging on for a higher price as the marina costs will eat up money for something you no longer need or use.

 

[Refueler]

I agree with Boater Sam .....

All boats I have bought - I have never asked for Prrof of Ownership - because the knowledge / info and location of boat was enough to show I ws not being asked to buy a stolen article.

Only newer boats and all that VAQT crap - would I ask for Docs ...

 

[Mataji]

The documentation you have would more than satisfy me if I were in the market for your boat.
if the boat is in decent condition I would seek out a broker who deals with the marina. You would have to pay commission of course but the hassle you could be put to trying to sell privately is not worth it.

 

[jac]

If it's not in great nick, a bit messy and not worth a lot then brokers may not be worth it for them to do it. You haven't said what / where it is or how much knowledge you have to value it but If there is a local broker there get them along to give you some idea of value and charges to sell. If it is not worth selling via a broker tyhen you might want to just consider the put it on ebay for a nominal sum approach.

As a minimum though to maximise return I would remove any personal belongings, rubbish, perishables and tidy up, make sure it's dry and ventilated.

 

[Refueler]

I have a little bell ringing ...

Tax book for the car ??

Sputnik57 .............. Where are you located ??

 

[ylop]

If its at the cheap end of things nobody will care if there is no bill of sale.
Is there an SSR no on the boat anywhere? That would provide some extra reassurance (especially if you can find the paperwork for that) but all the receipts, the old survey etc are a very useful provenance.
Is there any possibility that there's some security deposit box, or fire-safe somewhere with car paperwork and boat stuff? I guess more importantly than finding those - what else could you be missing.

 

[graham]

I would get aboard and clean it up as best you can then get a broker on the case. Sure they will take a percentage of the sale price but thats likely to be less than marina fees.

 

[superheat6k]

What you do have will more than satisfy any reasonable buyer.

I would definitely instruct a broker and avoid advising it is a bereavement sale, or a would be buyer will try to take advantage that you will be overly keen to sell at any price.

But you have picked the best time of the year to sell, and the market remains good for a decent boat

So come on we all want to know more about her ?

 

[sputnik57]

Thanks so much for all the replies. Seems the consensus is we should be fine. It's been in the same marina for 30 years so it's not like it just appeared. I've contacted a local broker to see if they can help.

It's a Ruffian 8.5. Is a shame to see it go, we enjoyed years of holidays in it as kids, all over the Inner Hebrides and there's many a tall tale to tell and loads of very happy memories. But alas, we can't afford to keep it and don't have the time to maintain it but as a replacement I've bought myself a rather elderly but well looked after Enterprise dinghy and I intend to keep the family tradition going and teach my kids to sail in it.

 

[jac]

Thanks so much for all the replies. Seems the consensus is we should be fine. It's been in the same marina for 30 years so it's not like it just appeared. I've contacted a local broker to see if they can help.

It's a Ruffian 8.5. Is a shame to see it go, we enjoyed years of holidays in it as kids, all over the Inner Hebrides and there's many a tall tale to tell and loads of very happy memories. But alas, we can't afford to keep it and don't have the time to maintain it but as a replacement I've bought myself a rather elderly but well looked after Enterprise dinghy and I intend to keep the family tradition going and teach my kids to sail in it.

She looks pretty tidy from that photo. get her tidy below, bit of elbow grease and boat cleaner and she will probably sell fairly easily. Do ask the broker if there is anything easy / quick you can do to boost her presentation and just stress you want her gone quick. Taking 3-4 months more to sell will wipe out the extra grand or two you might get by playing hard ball!!