Saint Louis
Member
So much depends on individual circumstances. When we bought our boat (not the hotel barge, the one with sails) she was in Turkey. I knew what the boat was - photographs, inventory, specifications all added to the picture - and the low-cost trip out was to check that what I saw matched what I had been told. Two relevent details:- firstly, the seller undertook to give me first refusal on the boat before I booked the flight, so that it would only be a "wasted" journey if I decided not to buy. Secondly - we moved the boat to Greece for the "point of sale", so that she did not loose VAT-paid status. The result - all the joys of the Eastern Mediterranean available with no costs or inconvenience of getting the boat there, plus loads of local knowledge gained from the seller - best places to winter, best yards, etc. I would be pretty sure that when the time comes to sell we will follow the same blueprint. As regards language difficulties, those are imagined problems - In Turkey and Greece I have yet to find a yard or a surveyor without excellent English. Don't be so timid - you're a sailor!