survey being done

[aquapower]

We were out for more than an hour, with time at cruising speed, before we made an offer on our current boat. I guess it partly depends on whether the vendor agrees in advance that it's ok for the broker to do this.

Mind you, in our case the broker knew we were seriously serious about the purchase because we kept drooling everywhere

I remember that day well, you were one of the few buyers I dealt with who arrived at the office knowing what you wanted to buy, a trial to confirm that was essential. All the vendors I dealt with never had a problem with serious buyers wanting a trial and never once was fuel cost mentioned by vendors.

 

[lionelz]

Well got the phone call last night. Some issues were picked up The stern drive would not lower after it was raised, The Port Trim tab was not working correctly. The shower was for some reason was going straight into the bilge, and lights on Radar arch were not working, Also I need to confirm that the toilet can only be emptied by the holding tank being sucked out s there appears to be no direct into the sea. I have put it back to them. They seemed positive, as rightly so we cannot do sea trial until some have been rectified, Hopefully its just minor electrical work and nothing major.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Well got the phone call last night. Some issues were picked up The stern drive would not lower after it was raised, The Port Trim tab was not working correctly. The shower was for some reason was going straight into the bilge, and lights on Radar arch were not working, Also I need to confirm that the toilet can only be emptied by the holding tank being sucked out s there appears to be no direct into the sea. I have put it back to them. They seemed positive, as rightly so we cannot do sea trial until some have been rectified, Hopefully its just minor electrical work and nothing major.

All sounds very minor. Leg trimming up but not down sounds like a relay to me. Lights on radar arch is probably a corroded connector on top of the arch. Not all holding tank installations have overboard pumpout; the easiest way to figure this out is to have a look at the holding tank itself and follow the hoses. The overboard discharge fitting, if there is one, won't be far away from the tank.

None of this constitutes significant defect though, so nothing really to worry about. What's the boat? (Apols if I've missed this somewhere).

 

[Nick_H]

Is this a valid 'serious buyer's ' requirement ? After all I would be the buyer, and will be complying with all other standard requirements of the standard sale process.

Yes. I've always requested a change to the standard contract to allow me to walk away if I don't like the handling on sea trial. The seller hasn't always agreed to change the contract, but we've always found a compromise that achieves the same. I offer a quick completion in return, and don't insist that the seller stops marketing the boat in the meantime, so I think it's fair for both parties.

 

[Momac]

Also I need to confirm that the toilet can only be emptied by the holding tank being sucked out s there appears to be no direct into the sea.

Some boats may be built with deck pump out facility only - eg Broom.

The shower waste thing - if the float valve is stuck or perhaps a wire has corroded the shower pup will overflow - the lid on the Attwood type pump box is not water tight . Worst case new pump £100. I had the same issue ..... it was a corroded wire.

 

[lionelz]

All sounds very minor. Leg trimming up but not down sounds like a relay to me. Lights on radar arch is probably a corroded connector on top of the arch. Not all holding tank installations have overboard pumpout; the easiest way to figure this out is to have a look at the holding tank itself and follow the hoses. The overboard discharge fitting, if there is one, won't be far away from the tank.

None of this constitutes significant defect though, so nothing really to worry about. What's the boat? (Apols if I've missed this somewhere).

The boat is in very good order according to the surveyor as said could be minor electrical faults hopefully

 

[alt]

Sometimes I hate how anal UK boat purchases seem on paper. I would *NEVER* buy a boat without a 'test drive'. I will meet the owner/broker and offer to pay for their time and fuel, to do nothing more than have a 'test drive' (or be taken for one as a passenger). If I like that, we'll go from there.

BTW, that's how it generally goes in Ireland. Even with brokerage boats, i've never had a broker NOT offer to 'take her out to see how she handles' before going any further. IMHO, works best. Different strokes, I guess...

 

[lionelz]

Well sea trail is now booked for Friday in Poole, so hopefully on Friday night I will be posting pictures of the new boat. All the big faults are being repaired by the broker so I will just have to repair the small bits when I get some money back in my account, although as I understand it that is not going to happen once I own a boat :nonchalance:

 

[James L]

Sometimes I hate how anal UK boat purchases seem on paper. I would *NEVER* buy a boat without a 'test drive'. I will meet the owner/broker and offer to pay for their time and fuel, to do nothing more than have a 'test drive' (or be taken for one as a passenger). If I like that, we'll go from there.

BTW, that's how it generally goes in Ireland. Even with brokerage boats, i've never had a broker NOT offer to 'take her out to see how she handles' before going any further. IMHO, works best. Different strokes, I guess...

Same as that, took the boat out for a spin before even making an offer.
Vendor agreed to my 120nm trip home to be my official sea trial.

Very different when I looked at boats in the UK. "No, we don't have permission to start the Engines, you'll have to pay a deposit and sign a contract first."

 

[jfm]

I take the standard Uk contract and brokers' attitude with a pinch of salt. For the last 3 boats I've sold (2xsq58 and 1xsq78) I've taken the buyer for a spin before contract. I think on one occasion it was against the broker's advice. I've paid the fuel (at 500 litres hour) too. I made my own enquiries to make sure they were not tyre kickers. In all three cases the first person to see the boat agreed to buy it after the test drive.

As a seller, I see the main function of the broker as finding and introducing good prospective buyers, not actually selling the boat for me. Being nice to a good prospect by doing a test drive generally is helpful in selling the boat imho

 

[Cheery]

I take the standard Uk contract and brokers' attitude with a pinch of salt. For the last 3 boats I've sold (2xsq58 and 1xsq78) I've taken the buyer for a spin before contract. I think on one occasion it was against the broker's advice. I've paid the fuel (at 500 litres hour) too. I made my own enquiries to make sure they were not tyre kickers. In all three cases the first person to see the boat agreed to buy it after the test drive.

As a seller, I see the main function of the broker as finding and introducing good prospective buyers, not actually selling the boat for me. Being nice to a good prospect by doing a test drive generally is helpful in selling the boat imho

In your case I would imagine that the boats were immaculate, and as you were offering a good service unavailable elsewhere the deals were easy to complete. People buy from people they like.

 

[alt]

Same as that, took the boat out for a spin before even making an offer.
Vendor agreed to my 120nm trip home to be my official sea trial.

Very different when I looked at boats in the UK. "No, we don't have permission to start the Engines, you'll have to pay a deposit and sign a contract first."

I can go one better. My current boat, when I went to visit her initially, seller wasn't around and I viewed it out of the water.

When I went back to visit it the 2nd time, again the seller wasn't around. He came back with "Keys are under the chair, bring it for a spin yourself and see what you think" ... I bought the boat without ever meeting the guy! (And did my own sea trial)

 

[James L]

I can go one better. My current boat, when I went to visit her initially, seller wasn't around and I viewed it out of the water.

When I went back to visit it the 2nd time, again the seller wasn't around. He came back with "Keys are under the chair, bring it for a spin yourself and see what you think" ... I bought the boat without ever meeting the guy! (And did my own sea trial)

brilliant.

 

[jfm]

In your case I would imagine that the boats were immaculate, and as you were offering a good service unavailable elsewhere the deals were easy to complete. People buy from people they like.

I think 90% of sellers miss a trick here. Brokers focus on the downside of being duped into giving a joyride to a tyre kicker and forget the bigger sin of not "bonding" with a serious buyer. It's like when you're hiring someone for a job and you get all those fuddy duddies who find a picky "colour of his tie" reason to reject a candidate: the bigger business risk you face when hiring talent is rejecting a good person, not hiring a bad person, and the same applies to sea trials on boats for sale imho.

When the viewers arrive on my boat (after I've checked as far as I can they're not obvious tyre kickers), it is all opened up. The uniformed stewardess meets and greets them with drinks and canapés. There are flowers on the table and cushions all out, with no covers to unzip. Heating/airco on full blast; the right lighting on. Sometimes the buyer thanks me for going to a lot of trouble. I say "What trouble? I was down on the boat anyway and this is a normal day out". Then you have a pootle around the bay for a sea trial. Hopefully, and nicely warmed by from seeing 6 previous boats with much mankiness, they quite like the idea of this particular boat. So I'm firmly in the "sea trial" camp. (I like Alt's approach too, though that's more likely to happen in Ireland than other EU countries)

 

[rafiki_]

Well sea trail is now booked for Friday in Poole, so hopefully on Friday night I will be posting pictures of the new boat. All the big faults are being repaired by the broker so I will just have to repair the small bits when I get some money back in my account, although as I understand it that is not going to happen once I own a boat :nonchalance:

Very best of luck with this. Looking forward to seeing the pics.

 

[Jurgen]

Bit late on this 1, we are also in the process of buying a boat that is currently out of the water and are having the survey done first prior to the sea trial.

Agree with the OP that it didn't make sense to have the boat lifted twice but I guess every boat and every buyer are different.

Survey is tomorrow so fingers crossed all will be well

 

[rhino_mac]

Well done Lionelz. Glad you found a boat that suited and hope your sea trial goes smoothly on Friday. Very exciting times ahead!

 

[Cheery]

JFM, you mention all covers off and everything opened up. I have looked at a few walk around videos lately and it is surprising how many have covers on tables PWCs etc. You wouldn't show someone around a house with a few doors locked so why keep things under cover on a boat? Some of the still pictures need addressing as well. I show them to SWMBO as she is an estate agent and she shakes her head and tuts.

Sorry for the drift.

 

[lionelz]

Bit late on this 1, we are also in the process of buying a boat that is currently out of the water and are having the survey done first prior to the sea trial.

Agree with the OP that it didn't make sense to have the boat lifted twice but I guess every boat and every buyer are different.

Survey is tomorrow so fingers crossed all will be well

Best of luck for today!. I got my full survey report yesterday I'm well chuffed with it. will be on the water in less that 24hrs testing it, then hopefully it will be mine