Survey Reports

[Surfwizard]

Having just had a survey report done which throws up an number of recommendations. What would be the minimum I should expect the vendor to resolve before pushing ahead with the purchase. I appreciate that without the report it is difficult to be specific but a general indication would be helpful.

 

[Talbot]

I would look at each item, and get a bugetary estimate for rectification. then look at the higher cost elements, and either negotiate a repair or a cost reduction based on those items.

 

[wotayottie]

Entirely by negotiation. Just dont forget that you are buying a second hand boat and cannot expect it to be prefect. None of the other boats you have looked at are perfect either.

 

[ShipsWoofy]

[ QUOTE ]
What would be the minimum I should expect the vendor to resolve before pushing ahead with the purchase.

[/ QUOTE ]

Zero, the vendor has no obligation at all to touch his boat. The reason he is selling may be due to the faults you have had outlined on your survey.

The only thing you can do now is to make an offer that reflects your new interest in the vessel. If she is rare and you really want this boat (you have had a survey done so you must want this boat) you are on a sticky wicket. He may not budge an inch, you may have to walk away and lose your survey fee.

It depends how honest you really are about walking away, if I was the seller and you told me you were walking because of a few minor faults, expecting me to drop the agreed price, I would have to consider how much of a headache you will become later too. I would probably call your bluff. OTOH if I had an AWB and was struggling to sell, I might be forced to negotiate.

You have given us little to work from.

But the answer is still zero, the only thing you have absolute control of is giving the vendor money, if it is too much for you, then walk away, try negotiating but be sensible, insult him and any future advice when you finally buy the boat, be honest, are you going to buy this boat anyway.. will go out of the window.

If I had an arsey buyer, I would do him no favours at all, I would not leave stuff aboard that he may find useful, all the little things like motoring cones, special spanners, dip sticks for the tank would all be taken off.

I realise this is going to rankle a few feathers, but it was your use of the word 'expect', you see, you have already become negative in any negotiation to follow.

Has the vendor seen the survey and made any comments, keep it friendly and honest..

 

[morgandlm]

When I bought my boat, I offered an initial price that reflected my estimate of work beyond the items that the seller identified when I inspected. A survey then identified some further items so I used these to negotiate further reductions. A mutual deal was done!
Good luck
Morgan

 

[wooslehunter]

IMO, the survey serves 2 purposes: giving you piece of mind that the boat hasn't got any major faults & giving you something to negotiate with.

If it shows anything major, walk away. The cost of fixing anything major won't be worth it unless the boat's something special or the final price is worth it. You can try negotiating on the minor problems that would be a pain to fix. This is what I had fixed by the seller: replacing the gate valve sea cocks, fixing the steaming light. Everything else was minor enough for me to ignore and just get the price dropped a bit.

Prior to buying my boat I also had 2 other boats surveyed with neither survey written up or completed: 1 was badly osmotic although I was assured it was OK before it was lifted. This one really annoyed me. The other had a dodgy motor installation. Shame, it was a brand new install.

At the end of the day, everything revolves around how much you want the boat and how desperate the seller is to sell. You have to judge every case on these factors and what the final agreed price is. Total up th ecost of fixing the problems that matter to you, add that to the negotiated price and if that's above the going rate, walk, otherwise sail.

 

[Richard10002]

When you made your offer for the boat you would have had in mind some of the things which needed doing, and your offer would have reflected that - so it would not be "right" to expect to negotiate over these if the surveyor confirms them.

You should also accept that a second hand boat will have several things which need doing which you may not have anticipate, and which the surveyor will identify.

You will also find that, once you have bought a boat, you will find lots of things that neither you, nor the surveyor, nor the seller, were anticipating, but are just part and parcel of boat ownership.

So, IMHO, in terms of what you might expect to negotiate.... these are big items which would truly make you reject the boat if they arent negotiated to your satisfaction.

Anything over and above these hypothetical major items is merely playing hardball with the seller.

Without knowing what is in your survey, and what is of concern to you, it is hard to suggest an approach.

I used to sell houses for a living and got really cheesed off with people who made their offer based on the fact that a property needed a damp proof course and rewiring, (or whatever), and then wanted to negotiate again when the surveyor identified these same issues - i.e. hardball. It often gave me great pleasure when the market was such that I could tell these people that we were selling to someone else. Invariably they forgot all about negotiating, and often ended up paying more for the house than their original offer, (if, in fact, they were succsessful in buying it).

 

[MoodySabre]

When I had my boat surveyed there were concerns about lack of detailed maintenance to the engine - the "much loved ready to sail away.." had a broken engine mounting and a hole in the exhaust! This was the only major problem so I made an offer based on the vendor having a specified list of works carried out but a Volvo Penta engineer. I did this because I didn't want the can of worms and it cost the vendor £1400.

I think that known costs or effort are OK but the vendor should put right specific fundamentals unless he is selling it with that as the stated condition e.g "with liferaft due for service". or "engine requiring rebuild" etc

 

[ShipsWoofy]

[ QUOTE ]
I think that known costs or effort are OK but the vendor should put right specific fundamentals unless he is selling it with that as the stated condition e.g "with liferaft due for service". or "engine requiring rebuild" etc

[/ QUOTE ]

caveat emptor.