Power2Sail
New member
I have seen a few of the old sailing You Tube videos where the Americans use a broker to find and help them buy a boat, does anyone do this in the UK. Or do we do the work ourselves?
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P2S
Cheers
P2S
Using Boat Buying Brokers
- Thread starter Power2Sail
- Start date
jonbclarke
New member
In the UK, a few companies specialise in representing buyers, and most brokers are willing to do so also, although some are more experienced than others. I think to some extent it's cultural also, it's 'just the way it's done' in some countries.
The value of the boat plays a role too. For high-value boats, especially super yachts, buyers often use brokers. Buyers at this level may not have the time or interest to handle the process themselves, and it’s helpful to have a professional looking out for their interests when the stakes are higher.
When it comes to payment, you either pay a fee directly to the buyer’s broker, or the seller’s broker covers the buyer’s broker’s commission on completion of the sale. Personally, I prefer the direct payment model, regardless of the boat. It ensures your buyer’s broker isn’t swayed by the highest fee, focusing solely on finding the right boat for you. Either way, you're paying.
A good broker will save you time, reduce risk, and make things smoother. However, they can’t find boats that don't exist. That said, experienced brokers often have access to off-market boats through their industry connections so can sometimes get you the inside track which is a benefit.
I recently worked with an American buyer of a UK boat who used a buyers broker based in the Netherlands. The buyers broker understood UK and EU regulations in a way the American buyer didn’t, which helped him a lot and gave him confidence. Plus, it’s much quicker for the broker to view the boat on behalf of the buyer from Amsterdam than from the U.S.
That said, you of course don’t have to use a buyer’s broker. If you’re well-informed and confident, many people in the UK prefer to handle things themselves.
The value of the boat plays a role too. For high-value boats, especially super yachts, buyers often use brokers. Buyers at this level may not have the time or interest to handle the process themselves, and it’s helpful to have a professional looking out for their interests when the stakes are higher.
When it comes to payment, you either pay a fee directly to the buyer’s broker, or the seller’s broker covers the buyer’s broker’s commission on completion of the sale. Personally, I prefer the direct payment model, regardless of the boat. It ensures your buyer’s broker isn’t swayed by the highest fee, focusing solely on finding the right boat for you. Either way, you're paying.
A good broker will save you time, reduce risk, and make things smoother. However, they can’t find boats that don't exist. That said, experienced brokers often have access to off-market boats through their industry connections so can sometimes get you the inside track which is a benefit.
I recently worked with an American buyer of a UK boat who used a buyers broker based in the Netherlands. The buyers broker understood UK and EU regulations in a way the American buyer didn’t, which helped him a lot and gave him confidence. Plus, it’s much quicker for the broker to view the boat on behalf of the buyer from Amsterdam than from the U.S.
That said, you of course don’t have to use a buyer’s broker. If you’re well-informed and confident, many people in the UK prefer to handle things themselves.
ylop
Well-known member
I believe that model is quite common in the US for house buying too.
jbweston
Well-known member
We use an agent to act on our behalf when buying commercial woodland in the UK. They're specialists in the market, selling and buying (although not on the same transaction of course) so they know values including those of off-market transactions, may well have dealt with the selling agents before (so know if they're going to be realistic and professional to deal with or possibly have silly ideas about values and the quality of what they're selling so be a waste of our time). Sometimes they can put us onto properties that the seller wants to sell without a lot of publicity or may be just beginning to think about selling.
These guys are Chartered Surveyors as well as Chartered Foresters, so to translate that to the boat word they're doing not only the finding and negotiating but the 'condition survey' (as it would be called in the boat world) as well.
If I were going to spend £20 million on a yacht I'd employ someone to act on my behalf, but not if spending £200,000. A surveyor certainly (who might be able to get the price adjusted based on his findings), but not anyone to find the boat and negotiate an initial price. In these days of the internet it's easy to locate boats for sale. The cost of travelling to places in Europe for an initial inspection isn't going to cost me much more than paying a professional to do it for me - and if I employ the professional I'm going to want to go to see any serious possibility anyway.
Possibly if the buyer's time is very precious using an agent to seek out a likely boat might make some sense - paying fees to save him work he could do himself if so inclined - but he'd need to put a pretty high value on his time saved.