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From: Dave Cooper (no email)
Date: Thu Nov 01 2007 - 19:04:29 EDT
<TK wrote in part: At roughly 2 grand a pop, it will be difficult to justify
putting every boat that fits my profile (price, length, engines, layout,
etc.) through this degree of scrutiny.>
Gee, I sure hope you can get that list of boats that you'd actually make an
offer on down to less than a handful.
You'll find that there are few boats on the market that meets your needs as
far as space, comfort, seaworthiness, construction, price range, etc, etc.
Once you have culled those that do the list is usually small. If it isn't
then you really have sat down and tried to define you needs/desires very
well.
If the short list includes a Carver, a Bayliner, a Kadey Krogen and a
motorsailor then you need to do some more homework, IMHO!
Once you are finally down to what you want then you can see what is
available on the market and its location. No sense chasing a nice 45 footer
in Maine if you want it in Seattle. The logistics will kill you and the deal
in the end.
In any given time period there are only a few trawlers on the market that
will meet those needs that you've put together. A few more that are on the
edge but not really good candidates.
I would next recommend that you find a broker local to you that you can work
with AND that will work with you to find the best match to your list. If
they are any good they can do an awful lot of the legwork for your. In fact
a really good one can weed the junk from the jewels long before you shelled
out anything for surveys etc.
Once they have found a likely candidate or two/three/four you can look over
with the information beyond the listing sheet that your broker has gleaned
for you. If one or two or three really hit your eye then you need to focus
again and pick the top one of the lot.
Next step if possible, is to find a surveyor who is a bit local to the boat
and have him do a walkthrough for you. These quick looks can often tell you
if the boat is represented correctly and if not scratch it from the list.
Some listing brokers balk at this but that's a job for you broker to take
care of.
Now its time to make an offer contingent on survey, etc. If it's accepted,
bring in the "$2000 team" and have at it. Whatever their reports and the sea
trial come up with, which you must attend, gives you and your broker a basis
for further negotiations if required. Normally the offer takes into
consideration what the boats condition is, the gear on it and the listing
sheet of the selling broker. If there are surprises from the survey you will
need to negotiate these items i.e. the contract price. Never do so one item
at a time. Get the list see what there is that isn't what was represented
and what it would take to get it back to that state. New for old isn't fair
but 50% or so is on new for non-working gear that was listed as there. If
it's listed on the listing sheet it needs to work correctly otherwise its
junk! Put it all together, do the sums and make sure you've allowed for
installation etc. A simple subtraction from the contract price and if the
seller agrees its yours and if he doesn't you can walk or try another
number. Personally I don't like "trying another number" as this as it lets
the seller know that you are emotionally into their boat. This gives them
the edge. Always do your homework, be sharp with the pencil and calculator
and whatever the numbers sum up to that's it. Trying to make the work less
expensive is cheating YOUR wallet not the seller's ;-)
If this "deal" falls thru for whatever reason then you need to rescan the
market quickly in case something has been listed while you were focused on
the current deal...you broker should be keeping an eye out anyways. Move on
to number two on the list somewhat wiser and a little older ;-)
I have had "professionally buyers" who have surveyed better than 10 boats in
a couple years time. I think they needed a vacation in the BVI and used boat
buying as an excuse. This is not a tag I think most folks want ;-)
To summarize. Look at as many boats as you can on the internet, at boat
shows, in marinas, friends, ask questions as you have been doing on this
list, etc etc. Make those lists of things important to you and the Mrs. Weed
the lists, fertilizer them and eventually you'll have something that you can
use for your yardstick of features/functions and fitness of purpose.
Hope this gives you a little better idea of at least one way to go about
purchasing a trawler or any other big ticket item for that matter that is
complex and outside of your comfort zone in skills and knowledge.
As always YMMV....
Dave & Nancy
Swan Song
Roughwater 58
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