mrsrobinson
Well-Known Member
I drove 5 hours to look at one last year, met my broker there, we were both told I could not look at the boat with another broker.
Why I dislike working with brokers
- Thread starter mrsrobinson
- Start date
That's nuts.
Another seller issue I ran into. Interested in a boat on YachtWorld priced near $390k. Boat looks nice but is priced quite high relative to others. Situation was the owner did the loop with it and wants to sell, has other boats. Made a reasonable offer based on the market, seller came down maybe $5k. Refused to budge at all. My broker did some digging and found out his buddy sold the boat and got exactly how much the seller paid. My offer was basically the price he paid, but the seller was trying to make a handsome profit. Both brokers thought he was being unreasonable. I passed; that boat is still on the market a year later for the same price.
I guess I don't get how hard is it if you're going to list a boat, to go see it, get accurate details, and recommend to the seller that he do a few things to make it more marketable. I also don't get how difficult it is to have power to the thing so we can actually open the engine hatch and look.
- Oct 10, 2006
- 1,710
- Boat Info
- 2006 44 DA
QSC 8.3s
- Engines
- Cummins QSC 8.3s 500HO
I've had this happen to me also in my boat search. Make sure someone verifies that boat is still available and touches it. The boat websites are rarely accurate with what's for sale....
Chip S
Active Member
- Jun 17, 2019
- 432
- Boat Info
- 1993 Sea Ray 200 Overnighter
- Engines
- 2023 Mercury 150 hp Four Stroke Outboard
Every broker I ever dealt with has described the boat as "like new". This includes a boat where the exhaust manifolds and risers were missing and the engine was not capable of being run. It also includes a boat where during the survey water was coming into the hull through the shaft seal and the bilge pump wasn't working. The surveyor made sure we got that one back on the trailer before it sank at the dock. One day I might have a good experience with a broker, but I haven't yet.
JVM225
Well-Known Member
Like anything else, there are good brokers and bad brokers.
I was very happy with the salesman from Marine!ax that tracked down my current boat and the salesman and manager at their store that took it in trade.
Fantastic experience.
Had a bad one 6 months earlier, but I think that might have been more of a bad seller than bad broker.
Just before that I drove 4 hours after another broker told me that the boat was “the cleanest one on the market”. Boat was a real pig and the pictures he sent me must have been taken years earlier. I learned to ask for even more pictures than I had been asking for.
I was very happy with the salesman from Marine!ax that tracked down my current boat and the salesman and manager at their store that took it in trade.
Fantastic experience.
Had a bad one 6 months earlier, but I think that might have been more of a bad seller than bad broker.
Just before that I drove 4 hours after another broker told me that the boat was “the cleanest one on the market”. Boat was a real pig and the pictures he sent me must have been taken years earlier. I learned to ask for even more pictures than I had been asking for.
Jeepers
Member
Check your state. Florida has a special division to investigate "legal" broker scams.
Does anyone know if its possible to report a broker in the state of NY? I just had an issue with a boat I absolutely couldn't buy because the broker wouldn't take my money, instead took a deal that was easier for him.
Long story but I'm still pretty pissed about it and would love the ability to report him and his shadyness!
Long story but I'm still pretty pissed about it and would love the ability to report him and his shadyness!
I don't think most states have any regulation of brokers.
Are you sure it was the broker and not the seller who was the problem? An "easy" deal, all cash no survey is definitely preferred.
Woody
Well-Known Member
Why can't he do that? If the guy wouldn't take your money it should tell you something, you don't even have to know what that 'something' is...... there are other boats, move on.
mobocracy
Active Member
I think it's a slimy business because people either really want a specific boat or are desperate to get rid of one they don't want, and both situations create situations brokers can exploit for their own benefit.
I also wonder how many boat brokers personally live on the margins of their income. I'm sure some in the right markets do well or even really well, but there have to be a lot of guys on the low end flogging junk because they couldn't get their real estate license or they couldn't hack it at the Ford dealership.
I had a reasonably good buying experience with a Marine Max broker -- the guy was nice, and the paper moved on time, but the Marinemax dealership shop sucked to work with -- actual repair invoice came in thousands over their own written estimate for tasks performed as written in the estimate.
No verbal or written notice of overage, their labor was over, their own parts were mispriced. It turned into a real squabble, with the shop manager threatening to put used parts back on if I didn't like the invoice. I informed them of our state's 110% price rule for written estimates and told them since it came from their brokerage I would be contacting the state attorney general's office because I believed the mechanical inspection they did was potentially fraudulent and done in collusion with the brokerage. I got a call back in hours from the broker (?) to tell me I could pay the estimate price for the repairs and they were sorry about their mistakes.
I think they were genuinely worried about potential civil and criminal liability for conducting a fraudulent sales scheme. I don't know that they *actually* did in this instance, but the fact that they suddenly became happy to eat a few grand makes me think they probably do just that from time to time.
I had the boat surveyed by a surveyor as well, but since it was on the hard his inspection was somewhat limited but he didn't identify anything serious. The repairs that were done were mostly basic catch-up stuff (water pump, impellers, tuneup) and a couple of really random items (a/c raw water pump), so I don't think they were actually taking me for a ride but it sure felt like it.
I had to rebuild the Vacuflush pump and replace the pump-out hose that summer, which sucked, and then the next year I had engine problems thanks to old painted CoolFuel modules, but while I paid to fix that I did get two sets of fuel injectors for free (mine were OK, but Mercury warrantied them anyway due to the risk of paint in the injectors). The boat runs great and everything works, but I wish I had negotiated harder with the seller over deferred maintenance.
I also wonder how many boat brokers personally live on the margins of their income. I'm sure some in the right markets do well or even really well, but there have to be a lot of guys on the low end flogging junk because they couldn't get their real estate license or they couldn't hack it at the Ford dealership.
I had a reasonably good buying experience with a Marine Max broker -- the guy was nice, and the paper moved on time, but the Marinemax dealership shop sucked to work with -- actual repair invoice came in thousands over their own written estimate for tasks performed as written in the estimate.
No verbal or written notice of overage, their labor was over, their own parts were mispriced. It turned into a real squabble, with the shop manager threatening to put used parts back on if I didn't like the invoice. I informed them of our state's 110% price rule for written estimates and told them since it came from their brokerage I would be contacting the state attorney general's office because I believed the mechanical inspection they did was potentially fraudulent and done in collusion with the brokerage. I got a call back in hours from the broker (?) to tell me I could pay the estimate price for the repairs and they were sorry about their mistakes.
I think they were genuinely worried about potential civil and criminal liability for conducting a fraudulent sales scheme. I don't know that they *actually* did in this instance, but the fact that they suddenly became happy to eat a few grand makes me think they probably do just that from time to time.
I had the boat surveyed by a surveyor as well, but since it was on the hard his inspection was somewhat limited but he didn't identify anything serious. The repairs that were done were mostly basic catch-up stuff (water pump, impellers, tuneup) and a couple of really random items (a/c raw water pump), so I don't think they were actually taking me for a ride but it sure felt like it.
I had to rebuild the Vacuflush pump and replace the pump-out hose that summer, which sucked, and then the next year I had engine problems thanks to old painted CoolFuel modules, but while I paid to fix that I did get two sets of fuel injectors for free (mine were OK, but Mercury warrantied them anyway due to the risk of paint in the injectors). The boat runs great and everything works, but I wish I had negotiated harder with the seller over deferred maintenance.
The best guy I worked with wasn't a broker. For sale by owner. Stored at an old city marina. Owner gave me the name of the service guy at the marina and I called him to set up an appointment to look. Guy actually called back. We set an date and time. I arrived, he stopped what he was doing and took me inside it see the boat. Had a ladder and, if you can believe it, shore power hooked up. Ready to roll. Guy wasn't earning a cent. I ended up passing on the boat due to overall condition (owner couldn't even clean out last years trash) and some deferred maintenance items. But the complimented the guy on having the boat ready to view. I have been on too many which you can't open the hatch because of no power.
bbwhitejr
Well-Known Member
I guess I was just lucky. I am friends with the broker that we bought the 44DB through. He gave me free tickets to the Atl boat show this past spring. He was the seller’s broker and was as honest and helpful as anyone I have ever met. After we closed, he took the boat over to have it pulled. Then he sent pics every week of the progress from the new bottom paint and detailing. He was there the day we loaded her on the trailer to move her here. Justin Williams of Gulf Coast Yachts in Pensacola Beach is a fine broker.
Bennett
Bennett
