tom wrote:
I've talk to 10-15 brokers when looking for my boat

Same here.

.... I didn't have any
of these problems, I was able to eliminate the bad ones either by
looking at their listing or by talking to them on the phone:
1. If price is way too high, don't bother.
2. If the broker doesn't return your phone calls or emails, don't
bother
3. If the brokerage has more than 6 salesmen, don't bother
4. If you've done your research, and you should have, and realize the
broker doesn't really know the boat he is selling, don't bother.

You can go too far on this one. Expecting a broker to know
all about every boat he might ever possibly sell is like
expecting the cashier to know all the technical specs about
every item in the store.

IF the broker can hold an intelligent discussion on
technical aspects of boats & boating in general, without
bull****ting, that's about as much as you can realistically
ask for.

5. Don't bring you checkbook on the 1st visit, then you won't be
tempted to buy before giving it some thought.
6. Don't look for boats in the spring, look at them in in Nov/Dec,
if they haven't sold for a season they are more likely to come down
in price.
I did have 1 broker (after to looking at the boat for an hour) tell me
get got a call with an full-price offer over the phone, I told him I
can't beat that and walked out. He is just doing his job, try to get
the max. $ for his client, don't take it personal, just turn around and
walk out.


Or just shurg and say, "I'll call you next week." He may be
just pulling a sales trick, or he may be telling the
truth... in either event, if the boat is worth negotiating
for, and you're not falling for a line, why just drop the
possibility?

There are a LOT of boats for sale out there, but the reality
is that there are few good ones. It is a labor intensive
process to find one & open negotiations, don't throw that
away because the salesman has an attack of bad breath.

Glen's post on the 3 cardinal rules of negotiating is also
very good.
1- *any* offer is better than no offer, so go ahead and make
one. It is the brokers business to present them to the
owner/seller.
2- No time pressure. Why are you in a hurry? It is much
better to get the right deal on the right boat than to spend
too much on the wrong boat. And in any negotiation
gamesmanship, the side that has a deadline has one more way
to lose.
3- Be able to walk away. If you start getting the idea that
you *must* have a boat, or even *must* have **THIS**, then
you need a shrink not a boat. Remember the fine line between
"hobby" and "unhealthy obsession."

And do your homework! You should know the general info on
the boat(s) you're interested, which ones are for sale &
asking how much, and maybe even ask around sailing clubs in
the area to get some history on a particular boat.

I could spend a lot of time reminiscing about how we came to
buy our boats, which have been great for us, but I've
already been typing too long. Coffee's cold!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King