Thomas Wentworth wrote:
How long should it take for a purchase to be completed when buying a
cruising sailboat.

First, find boat and visit boat. Then, go back for second visit. Meet with
owner and discuss the price etc..
Once a price has been agreed to ; draw up purchase and sales,, put money
down,,, try to find a surveyor ,,, get surveyor to come and look at boat
,,,, make repairs based on survey ,, usually means going back and forth with
owner...

So, how long should all this take?

A month? Two months?

I was just wondering .. no particular reason.

There are certainly cases where it does get prolonged, but it doesn't
have to be that way. The two boats that I bought used were negotiated
in a few hours, the survey was within a few days (they are used to
working on short notice), and consummated within a day after the
survey. The last purchase I think we were told about the boat on
Tuesday, went aboard on Wednesday, surveyed on Friday, and wrote the
check that night. My last sale was handled long distance though a
broker with some give and take, but I think that took under two weeks
from the time the boat was shown.

The only reason for it to take a long time is if there are unresolved
issues from the survey, such as an engine that can't be started; this
can require an escrow. A friend bought an older boat after the survey
showed rot under the deck. I think that purchase was delayed about a
week so that estimates could be made and the price adjusted downward
about $5K. But still, it was all handled in well less than a month.

Purchasing at a distance can be a problem because you have to find a
surveyor, but if its local, you should already have a surveyor lined
up. Never, ever ask the selling broker if he can recommend a
surveyor, unless you only want a good report for insurance/loan
purposes. What you really want is a survey the has 10 pages of
problems reported on a boat that looks perfect. Personally, I don't
think this should be used to lower the price unless there is a
specific serious problem uncovered, but the survey should provide you
with several years worth of odd jobs.