On 8 Mar 2006 12:41:02 -0600, Dave wrote:

That sounds good at first blush. But I don't think so. Example: the surveyor
points out that a fitting on the boat's gasoline engine is leaking. The
required repair is to get out a wrench and tighten the fitting. Insurer
prolly won't insure with that problem uncorrected. Not safe to use it with
that problem uncorrected. But if I'm the seller, and the buyer asks for an
adjustment I say "You want out of the contract, here's your deposit. I'll
tighten the fitting and sell the boat to somebody else."

That's a minor repair by anyones definition and typically would be
fixed by the seller at his expense.

It is very rare however for a boat of any significant age to come
through a survey without some previously undiscovered items showing
up, and as we all know, almost everything costs more to repair than we
would like. The broker has an issue at this point as well as the
seller. If the broker has seen the survey items of things that need
repair, he is in a difficult ethical dilemna with subsequent deals if
the first purchaser walks away.

How many boats have you sold recently with that kind of attitude?
It's a buyers market out there and most sellers are thrilled just to
have a live buyer in hand, and will do just about anything to make
sure the deal goes down.