Eisboch wrote:
"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
ups.com...


Yacht brokers
don't sell a boat- the seller sells the boat. Yacht brokers simply
provide the service of bringing buyer and seller together.



You must have different rules for brokers out there in the Northwest. I
just listed a boat with a broker ... to sell it.
(Yes, in the pure definition, I am the "seller", but the broker is the
salesman).

I was responding to a critcism that yacht brokers are "selling
something they don't own or possess". As are most salespeople selling
something they don't personally own.

A yacht broker cannot sell your boat, but he or she can bring you a
buyer. In fact, in the unlikely event that your broker brings you a
full price cash offer with no contingencies and *you* change your mind
and refuse to sell, you'll discover that if the contract is written
correctly you owe the broker a full commission- he or she has done the
job you hired them to do. As the owner, you have the final authority to
sell or not sell your boat.

Of course, once you accept the offer the buyer can sue for specific
performance should you have a change of heart. (It's happened). Even
the owner can't unwind a written commitment to sell the boat without
risking some consequences.



Here, the broker advertises the boat, shows the boat to perspective buyers,
and generally "sells" the boat (used a verb).

In most cases the broker prefers the "seller" to be absent during the
initial showing to a perspective buyer. (I also think this is a good idea
until a buyer puts down a deposit and signs a purchase and sales agreement
or returns for a 2nd or 3rd look with detailed questions).

It's very wise for the seller to remain out of the loop as much as
possible, particularly in the early stages. The entire personal
chemistry thing between broker and buyer is critically important, and
the fewer "personalities" a skittish buyer has to deal with immediately
after the first nibble on the hook the more likely things will come to
fruition.
The cleanest and easiest deals are those where the buyer and seller
*never* meet.

Sometimes the seller and the seller's broker will offer the exact same
information in two different formats. For example, the seller's broker
might properly disclose "The seller replaced the coring in the foredeck
last year, and that work was done at ABC Boatyard." The seller might
say, "You wouldn't believe how much it cost me to try to get all the
rot out of this dad burned thing last year!".......both have conveyed
the same information, the prospective buyer hasn't learned anything new
or different, but one disclosure has been professional while the other
might have instilled a sense of alarm in the buyer. Even if it isn't
the case, if the buyer thinks he's getting "two different stories" he
will almost certainly bolt, 90-some percent of the time.