On Mar 16, 1:44?pm, "druid" wrote:
Hi,

This one's mainly for Chuck, because he's kinda local and in the
business, but feel free to leap in...

I don't like the broker currently selling my boat. He took over a
month to get the ad online, and another 2 weeks to get "full specs"
posted. Now I look at it, and half the specs are wrong, and he still
doesn't mention a bunch of things (like the sails, microwave, bbq,
GPS...) AND he still hasn't posted any pics of the interior. I made up
a website with full (correct!) specs and lots of interior and exterior
pics (with a link to him), but he's not using any of the info or pics
on the Yachtworld site.

I signed up with him on Feb 10 (kinda Long Story on why I signed with
him in the first place...) for I guess 90 days. Can I switch to
another broker after 90 days? Can I switch earlier? Or am I stuck with
him?

druidhttp://www.bcboatnet.org

Hello, Lloyd

The broker can't hold your boat captive.

I would suggest that you have a frank talk with him or her and relate
that you are less than satisfied with the marketing efforts.
(Hopefully you have expressed this in prior conversations, but
regardless you have the right to be dissatisfied).

The cleanest way to cancel the listing is to ask the broker to furnish
you with a list of propsects to whom he has shown the boat. Assure the
broker that if any of those specific people ultimately buy your boat
he will get at least partial commission. The list is important. You
don't want the broker hearing through the grapevine next month that
Joe Doaks bought your boat and then calling you after the fact to
claim that he showed Joe and Mary Doaks your boat on March 10, 2007.

When you relist with somebody else, you can sign an agreement that
excludes a sale to the specific people on the list, or at least
assures that if one of those people buys your boat from the second
broker that the first broker will be included for part of the
commission. (This allows you to keep your word to the first broker).

Your first broker still hasn't lost out entirely. If he's running a
print ad for your boat or he gets an email or phone call after you
have moved the listing to another broker there is almost a 100% chance
that the second broker will "co-broker" with the first and they will
split the commission.

I would imagine your listing agreement is something boilerplated by
the BCYBA. It may contain language that gives your broker an
"exclusive right to sell" your boat for up to 180 days. In all
liklihood your broker will relinquish the listing if you express your
unhappiness and volunteer to protect him as outlined above.

Broker/client relationships are sort of like marriages- not every
randomly selected couple of folks will find that it is specifically
working for them. A pro will let you out of the deal.............but
then again a pro would typically have given you better service to this
point and you wouldn't have a reason to be unhappy.

Best of luck.