Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:


6a - Ensure that the owner understands that he/she will actually be
selling the boat if the survey and sea trial are acceptable to the
purchaser - not as a method to find out "how much the boat is worth".


What?
That's the oddest comment I ever heard about a boat deal.
It almost sounds like you set out across the country to survey a boat
without first agreeing on a price, "subject to survey".

The way the process should work, even with an out of state boat, would
be like this:

1. You notice a boat that is of interest to you and you get additional
details.
2. You decide that if the boat is as represented, it is what you want.
2a: If the boat is local, you make an initial inspection. If the boat
is not local, see 3a.
3. You make a written offer and bind it with a deposit. The offer is
subject to " satisfactory sea trial, satisfactory survey, acceptable
financing" and any other conditions you care to insert.
3a: If the boat is not local, you add "satisfactory inspection" to the
conditions.
4: You then wait for the seller to accept, reject, or counter your
conditional offer.
If the seller accepts your conditional terms (and if the broker puts
your deposit into his escrow account) the seller is legally obligated
to sell you the boat, at the price in your offer, provided that you are
satisfied with the sea trial, the survey, and any other conditions you
inserted in your offer.
5: The only way the seller can get out of the deal once he has accepted
your offer and deposit would be if *you* changed the conditions. For
instance, if your surveyor said, "The port side running light is out
and the flares are expired" you might go to the seller and say "You
will need to change the light bulb in the running light and furnish new
flares for this transaction to proceed" but if you do so and the seller
is looking for an out that's the point at which the seller can walk
away from the deal- you changed the conditions. Even though the offer
is "subject to" and you have a right to change the conditions, the
seller is never obligated to go along with the changes in terms or
conditions demanded by the buyer. The seller is only obligated to sell
if the buyer doesn't modify the terms under one of his escape clauses.
6: As a buyer, you have the flexibility to walk away from the deal at
almost any time.
When the transaction is subject to a "satisfactory" sea trial or
"satisfactory" survey, the buyer is the sole arbiter concerning the
level of his or her satisfaction. The boat can run beautifully, but if
you claim your are not subjectively satisfied nobody can effectively
dispute or challenge your feeling of satisfaction.


If you went through that entire process, have an accepted written
agreement in hand, have a deposit with the broker, etc., and want the
boat at the conditionally agreed price and without any changes or
improvements you have pretty solid grounds to sue the seller
for specific performance. (not that I'd recommend that--- a disgruntled
seller just might make sure there's a disastrous "surprise" planted
board a boat he has been forced to sell) If you don't sue for specific
performance, in this case you should be able to get an award for your
costs- including air fare, surveyor's fee, etc. Sue the broker as well
as the seller. The seller can sit back and flip his middle finger at
you *and* your judgment, but the broker has a surety bond on file (in
most states) and if he or she does not pay up you can find out who the
bonding company is and press them for payment.

However, if you flew across at least a portion of the country to survey
a boat without a written, conditional agreement the seller is on solid
legal ground with his "Thanks a lot!
That's really helpful! Now I know what a surveyor will say the boat is
worth!" response.

There are reasons that successful boat deals always stick to a pretty
rigid formula.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, so it's important to smoke
out all the foreigners in the wood pile at the beginning of the
process. If the guy wasn't really serious about selling his boat (in
your case) he wouldn't normally have signed the conditional agreement
or accepted your conditional price.