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Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
Have you done so? If so, I would like your feedback.
It seems that there are some nice used boat deals on line, including on Ebay Motors and other internet listing sources. The problem in most cases is that these boats are located several hundred miles from me. Buying locally is easy as you can do an initial inspection of the boat to see if it is worth pursuing. That is not practical when considering boats being sold several hundred miles from you. The easy solution seems to be making the sale contingent upon a complete structural and mechanical survey by a recommended "buyers surveyor", but that can get to be expensive if prospective boats continue to fail the surveys. As we all know sellers often overstate the condition of their boats when putting them up for sale. How did you handle your 'sight unseen' internet boat purchase? What did you do right? What did you do wrong? Would you do it again? |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Aug 25, 8:34 pm, "JimH" ask wrote:
Have you done so? If so, I would like your feedback. It seems that there are some nice used boat deals on line, including on Ebay Motors and other internet listing sources. The problem in most cases is that these boats are located several hundred miles from me. Buying locally is easy as you can do an initial inspection of the boat to see if it is worth pursuing. That is not practical when considering boats being sold several hundred miles from you. The easy solution seems to be making the sale contingent upon a complete structural and mechanical survey by a recommended "buyers surveyor", but that can get to be expensive if prospective boats continue to fail the surveys. As we all know sellers often overstate the condition of their boats when putting them up for sale. How did you handle your 'sight unseen' internet boat purchase? What did you do right? What did you do wrong? Would you do it again? Never ever buy a boat sight unseen (unless you just have way too much green in your pocket) I have driven as far as 250 miles just to view and test drive a boat. I wouldn't buy a car without test driving it, I sure as heck wouldn't buy a boat without a test drive. BTW what type of boat are we talking about? (runabout,cruiser) A friend of mine bought a used bow rider after inspecting it, but never test drove it. He paid $4000 for the boat. The 1st time he put it in the water it sank (rotted Transom) |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
JimH wrote:
"crystalguy" wrote in message ups.com... On Aug 25, 8:34 pm, "JimH" ask wrote: Have you done so? If so, I would like your feedback. It seems that there are some nice used boat deals on line, including on Ebay Motors and other internet listing sources. The problem in most cases is that these boats are located several hundred miles from me. Buying locally is easy as you can do an initial inspection of the boat to see if it is worth pursuing. That is not practical when considering boats being sold several hundred miles from you. The easy solution seems to be making the sale contingent upon a complete structural and mechanical survey by a recommended "buyers surveyor", but that can get to be expensive if prospective boats continue to fail the surveys. As we all know sellers often overstate the condition of their boats when putting them up for sale. How did you handle your 'sight unseen' internet boat purchase? What did you do right? What did you do wrong? Would you do it again? Never ever buy a boat sight unseen (unless you just have way too much green in your pocket) I have driven as far as 250 miles just to view and test drive a boat. I wouldn't buy a car without test driving it, I sure as heck wouldn't buy a boat without a test drive. BTW what type of boat are we talking about? (runabout,cruiser) A friend of mine bought a used bow rider after inspecting it, but never test drove it. He paid $4000 for the boat. The 1st time he put it in the water it sank (rotted Transom) I guess I was not clear enough. I would never buy the boat without eventually seeing it. The sales offer would be contingent on a survey and my inspection of the the boat. But running all over the country to view boats can get old. So what do to make sure it is worth pursuing? This seems so basic but here goes: 1. Tell the buyer that you are thinking of making an offer based upon a satisfactory professional survey. Tell him you don't want to waste his time if it will not meet your needs and pass the survey, so please take detailed photos of the complete boat, including photos of all problem areas. List all problems that a surveyor will highlight in his report. I personally believe you can find similar boats close to your location and could use the boats listed on Ebay and other web sites to negotiate an excellent deal closer to home. This seems so basic, I can not figure out what you are really looking for. |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
"Harry Krause" wrote
Incidentally, I did not advertise the boat on ebay. Too many asshole buyers looking for "boat bargains" on ebay. My experience with eBay has been that it's a seller's market. If you have something of value and you present it well, you're likely to get a premium price for it. Ebay's asshole ratio doesn't seem to me to be any higher than the rest of the world. And in answer to JimH's OP, I'd never buy something as big as a boat sight unseen. (Even the little ones I can afford to buy.) |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Aug 25, 8:34 pm, "JimH" ask wrote:
Have you done so? If so, I would like your feedback. It seems that there are some nice used boat deals on line, including on Ebay Motors and other internet listing sources. The problem in most cases is that these boats are located several hundred miles from me. Buying locally is easy as you can do an initial inspection of the boat to see if it is worth pursuing. That is not practical when considering boats being sold several hundred miles from you. The easy solution seems to be making the sale contingent upon a complete structural and mechanical survey by a recommended "buyers surveyor", but that can get to be expensive if prospective boats continue to fail the surveys. As we all know sellers often overstate the condition of their boats when putting them up for sale. How did you handle your 'sight unseen' internet boat purchase? What did you do right? What did you do wrong? Would you do it again? Have the seller provide the survey and if you buy the boat, you would reimburse him for the cost. |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Aug 26, 11:58 am, "Ernest Scribbler"
wrote: And in answer to JimH's OP, I'd never buy something as big as a boat sight unseen. (Even the little ones I can afford to buy.) OTOH, I don't really know if this is buying sight unseen or not, but I bought both my boats online though ebay.and have been satisfied with both. My 18' ChrisCraft scorpion , the guy took great pictures of it, and when I showed up the boat was in the garage, and looked very well. I didn't ask about mechanical problems etc, I jsut saw the boat was in great shape. When I got it out on the lake it ran very well, but seemed a bit odd. Later my brother pointed out that the way it was cranking trying to start, he was suspicious of a bad headgasket, and/ or burned valves. We took the head off and sure enough , he was correct on both accounts. There went another $240.00 for material expense and I provided the labor. But the neat thing is that I didn't give much for the boat. I'ts a 50-50 toss weather the guy mis represented it. it did run nicely, and would hit 4000 rpm with little effort. And even after repairs it started and ran smoother, but honestly it didn't really change the performance. I was amazed. so! $1500 for the boat and even if I paid to have all the work done it wouldn't have been over $500.00. ie $2000.00 in a boat and trailer that the boat blue books for about $3200. My 23' Marquis? it's a neat old tub.. Again very good pictures, all questions answered fairly well. I had to drive almost 600 mi round trip to the west side of Ohio to get it, but it was very well worth over the $1221.00 I paid for it even with hauling it back. When I bought these boats, it was during the early fall part of the year, and so a lot f boats are going to market jsut to get them out of the yard, and buying is a bit more flexable. Unlike the sprigtime when it truely is a sellers market., because people are in a frenzie and want something to gothe lake NOW! I took into consideration of possible failures. and so it they turned out to be a wash. I would be out, of course, but not out much. Certianly out no BIG money. Now I also look at it like this on ebay. if I had "won" the auction, and showed up, and decided the boat was really misrepresented, there would be no money exchanged, then what could the seller do? leave me bad feedback? OK. if he wanted to push it further, it could be contested as mis representation. as well. Of course, there would have to be more evidence then not telling there's a speck on the gell coat leaving suspicion of backing out of the deal due to nit-picking. But I mean hard core lying. so in this case the buyer still has an advantage. If buying though ebay, don't really bid more than you feel comfortable with losing, instead of spending.. |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Aug 26, 9:34 am, Harry Krause wrote:
Incidentally, I did not advertise the boat on ebay. Too many asshole buyers looking for "boat bargains" on ebay.- Would I fit into that catagory, Harry? ?: |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Sun, 26 Aug 2007 21:23:16 -0000, Tim wrote:
On Aug 26, 11:58 am, "Ernest Scribbler" wrote: And in answer to JimH's OP, I'd never buy something as big as a boat sight unseen. (Even the little ones I can afford to buy.) OTOH, I don't really know if this is buying sight unseen or not, but I bought both my boats online though ebay.and have been satisfied with both. My 18' ChrisCraft scorpion , the guy took great pictures of it, and when I showed up the boat was in the garage, and looked very well. I didn't ask about mechanical problems etc, I jsut saw the boat was in great shape. When I got it out on the lake it ran very well, but seemed a bit odd. Later my brother pointed out that the way it was cranking trying to start, he was suspicious of a bad headgasket, and/ or burned valves. We took the head off and sure enough , he was correct on both accounts. There went another $240.00 for material expense and I provided the labor. But the neat thing is that I didn't give much for the boat. I'ts a 50-50 toss weather the guy mis represented it. it did run nicely, and would hit 4000 rpm with little effort. And even after repairs it started and ran smoother, but honestly it didn't really change the performance. I was amazed. so! $1500 for the boat and even if I paid to have all the work done it wouldn't have been over $500.00. ie $2000.00 in a boat and trailer that the boat blue books for about $3200. My 23' Marquis? it's a neat old tub.. Again very good pictures, all questions answered fairly well. I had to drive almost 600 mi round trip to the west side of Ohio to get it, but it was very well worth over the $1221.00 I paid for it even with hauling it back. When I bought these boats, it was during the early fall part of the year, and so a lot f boats are going to market jsut to get them out of the yard, and buying is a bit more flexable. Unlike the sprigtime when it truely is a sellers market., because people are in a frenzie and want something to gothe lake NOW! I took into consideration of possible failures. and so it they turned out to be a wash. I would be out, of course, but not out much. Certianly out no BIG money. Now I also look at it like this on ebay. if I had "won" the auction, and showed up, and decided the boat was really misrepresented, there would be no money exchanged, then what could the seller do? leave me bad feedback? OK. if he wanted to push it further, it could be contested as mis representation. as well. Of course, there would have to be more evidence then not telling there's a speck on the gell coat leaving suspicion of backing out of the deal due to nit-picking. But I mean hard core lying. so in this case the buyer still has an advantage. If buying though ebay, don't really bid more than you feel comfortable with losing, instead of spending.. Tim! Are you interested in a 21' Proline walkaround cuddy to add to your collection? -- John H |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
"Tim" wrote
Now I also look at it like this on ebay. if I had "won" the auction, and showed up, and decided the boat was really misrepresented, there would be no money exchanged, then what could the seller do? leave me bad feedback? Sounds to me like you have a very reasonable strategy. |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Aug 26, 5:45 pm, John H. wrote:
On Sun, 26 Aug 2007 21:23:16 -0000, Tim wrote: On Aug 26, 11:58 am, "Ernest Scribbler" wrote: And in answer to JimH's OP, I'd never buy something as big as a boat sight unseen. (Even the little ones I can afford to buy.) OTOH, I don't really know if this is buying sight unseen or not, but I bought both my boats online though ebay.and have been satisfied with both. My 18' ChrisCraft scorpion , the guy took great pictures of it, and when I showed up the boat was in the garage, and looked very well. I didn't ask about mechanical problems etc, I jsut saw the boat was in great shape. When I got it out on the lake it ran very well, but seemed a bit odd. Later my brother pointed out that the way it was cranking trying to start, he was suspicious of a bad headgasket, and/ or burned valves. We took the head off and sure enough , he was correct on both accounts. There went another $240.00 for material expense and I provided the labor. But the neat thing is that I didn't give much for the boat. I'ts a 50-50 toss weather the guy mis represented it. it did run nicely, and would hit 4000 rpm with little effort. And even after repairs it started and ran smoother, but honestly it didn't really change the performance. I was amazed. so! $1500 for the boat and even if I paid to have all the work done it wouldn't have been over $500.00. ie $2000.00 in a boat and trailer that the boat blue books for about $3200. My 23' Marquis? it's a neat old tub.. Again very good pictures, all questions answered fairly well. I had to drive almost 600 mi round trip to the west side of Ohio to get it, but it was very well worth over the $1221.00 I paid for it even with hauling it back. When I bought these boats, it was during the early fall part of the year, and so a lot f boats are going to market jsut to get them out of the yard, and buying is a bit more flexable. Unlike the sprigtime when it truely is a sellers market., because people are in a frenzie and want something to gothe lake NOW! I took into consideration of possible failures. and so it they turned out to be a wash. I would be out, of course, but not out much. Certianly out no BIG money. Now I also look at it like this on ebay. if I had "won" the auction, and showed up, and decided the boat was really misrepresented, there would be no money exchanged, then what could the seller do? leave me bad feedback? OK. if he wanted to push it further, it could be contested as mis representation. as well. Of course, there would have to be more evidence then not telling there's a speck on the gell coat leaving suspicion of backing out of the deal due to nit-picking. But I mean hard core lying. so in this case the buyer still has an advantage. If buying though ebay, don't really bid more than you feel comfortable with losing, instead of spending.. Tim! Are you interested in a 21' Proline walkaround cuddy to add to your collection? -- John H- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - LOL! John what youhave is truely a sweet deal, but I'm kind of boated out for the moment. Besides. my property tax's and car insurance all come together at once this time of year, not counting the monsterous electric bill for 24/7 air conditioning. In ways I hate August! |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Sun, 26 Aug 2007 10:34:55 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote: He came up here, spent an hour looking over the boat, said it was in even better shape than I had described. He bought it on the spot, wrote me a check, and we hooked it up to his truck and he took the boat home. Which brings up another question. How did you ensure that the check was good? |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 26 Aug 2007 10:34:55 -0400, Harry Krause wrote: He came up here, spent an hour looking over the boat, said it was in even better shape than I had described. He bought it on the spot, wrote me a check, and we hooked it up to his truck and he took the boat home. Which brings up another question. How did you ensure that the check was good? Wow, even if you went to the bank and cashed the check, if it turned out to be a fraudulent check, it would have still bounced back to Harry. The problem doesn't get any easier with cashiers check's. Counterfeit cashier's checks are becoming a big problem. Most banks will tell you not to use or assume cashiers checks are good until the check has cleared the bank issuing the check. It looks like the only safe way is to ask for cash or wait till the check clears the bank. I personally would NEVER except a personal check for $50,000 and let the personal drive away with my property. This is worse than buying a boat unseen, without a survey. |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Mon, 27 Aug 2007 07:31:24 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote: It looks like the only safe way is to ask for cash or wait till the check clears the bank. Direct bank to bank wire transfer with confirmed receipt of funds is pretty solid. I'm seeing more transactions being done that way. My trawler for one, as did a neighbor's Rinker purchased in Michigan after a short inspection/test ride. |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
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Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Mon, 27 Aug 2007 07:31:24 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote: The problem doesn't get any easier with cashiers check's. Counterfeit cashier's checks are becoming a big problem. Most banks will tell you not to use or assume cashiers checks are good until the check has cleared the bank issuing the check. Hasn't happened to me because I insist on cash money - no checks. Well, that's not exactly true - when I sold both Contenders, I went with the buyer to the bank where we did the deal in the bank officer's office - the bank wired the money to my bank and we waited for confirmation of receipt before completing the transaction. I do know of an incident which was kind of interesting. Involved a car deal. Guy came with a cashier's check, both seller and buyer went to the bank, seller's bank called the issuing bank to confirm the cashier's check was good - it was. Week later, turns out the check wasn't any good. Say what? Apparently, the cashier's check was a duplicate of a cashier's check issued by the bank - the amount was wrong. The seller's bank never asked about the amount - nobody actually thought about it - just asked if the check had been issued and gave the number. How about that twist? The car was eventually recovered - in New Jersey, in a container heading for Saudi Arabia. |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Aug 27, 7:00 am, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote: On Mon, 27 Aug 2007 07:31:24 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III" wrote: The problem doesn't get any easier with cashiers check's. Counterfeit cashier's checks are becoming a big problem. Most banks will tell you not to use or assume cashiers checks are good until the check has cleared the bank issuing the check. Hasn't happened to me because I insist on cash money - no checks. Well, that's not exactly true - when I sold both Contenders, I went with the buyer to the bank where we did the deal in the bank officer's office - the bank wired the money to my bank and we waited for confirmation of receipt before completing the transaction. I do know of an incident which was kind of interesting. Involved a car deal. Guy came with a cashier's check, both seller and buyer went to the bank, seller's bank called the issuing bank to confirm the cashier's check was good - it was. Week later, turns out the check wasn't any good. Say what? Apparently, the cashier's check was a duplicate of a cashier's check issued by the bank - the amount was wrong. The seller's bank never asked about the amount - nobody actually thought about it - just asked if the check had been issued and gave the number. How about that twist? The car was eventually recovered - in New Jersey, in a container heading for Saudi Arabia. Tom, did the seller still come out ok? or was it a total theft? |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
"Harry Krause" wrote in message ... Short Wave Sportfishing wrote: On Mon, 27 Aug 2007 07:31:24 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III" wrote: The problem doesn't get any easier with cashiers check's. Counterfeit cashier's checks are becoming a big problem. Most banks will tell you not to use or assume cashiers checks are good until the check has cleared the bank issuing the check. Hasn't happened to me because I insist on cash money - no checks. Well, that's not exactly true - when I sold both Contenders, I went with the buyer to the bank where we did the deal in the bank officer's office - the bank wired the money to my bank and we waited for confirmation of receipt before completing the transaction. I do know of an incident which was kind of interesting. Involved a car deal. Guy came with a cashier's check, both seller and buyer went to the bank, seller's bank called the issuing bank to confirm the cashier's check was good - it was. Week later, turns out the check wasn't any good. Say what? Apparently, the cashier's check was a duplicate of a cashier's check issued by the bank - the amount was wrong. The seller's bank never asked about the amount - nobody actually thought about it - just asked if the check had been issued and gave the number. How about that twist? The car was eventually recovered - in New Jersey, in a container heading for Saudi Arabia. It helps to be able to judge those you can trust and those you cannot. I'd take your check, but your cash...I'd be suspicious. Yeah...could be contaminated with moon or alien dust! |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:24:33 -0000, Tim wrote:
On Aug 27, 7:00 am, Short Wave Sportfishing wrote: On Mon, 27 Aug 2007 07:31:24 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III" wrote: The problem doesn't get any easier with cashiers check's. Counterfeit cashier's checks are becoming a big problem. Most banks will tell you not to use or assume cashiers checks are good until the check has cleared the bank issuing the check. Hasn't happened to me because I insist on cash money - no checks. Well, that's not exactly true - when I sold both Contenders, I went with the buyer to the bank where we did the deal in the bank officer's office - the bank wired the money to my bank and we waited for confirmation of receipt before completing the transaction. I do know of an incident which was kind of interesting. Involved a car deal. Guy came with a cashier's check, both seller and buyer went to the bank, seller's bank called the issuing bank to confirm the cashier's check was good - it was. Week later, turns out the check wasn't any good. Say what? Apparently, the cashier's check was a duplicate of a cashier's check issued by the bank - the amount was wrong. The seller's bank never asked about the amount - nobody actually thought about it - just asked if the check had been issued and gave the number. How about that twist? The car was eventually recovered - in New Jersey, in a container heading for Saudi Arabia. Tom, did the seller still come out ok? or was it a total theft? Actually, he did quite well on the deal. He eventually sold it and when he told the back story on it to another buyer, the guy paid the asking price. :) |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Aug 25, 8:34 pm, "JimH" ask wrote: Have you done so? If so, I would like your feedback. It seems that there are some nice used boat deals on line, including on Ebay Motors and other internet listing sources. The problem in most cases is that these boats are located several hundred miles from me. Buying locally is easy as you can do an initial inspection of the boat to see if it is worth pursuing. That is not practical when considering boats being sold several hundred miles from you. The easy solution seems to be making the sale contingent upon a complete structural and mechanical survey by a recommended "buyers surveyor", but that can get to be expensive if prospective boats continue to fail the surveys. As we all know sellers often overstate the condition of their boats when putting them up for sale. How did you handle your 'sight unseen' internet boat purchase? What did you do right? What did you do wrong? Would you do it again? I have purchased two boats on ebay. The first was a Seadoo XPL (1999 which I purchased in 2000). I live in Pittsburgh, PA and drove to New Jersey/New York for this. I did state in the bidding emails that the bid was contingent on my inspection and it meeting the description. I inspected it myself (easy to do on a PWC) and started it up in the parking lot (again, you can do this with a PWC). It was still under warrenty so I was confident everything was OK. Had to go with owner to his bank to write the payoff check. There was no title as New Jersey didn't require one on PWCs yet. Had to get a Bill of Sale and fool around with PA to get a title on the PWC. The bank gave me the title on the trailer. The guy took a bath on this deal, but I guess he got more than he realistically was going to get trading it in on a motorcycle. He and his girl friend tried to ride this ski and found that they fell off and couldn't get back on (XPLs are a bit tippy ;-) ). Well worth the drive and effort for me. I still enjoy riding that ski 7 years later. The second was a 1995 Sea Pro Citation 1900 Classic Cuddy. This was purchased in 2004. This one required a drive to Cleveland. In this one the boat did not meet the seller's reserve so I emailed after the auction to let him know that if he wanted to sell it I would offer $250 more than the highest bid but that it was subject to my inspection. He had a couple others interested and a guy coming down from Canada that was supposed to buy it, so I said keep me in mind if that doesn't work out. Long story still long, it didn't work out so he called. I went and checked the boat out. Fairly easy to see that it had been very well kept and that there were no soft spots on the floor or transom. It was late October and a bit chilly so we started it on the hose and it started and ran fine. Went to his bank and wrote the payoff check and bank sent the titles. This was a deal ripe for problems since I had not had a professional survey, had not run the boat in the water and in fact did not splash the boat until April of the next year. But the boat was clean, the guy selling it nice, etc. To my good fortune I have enjoyed this boat with nothing more than normal maintenance for 3 years. I paid $4,000 and it booked for about $8,000 (high retail). I figured that even if I had to put a couple tousand in it it would have been a reasonable deal and I wouldn't have felt totally screwed until I had put $3,000 to $4,000 in it for repairs. The only real repairs that I had to have done is getting the canvass restitched because the seams were starting to pull apart. So, I have had good luck. Good DUMB luck, but good luck just the same. Dave Hall |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
Ernest Scribbler wrote: "Tim" wrote Now I also look at it like this on ebay. if I had "won" the auction, and showed up, and decided the boat was really misrepresented, there would be no money exchanged, then what could the seller do? leave me bad feedback? Sounds to me like you have a very reasonable strategy. Well Ernest, it's worked pretty good for me. Thanks! |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
"Tim" wrote in message oups.com... Ernest Scribbler wrote: "Tim" wrote Now I also look at it like this on ebay. if I had "won" the auction, and showed up, and decided the boat was really misrepresented, there would be no money exchanged, then what could the seller do? leave me bad feedback? Sounds to me like you have a very reasonable strategy. Well Ernest, it's worked pretty good for me. Thanks! I bought my boat from a guy in Brookings, OR. 400 miles from here. He sent me pics and I gave him a deposit via credit card and a stipulation that it had to be as advertised. Drove up for the 4th of July weekend and looked at the boat, test drove the boat, and gave him a check for the rest of the price and towed it home. |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:34:20 -0400, JimH wrote:
Have you done so? If so, I would like your feedback. I'm looking at this thread with interest. I'm looking for a 27-29ft sailboat for around $10-20K, and there are lots on Yachtworld. Trouble is, I'd like an Islander 28, and there are NONE in the Pac NW (I'm willing to drive to Portland, but not San Diego!). So, I am thinking of a "sight unseen" deal, of course with a survey, and maybe ONE personal inspection and sea trial. Then of course I'd have to have it packed up and trucked to Vancouver (I eliminated sailing it up on another thread a while ago...) The US dollar is so weak right now the deals from Canada are tremendous! druid http://www.bcboatnet.org |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
(I'm willing to drive to Portland, but not San Diego)
Flights are cheap. Fly down, stay in a cheap hotel and look at it in person. No doubt any travel costs will be an order of magnitude less than "surprises" that need to get fixed later on. |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Sep 11, 5:56 am, "Bill Kearney" wkearney-99@hot-mail-com wrote:
(I'm willing to drive to Portland, but not San Diego) Flights are cheap. Fly down, stay in a cheap hotel and look at it in person. No doubt any travel costs will be an order of magnitude less than "surprises" that need to get fixed later on. Yabut... Assuming the "Ordinary Person doesn't know much about boat structure, so use a Qualified Surveyor before buying!" mentality, what good would a personal inspection by me do? I will have a Professional inspect the boat, and supposedly HE will find all the problems I would have missed anyway. Regardless, my Plan is to submit an offer contingent as usual on sea- trial and survey. If accepted, THEN I fly down and do the sea trial (which of course would include a "personal inspection"). If THAT is OK, I arrange for a survey, and if THAT is OK, I buy the boat. Only one flight down required, and that's after I've been assured that if I like the boat, it's mine. Only problem I see in this is that 2 of the 3 boats I looked at last weekend had BAD holding-tank odour throughout the boat - that's something that isn't obvious in pictures! druid http://www.bcboatnet.org |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
Yabut... Assuming the "Ordinary Person doesn't know much about boat
structure, so use a Qualified Surveyor before buying!" mentality, what good would a personal inspection by me do? I will have a Professional inspect the boat, and supposedly HE will find all the problems I would have missed anyway. Learn more now, save your headaches later. Go down when your hired surveyor is actually going to do the job and learn from it. Regardless, my Plan is to submit an offer contingent as usual on sea- trial and survey. If accepted, THEN I fly down and do the sea trial (which of course would include a "personal inspection"). If THAT is OK, I arrange for a survey, and if THAT is OK, I buy the boat. Only one flight down required, and that's after I've been assured that if I like the boat, it's mine. Again, flights are cheap... lots cheaper than surprises later. Only problem I see in this is that 2 of the 3 boats I looked at last weekend had BAD holding-tank odour throughout the boat - that's something that isn't obvious in pictures! That actually not always that hard to solve. Lots of time it's just a matter of replacing the waste hoses. Use it as a negotiating point to get the price dropped by a couple grand. |
Buying a boat on line without even seeing it in person
On Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:06:33 -0400, "Bill Kearney"
wkearney-99@hot-mail-com wrote: Yabut... Assuming the "Ordinary Person doesn't know much about boat structure, so use a Qualified Surveyor before buying!" mentality, what good would a personal inspection by me do? I will have a Professional inspect the boat, and supposedly HE will find all the problems I would have missed anyway. Learn more now, save your headaches later. Go down when your hired surveyor is actually going to do the job and learn from it. This is an excellant point. Had it happen to me once on a 28' Topaz. I figured I was all set, ready to go - nice boat. Surveyor was there five minutes and the deal was off. |
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