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BROKERS!!
Two recent experiences.
I made an appointment to see a boat 45 minutes south of Annapolis with a man from a highly reputable local brokerage. (FYI...the boat was listed at $69,000, so his cut would have been significant.) He never showed. The boatowner kept me cooling my heels away from the boat until I told him that it was just about too dark to see...and then he let me look.
I then followed-up with the same broker asking to see the boat two days later on a Sunday morning when the owner was to be away. The broker this time showed-up...for about 30 minutes, then split saying he had another appointment...and for me to close the boat when I left.
Called another Annapolis broker -- a man whose name is sometimes touted on this forum as being good -- and set up a time to see a sistership of the first boat. He called me just shortly before I was to leave work and asked if we could postpone it for two days because of dinner party him and his wife were staging. No problem, I said. Then, on the day of the rescheduled appointment, he told me that he could only spend a few minutes at the boat and that if I were late, he was going to leave, saying he had to drive to the Richmond area. (I work in DC and my commute to Annapolis is usually an hour or more and can vary greatly.) I arrived less than 5 minutes late, and had to call him because 10 minutes later he still had not arrived. He came...grudgingly...and spent less than 15 minutes showing me the boat. It was clear that he wanted to leave.
Three days later I agreed to buy a similar model and year...but this was being sold without a broker...the owner was more than happy to spend as much time as I wanted showing me his boat.
It''s pretty clear to me why brokers often have truly earned the reputations that they have.
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