qualifying to " view " boat for sale

[kjango]

Today I made inquiry on a vessel for sale of a broker & was questioned about my qualifications sailing before making an appointment for an associate of mine to view the boat before I traveled 2000 miles for the same purpose . Having observed the moronic , I felt compelled to point out the obvious & informed the broker that my critical mass qualification for our purposes was that I was a prospective buyer & that he & the owner should realize that when you put a boat on the market....people will want to view it . Has anyone else here experienced this sort of screening from a broker ????

[RichP]

IMHO its non of the brokers business!

[Rockter]

He will drive away many prospective buyers with that sort of talk.

[HoneyDoII]

I had a couple that totally ignored me when I called or wrote once they found I was on the East Coast and wanted to see vessels that were on the West coast. End result, I found a different broker that had no such concerns, I flew out, viewed the boat and bought it. The broker that ignored me had to split the commission.

[Gary1]

Kjango,

Please tell me the broker's name! He sounds like my kind of person!

Having put up with the following:

1. A guy so old he had to be helped onto the boat.
2. A guy who had never owned a sailboat.
3. A guy who didn't know 'you could make yer own 'lectricity on a boat
4. A couple who 'had sailed Sunfish a couple of times'
5. A quartet of Frenchmen who spoke not one word of English, and no translator with them
6. A couple who poked into every cabinet, then got me distracted to inspect the engine room for a few minutes...when they left, I noticed our hand-held GPS was missing...
7. A couple from Kansas who wanted me to take them out so they could find out how the boat rode in Biscayne Bay--for free! No agreement to buy, no earnest money, no nothing. (BTW, I told them I'd be happy to take them out on Biscayne Bay for four hours, $125.00 per person, minimum four people, BYOB. That cooled their jets in a hurry.)
8. To be crude: a couple who were both as big around as they were tall, and who couldn't even sit at the main salon table

I would be tickled pink if the broker at least got some kind of idea what kind of boat someone really wants/needs. I'm so sick of getting the boat ready to show and then the people who show up, look at the 71 foot mast and spend the next five minutes catching flies with their mouths, I could scream!

The problem is, as I've said elsewhere, that a broker is a salesman. Neither the buyer's broker or the seller's broker have the boat owner's best interests in mind. At least it sounds like this guy is trying to screen people. That's a d*** sight better than our group. Maybe you feel insulted. I wouldn't. He's just trying to spare everyone from wasted time, money and effort.

[sailingdog]

I'm going to have to side with Gary1 on this... while it may not be the broker's right to ask certain types of questions, it would be a good idea to qualify the buyer in certain respects.

[Cruisingdad]

Though I see both sides, the reality here (and we are talking reality) is that you cannot qualify someone over the phone without pulling SS numbers and a credit check, etc with a bank account and 2 years tax returns... etc.

I could really care less if they have ever sailed before. That is their problem. They are adults (hopefully). If they want to go drop a large sum of money into a boat purchase without a lot of credentials - let them. My parents bought their boat without EVER owning any boat of any kind and their sailing experience was limited to an ASA 101 and many weekends with me and the family. Their first purcahse: A Tayana Vancouver 42. In essense, it does happen.

Now, I think the other broker (Buyers broker) should go through the steps of simple pre-qualifying to make sure they can afford the boat. That might be nice, eh?

- CD

[RichP]

Since when did qualifications and good sailor become necessarily related? Some of the best sailors i know don't have a single qualification! If he'd asked about previous sailing experience or knowledge...

[Sapperwhite]

Originally Posted by Gary1

Kjango,

Please tell me the broker's name! He sounds like my kind of person!

Having put up with the following:

2. A guy who had never owned a sailboat.

Ask the broker who sold me my boat about this. I had never owned a boat before, just like you and everyone else in the world unless you are born with your boat attached to you. I went to look at the boat, bought the survey from a month earlier from a guy who passed on it, took it for a spin, and handed him a check two days later. My buying process took all of five days from first sight. Those are my "qualifications".

I hope this broker said, "let me ask you a few things about what kind of boat you are looking for" or maybe, "what kind of sailing do you plan on doing". If he comes right out of the box and say "what are your qualifications to be a prospective buyer of this boat?", you bet bet your ass I'd close my check book and go look at another boat without a second thought.

The boat may be "the one", but I'm not giving my money to someone I don't want to do business with. I've excercised my market power like that a few times. Do you think I'm going to part with 100K (or whatever your boat costs)and deal with your smug personality.....no way.

BTW, you aren't looking to purchase Maltese Falcon are you? You may need to present some "qualifications" for that one.

Maltese Falcon

[joeybkcmo]

Questions about what kind of boat you are looking for, even on how/where you intend to use the boat I can see. But why would they care about your sailing qualifications