Boats are like houses. You can theoretically put it up on Craiglist and sell it yourself, but most people don’t. They list it with a broker who represents their interests for a fee. In the world of boats, that fee is typically 10% of the sale price. The broker handles the centralized listing, photographs, deals with prospective buyers, shows the boat, arranges paperwork, acts as an arbiter in negotiations, and presumably has a wide range of industry contacts that may help direct a buyer towards the boat.
On the other side of the equation, the buyer can choose to either go it alone or to find a buyer’s broker. Similar again to house sales, the services of the buyer’s broker do not directly cost the buyer anything. Their fee comes out of that 10% that the seller has to cough up from the sale price.
The decision to use a buyer’s broker was a no-brainer. First and foremost, we live 3000 miles from where we wanted to buy a boat. I needed someone to kick tires for me. Weed out the bad ones. And what the hell do I know about the legalities of buying a boat in a foreign country? I’ve never even bought one in this country.
Enter Chris Simpson and BVI Yacht Sales
During the market research phase I identified that the British Virgin Islands are the largest sailboat market in the Caribbean, with Saint Maarten in distant second. Seemed like as good a place as any to buy a boat, so I started searching for a broker. Given that I don’t know anyone’s who’s “got a guy†I took to the sailing forums to find a recommendation. One name comes up over and over when people ask “who’s the best broker in the Caribbean?!?!†Chris Simpson from BVI Yacht Sales. I’m sure that there are other reputable shops out there, but Chris sounded like the man to know.
This was all the way back in December 2014, long before we were prepared to buy, but I went ahead and reached out to Chris. I told him about our budget, our plan, and the kind of boat we were looking for. I think he was a little skeptical about our prospects at first, but I assured him that Cat and I are young and fit and do not expect our boat to have electric winches, an ice-maker, and a coin operated vibrating mattress. His assessment was that our budget was tight, but we’d be able to figure something out. We tossed around ideas for at least an hour on that first call and I came away feeling like Chris would live up to his reputation. Really friendly and really thorough. Definitely knew the Caribbean market through and through. He also seemed genuinely enthusiastic to work with us, despite the relatively tiny commission in it for him. We agreed that I’d get back in touch in the spring when the end-of-season boats started to come on to the market.
April 2015 rolled around soon enough, so I gave Chris another call and let him know that I was still alive and still interested in working with him. It was still early in the season, but we planned to start keeping our eyes open for prospects. I started tracking potential boats in earnest, but there wasn’t much to write home about. But no worries, I had months to bide.
Not even two weeks after that, Chris called me up and said “I think your ship may have just come in.† A 1989 CS (Canadian Sailcraft) 36’ Merlin. Fully rigged for cruising, basically ready to sail away. She wasn’t even on the market yet, but he had heard from another broker that the owner was considering putting her up for sale and the price would be within range.
Oh shit.
I think that was around April 30th. We did NOT want to buy a boat that early. For all the reasons I mentioned in the “Market Research†post, paying to store a boat in the BVI all summer is for suckers. We should hold out until late summer before we even start to get serious about a boat, right? Let the sellers all start going broke and getting nervous.
But this girl was looking good to me. And I’m a weak man.
In the next post we’ll talk marine surveys, contentious negotiations, and signing the dotted line.
4 Comments
Leave your reply.