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Who Were R.S Narrowboats?


Captain Beaky

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Hi Folks.

We've viewed a trad that was built / fitted out by RS Narrowboats in 1992. I cannot find anything about them on t'internet.

The boat is 'Rattler' at Saul Junction. CRT reg is 52156. May well have been 'Bethany Bear' in an earlier life.

Does anyone have any info on the builder or the boat please? 

Oh boy is it a sellers market ! Phew ! 

 

 

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  • 8 months later...

Never heard of them. Try to find out who the hull/shell builder was. Its a cottage industry. Many small scale boat fitters over the years simply used their initials as a boat make. When I bought a new shell and fitted it out in 99/2000 thats what I did for the RCD crap.

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I knew the previous owner of this boat, it was well looked after and he also worked in the trade. He knew his stuff. Of course, a survey is recommended before buying. (avoid any surveyor's recommended by a broker)

 

FWIW I also sold my boat through Lakeland. Although prompt & efficient, they accepted the buyer's offer and agreed the sale on my behalf without even consulting with me first. From what I understood, I had more than one person interested. Wasn't particularly happy.

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Just now, RichM said:

I also sold my boat through Lakeland. They accepted the seller's offer and agreed the sale on my behalf without even consulting me first and from what I understood I had more than one person interested. Was not happy. 

 

If they accepted an asking price offer you have no grounds for complaint.  Below asking price they certainly should have got back to you first.

 

If you now think you could have got more than your asking price then that's tough - you should have asked more for it than you originally did.

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7 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

If they accepted an asking price offer you have no grounds for complaint.  Below asking price they certainly should have got back to you first.

 

If you now think you could have got more than your asking price then that's tough - you should have asked more for it than you originally did.

 

Yes, I did let it go too cheap and yes that was my fault. That aside, it would have been courteous for them to call me first and confirm that I was still happy to proceed. They are there to act as a Intermediary, not to make decisions on my behalf. 

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14 minutes ago, SarahSails said:

Oh Dear!!!!!

 

Im sorry to hear that!! Thank you for the heads up! Im just so curious as to why this boat has been on the market for so long ..... It does not seem like a good sign, even through the boat is exactly what I am after! 

 

I do not know I'm afraid. Although my boat wasn't at all bad, they were keen for me to be transparent about any minor issues it did have and they published these on the advert. That said, I think the chap who sold my boat has moved on to a different marina, so whether or not the new broker shares that philosophy I cannot answer. You can always ask but then of course you won't know the situation for sure unless you pay to have the boat surveyed. 

That said, if it has been sat for a while, it does put you in a better position to make an offer below that of the asking price.

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1 minute ago, RichM said:

 

It would have been courteous for them to call me first and confirm that I was still happy to proceed. They are there to act as a Intermediary, not to make decisions on my behalf. 

 

I disagree - you presumably signed a brokerage contract with them authorising them to sell it at full asking price or refer back to you at lower offers.  That's industry standard practice.

 

Did you suggest a selling price or did they?   You must have agreed to the asking price either way for them to begin marketing the boat.  If you really wanted a few more quid - or indeed a few thousand more quid! - then you should not have agreed to offer it at the price you did.

 

If the market has risen since and you think it would have gone for more then you sold it too early.  Would you now be offering to give some money back to the buyer if the market had dropped?

 

Caveat venditor (seller beware) applies as well as caveat emptor (buyer beware) in any transaction.

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1 hour ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

I disagree - you presumably signed a brokerage contract with them authorising them to sell it at full asking price or refer back to you at lower offers.  That's industry standard practice.

 

Did you suggest a selling price or did they?   You must have agreed to the asking price either way for them to begin marketing the boat.  If you really wanted a few more quid - or indeed a few thousand more quid! - then you should not have agreed to offer it at the price you did.

 

If the market has risen since and you think it would have gone for more then you sold it too early.  Would you now be offering to give some money back to the buyer if the market had dropped?

 

Caveat venditor (seller beware) applies as well as caveat emptor (buyer beware) in any transaction.

 

I just checked the contract, there is no specific mention of that per se BUT in fairness to them, it does say they were to act on my behalf. Still, I'm not saying they were legally at fault in any way. I just think it would have been courteous of them to call before agreeing to the sale. Perhaps my expectations were out of the ordinary as a first time seller. 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, RichM said:

 

I just checked the contract, there is no specific mention of that per se BUT in fairness to them, it does say they were to act on my behalf. Still, I'm not saying they were legally at fault in any way. I just think it would have been courteous of them to call before finalising the sale. Perhaps my expectations were out of the ordinary as a first time seller. 

 

 

 

You'll know for next time ...

 

It does suit a lot of sellers just to get shut of the boat ASAP at what they consider a fair price, and obviously it's in the broker's interest to rapidly sell the boat so they get paid.

 

It still grates though when you sell something straight away with no haggling, but less so than when it drags on for ages and you have to pay expenses like licence and mooring fees.

 

I usually feel sad if people don't haggle because I think I have underpriced whatever it is I'm selling.  To keep other sellers from feeling bad I always haggle when buying things! :D 

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On 17/05/2021 at 01:10, Captain Beaky said:

Hi Folks.

We've viewed a trad that was built / fitted out by RS Narrowboats in 1992. I cannot find anything about them on t'internet.

The boat is 'Rattler' at Saul Junction. CRT reg is 52156. May well have been 'Bethany Bear' in an earlier life.

Does anyone have any info on the builder or the boat please? 

Oh boy is it a sellers market ! Phew ! 

 

 

I can confirm what you say is correct. "Rattler" was previously called "Bethany Bear"

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15 hours ago, SarahSails said:

Oh Dear!!!!!

 

Im sorry to hear that!! Thank you for the heads up! I'm just so curious as to why this boat has been on the market for so long ..... It does not seem like a good sign, even through the boat is exactly what I am after! 

 

The boat we bought from a broker not a million miles from Wigram's Locks had been on their books for 2 and a half years, we never found out why. I knew this from adverts in back issues of boating magazines.

Inside it was immaculate but the outside had been let go. We spent about 9 months looking for a boat, this was 2009 however. For some inexplicable reason we kept coming back to this boat and eventually bought her.

The fact that the boat had been on the books for this time enabled us to strike a good deal. We had her stripped back to bare metal and a total repaint, dumping the previous name as it meant nothing to us.

 

I am aware the market has changed now.

 

We had a survey and basically the boat was sound, as is said "the rest is history."

 

We had enough put to one side to lavish on the boat post purchase.

 

If it is what you want, go for it, as always with the proviso  "Caveat emptor."

 

 

Edited by Ray T
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I ordered a new boat from RS Narrowboats in September 1990, which was craned in at Sawley Marina in July 1991. The firm was owned and run by a very affable chap called Richard Evans and his wife Sharon, hence the RS of the name. They did fit outs on shells made by well known makers at that time - ours was an R&D Fabrications shell.

The work was done at an industrial estate just outside Doncaster, and he was happy to adapt his layouts to more or less whatever you wanted, if it was practical.

We owned the boat from new until selling it in 2014, and apart from the normal wear and tear it gave us very little trouble - certainly no major engine breakdowns or equipment failures.

We sold her through a broker, and despite her age she was bought within 6 weeks of listing for a fair price.

I think Richard closed the business by around 1993, and last I heard he was involved in another waterways enterprise in Yorkshire.

On thing that he did was make a signature Heart shaped cut out in the rudder blade of all his boats - so you could recognise other owners. Sadly, I never encountered any.

The "Bethany Bear" reference makes sense, as it was his daughter's name I believe.

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