Broker - favourite commission !

[Lincoby]

After many years coastal sailing I’ve been researching buying a Narrowboat and wondered what a broker would ideally choose to sell based on popular queries.

I am guessing a semi trad reverse layout but could be surprised !

[Tonka]

What type do you want ?

[Lincoby]

I think a semi trad but a trying to work out whether ‘bangs for your buck’ I would be better considering something else due to popularity means supply and demand raises the price substantially.  

[Alan de Enfield]

What a strange 1st post.

 

A broker will sell anything that he can make his '10%' on.

 

The large number of buyers, each with different requiremenst mean that there will always be someone who wants whatever he has to sell.

[MtB]

6 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

A broker will sell anything that he can make his '10%' on.

 

 

More pertinently, a broker is likely to take on and sell anything that he or she feels they can flog for a price the owner will find acceptable. 

 

Or put another way, brokers can't afford to turn away boats offered, or they would end up with empty sales pontoons. 

 

 

23 minutes ago, Lincoby said:

 

I am guessing a semi trad reverse layout but could be surprised !

 

This is of course what newbie boaters think they want, having never owned a NB. 

 

 

[Lincoby]

9 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

What a strange 1st post.

 

A broker will sell anything that he can make his '10%' on.

 

The large number of buyers, each with different requiremenst mean that there will always be someone who wants whatever he has to sell.

Good Evening Alan

For many years I sold cars and could have a forecourt of popular cars but would repeatedly get requests for ‘have you got any ‘Capris’ coming in (for example).

I suspect a broker would be able to confirm his most popular queries.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, MtB said:

This is of course what newbie boaters think they want, having never owned a NB.

 

And indeed the one they buy and are very happy with their choice.

2 minutes ago, Lincoby said:

 

I suspect a broker would be able to confirm his most popular queries.

 

Unfortunately as far as I am aware there are no brokers on here. So I think your question may go unanswered.

[booke23]

51 minutes ago, Lincoby said:

After many years coastal sailing I’ve been researching buying a Narrowboat and wondered what a broker would ideally choose to sell based on popular queries.

I am guessing a semi trad reverse layout but could be surprised !

 

As a thought experiment….What would a coastal marine broker choose to sell….a RIB, a motor cruiser, a racing Yacht, a sloop?

 

It’s probably a tricky question to answer as all customers are different. I suspect most brokers would say ‘any boat that is correctly priced’ as I’m sure their worst nightmare is a seller who insists their boat is worth £20k more than it is and sits on brokerage for months. 

[Alan de Enfield]

30 minutes ago, Lincoby said:

For many years I sold cars and could have a forecourt of popular cars but would repeatedly get requests for ‘have you got any ‘Capris’ coming in (for example).

I suspect a broker would be able to confirm his most popular queries.

 

If you owned 'all the cars on the forecourt' then , I agree you would want to have the fastest moving models, but you are not then being a broker.

 

A broker does not own the boats he is simply a 'marriage maker' between a willing buyer and a willing seller, he does not own the boats and it costs him nothing if they don't sell for years and years so your forecourt and boat broker are not really analogous.

 

There are some brokers who do take part exchanges, or buy outright for cash but they are few and far apart as the legal ramifications of selling a boat you own 'in the course of a business' are quite serious with obligatory guarantees, taking back if the buyer is unhappy etc etc.

 

Look on a brokers website (or on the boat details) and you will see the clause "not being sold as part of a business" - this means no warranty, no guarantee of being fit-for-pupose and is a 'buy it as seen'.

This will normally be followed by "It is recommended that the buyer employs the services of a surveyor to satisfy himself on the condition of the boat"

 

There are boat brokers whose practices would make Arthur Daly (or DelBoy) seem like Saints !

[TheBiscuits]

10 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

There are boat brokers whose practices would make Arthur Daly (or DelBoy) seem like Saints !

 

Reminds me of the joke about Walter Wall, the carpet salesman ...

 

[DandV]

First of all.

What sort of narrowboating are you intending?

Live aboard, all year, or all summer?

Or all summer holiday plus short breaks all year?

This influences heating choices and clothes washing options.

 

Is access to the entire network important to you?

This sets up maximum craft dimensions.

 

For how many years? 

 

By yourself, two of you, or at times a whole group?

As a couple we found a 2 plus 2 arrangement ideal. 

 

Have a look at lots of boats. Wilton is a good place to see a lot.

And the concentration of other brokerages  nearby. This limits  the amount of traipsing around the countryside in your initial quest. 

You will also get a gòd idea as to who to trust your boat with, when you sell. 

 

But doing this will give you an idea what you will get for how much, and what features you consider desirable, and a basis to rank those desirabilities.

But don't over think it, or be too dogmatic.  

You are best to resign yourself to having to making comprimises here,  as otherwise the time  boat hunting will take too much time away from actually boating. 

[MtB]

26 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Reminds me of the joke about Walter Wall, the carpet salesman ...

 

 

And the Irish double glazing salesman, Paddy O'Doors.

 

 

 

[dave moore]

Until recently there really was a carpet shop called Walter Wall. It was on the High Street of Quarry Bank, a town in the Black Country. They ceased trading in autumn last year.

[Naartjie - Duck Hatch]

10 hours ago, MtB said:

 

More pertinently, a broker is likely to take on and sell anything that he or she feels they can flog for a price the owner will find acceptable. 

 

Or put another way, brokers can't afford to turn away boats offered, or they would end up with empty sales pontoons. 

 

 

 

This is of course what newbie boaters think they want, having never owned a NB. 

 

 

🥱

[Lincoby]

Many thanks for various tips.  I’ve bought and sold several sea going vessels via brokers and thankfully always received a good service, hopefully this will continue.  I fancy a life without tides and currents now though so will keep looking !

[LadyG]

6 minutes ago, Lincoby said:

Many thanks for various tips.  I’ve bought and sold several sea going vessels via brokers and thankfully always received a good service, hopefully this will continue.  I fancy a life without tides and currents now though so will keep looking !

I don't think it matters whether a boat is with a broker or not, it may be easier to view a few boats if they are all at one location.

It's a matter of using the intenet unless your requireme  are very specific, and the commodity is rare.

[Alan de Enfield]

17 minutes ago, Lincoby said:

Many thanks for various tips.  I’ve bought and sold several sea going vessels via brokers and thankfully always received a good service, hopefully this will continue.  I fancy a life without tides and currents now though so will keep looking !

 

Give it a year or two and you'll miss (regret?) it,

 

We have now gone 'back to sea' and the freedom from rules, regulations and the problems of lack of infrastructure maintenance is wonderful.

[Tonka]

3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Give it a year or two and you'll miss (regret?) it,

 

We have now gone 'back to sea' and the freedom from rules, regulations and the problems of lack of infrastructure maintenance is wonderful.

If the maintenance is so good why is the level rising

[Lincoby]

Hi Alan - that’s interesting to know and you may well be correct.  However for now, I still work full time at sea so suspect I will still be getting my fair share of bad weather and adverse tides and occasionally the sun and fantastic sunsets when there is no better place to be ! Great to hear you are back and enjoying it.

[Alan de Enfield]

14 minutes ago, Tonka said:

If the maintenance is so good why is the level rising

 

If you are refering to the canals - you must be in a very different part of the system to many of us.

The bottom is far too close to the top.

 

If you are refering to the Sea - blame all those emissions and the ice melting.

 

 

 

12 minutes ago, Lincoby said:

.................my fair share of bad weather and adverse tides

 

No such thing as adverse tides - just bad planning !

 

Edited February 6 by Alan de Enfield

[Crewcut]

The most popular and hence the (potentially) most "overpriced" size would be 57ft 'cos they'll be able to navigate the whole system. You can (potentially) get "better" value by going up to 65/70 because this size is considered too long for some of the locks on parts of the system. Or you might get the same by going smaller. Or you might by going for a tug style because not as many people want that design. You will get better value by buying in the north rather than darn sarf but it's all moot really, you buy what you want to buy, if you paid less for a particular design or size you'll likely get less for it when you sell it & vice versa...

[Mad Harold]

36 minutes ago, Lincoby said:

 I fancy a life without tides and currents now though so will keep looking !

You will be swapping one lot of problems for another lot.

Shallow canals, broken locks, collapsing canal walls, stuck out in the sticks due to several reasons.Plus the canal licence,mooring fees, BSC,insurance.(I know you have insurance and mooring costs with a sea boat)

Tides and currents are in the hands of God, but the canals are in the hands of people rather further down  the food chain.

Having said that canals have a few advantages over the sea.

You don"t get seasick, if your boat breaks down, dry land is nearby, and when you are fed up you can get the bus home.

[MtB]

19 hours ago, Mad Harold said:

You will be swapping one lot of problems for another lot.

Shallow canals, broken locks, collapsing canal walls, stuck out in the sticks due to several reasons.Plus the canal licence,mooring fees, BSC,insurance.(I know you have insurance and mooring costs with a sea boat)

 

 

I think you've missed a big'un from your list here. The requirement to save up all your personal effluent inside the boat then dispose of it later, at a canalside drain facility (pump-out or Elsan).

 

On a sea boat I believe it just goes straight in to the sea and that's the last you see of it.

[Alan de Enfield]

20 minutes ago, MtB said:

On a sea boat I believe it just goes straight in to the sea and that's the last you see of it.

 

Except in the Med where certain countries now require you to have both Black & Grey water pupmed-out and they record the volumes against what the number of crew 'should have produced' and you are fined if your tank contents are 'not enough' (indicating you've been dumping at sea)

[Tam & Di]

On 05/02/2024 at 21:41, Lincoby said:

After many years coastal sailing I’ve been researching buying a Narrowboat and wondered what a broker would ideally choose to sell based on popular queries.

I am guessing a semi trad reverse layout but could be surprised !

As already said, it's a very odd question. Are you asking because you are planning to become a broker? Or do you want to know so you can sell your boat on more easily when you get fed up or find the life unsuitable?