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Selling a 65 ft boat privately


born2zsolt

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Hello,

After owning our lovely 65 ft narrowboat for few years now we decided to sell her, we found a buyer and realized that not sure what are the next steps.

The buyer will have it surveyed, and I will take the boat to the dry dock but not sure about when and on what conditions the holding deposit should be paid. how much? In the unlikely event of surveyor finds something untoward and he wants to reneg the price but we don't agree - what happens to the holding deposit? is it refundable?

is there a description of the all process? I googled and googled but found nothing.

 

Thanks!!

 

 

Edited by born2zsolt
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19 minutes ago, born2zsolt said:

Hello,

After owning our lovely 65 ft narrowboat for few years now we decided to sell her, we found a buyer and realized that not sure what are the next steps.

The buyer will have it surveyed, and I will take the boat to the dry dock but not sure about when and on what conditions the holding deposit should be paid. how much? In the unlikely event of surveyor finds something untoward and he wants to reneg the price but we don't agree - what happens to the holding deposit? is it refundable?

is there a description of the all process? I googled and googled but found nothing.

 

Thanks!!

 

 

If you use the BMF bill of sale (attached) it will give you / tell you everything you need tp know - and - if and when to return deposits.

Bill Of Sale Template BMF.doc

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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Alan's template is a very good way of doing it.

....but you talk about a holding deposit. That suggests you are doing this sale via a broker. What has the broker in place...that is the important thing? Ask them what their proceedure is. As a seller I would worry about negotiating a price down and then being asked for further reduction post survey. You as seller can impose what conditions you like on a sale (as long as these conditions have not already been agreed) and given it is a sellers market you have the upper hand. If it is a good boat and priced right you dont need to sell it to the first person that comes along as there should be more coming along.

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As a rule of thumb and good practice, a survey revealing more than 10% of the vessels value in NECESSARY repairs (not just nice recommendations) would allow the buyer to walk away with full deposit. Anything significant but less than 10% would be up to negotiation over price or whether seller is going to pay for it.

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1 minute ago, Dr Bob said:

Alan's template is a very good way of doing it.

....but you talk about a holding deposit. That suggests you are doing this sale via a broker. What has the broker in place...that is the important thing? Ask them what their proceedure is. As a seller I would worry about negotiating a price down and then being asked for further reduction post survey. You as seller can impose what conditions you like on a sale (as long as these conditions have not already been agreed) and given it is a sellers market you have the upper hand. If it is a good boat and priced right you dont need to sell it to the first person that comes along as there should be more coming along.

The title of the thread is PRIVATE SALE, ie no broker.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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when i bought my boat it was a private sale . After viewing the boat and considering the matter further i put in an offer . The offer was 8K below the initial asking price ( 5 yrs ago ) . On the day of survey we travelled on the boat to the yard . Survey was  good apart from a problem with gas so the seller offered to knock £300 off to cover the cost of a gas bod . He was v keen to sell as money was needed for a house deposit . Folllowing this we went to my bank and i transferred the money into his account . 

Under NO circumstances whatsoever would i have given them or anyone else selling privately a deposit . Offer was made , survey booked , survey conducted , money transferred , bill of sale signed & transferred. Job done in 7 days start to finish .

 

Edited by chubby
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51 minutes ago, born2zsolt said:

Hello,

After owning our lovely 65 ft narrowboat for few years now we decided to sell her, we found a buyer and realized that not sure what are the next steps.

The buyer will have it surveyed, and I will take the boat to the dry dock but not sure about when and on what conditions the holding deposit should be paid. how much? In the unlikely event of surveyor finds something untoward and he wants to reneg the price but we don't agree - what happens to the holding deposit? is it refundable?

is there a description of the all process? I googled and googled but found nothing.

 

Thanks!!

 

 

 

Gosh we English do like to make things complicated don't we?!

The basic process is buyer gives you the money, you give them the keys. Each trusts the other to stand by the deal. If the buyer wants a survey before buying it, let them do one. Why not?

Perhaps you don't trust them to follow through after hooking your boat out. Perhaps they don't trust you to follow through and actually sell to them after they pay for a survey. These are when a deposit is handy as it gets the parties committed and you get to see the colour of their money to prove their intent. They get to feel the deal is secure and you won't flog it to someone else for an extra fifty quid. 

So do you trust each other? If yes then no need to muck about with BMF contracts etc. Just sell it and tell CRT once the money and boat have changed hands. Write out a receipt for them too. 

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2 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Gosh we English do like to make things complicated don't we?!

The basic process is buyer gives you the money, you give them the keys. Each trusts the other to stand by the deal. If the buyer wants a survey before buying it, let them do one. Why not?

Perhaps you don't trust them to follow through after hooking your boat out. Perhaps they don't trust you to follow through and actually sell to them after they pay for a survey. These are when a deposit is handy as it gets the parties committed and you get to see the colour of their money to prove their intent. They get to feel the deal is secure and you won't flog it to someone else for an extra fifty quid. 

So do you trust each other? If yes then no need to muck about with BMF contracts etc. Just sell it and tell CRT once the money and boat have changed hands. Write out a receipt for them too. 

You beat me to it. The facts are that you can do whatever you feel fit. If its your property then the legislation for selling it is the same legislation that covers selling a pair of second hand socks. The great beauty of boats is unlike crap such as houses and even cars to some extent you simply set up a method that is agreeable to yourself and to the prospective purchaser. My widebeam was on the duck I saw it I gave him the money and I took it away.........simples..........you can make it complicated if you want to?

  • Greenie 1
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3 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Gosh we English do like to make things complicated don't we?!

I couldn’t agree more.

We may have been lucky selling our boat but it was a smooth, painless and very rapid process.

The first thing we did was to make a website which included every conceivable detail, warts and all, together with the boat's history and all the work that it had needed over the years. There was also a full inventory of all the things included in the sale. (I cannot understand why anyone selling their pride and joy thinks a scanty advert on Apolloduck with a few nondescript photos and a blurb written in estate-agentese, is going to persuade anyone to buy it.)

So, the chap comes to see the boat; we get on well and he likes it. I’m more than satisfied that he appreciates historic boats and that he is more than able to give ours the attention it deserves. We go for a spin and he gets the feel of how it handles. He comes back again to the boat the following week; he makes an offer which I accept; we shake hands and the money is in my bank a few days later.

I give him a bill of sale – mainly for his protection because it states that I own the boat and that there are no other claims on it. The next weekend the boat leaves our mooring with its new owner.

Example of the  bill of sale.doc

Edited by koukouvagia
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49 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

£10000 in a carrier bag on one occasion started the boat for him ( he couldn't) told him not to scrape the bottom but go straight to dock  said he would, wandered off and wondered where to put the ££ as bank was shut...

Same happened when I sold my Seffle.  Chap arrived clutching a carrier bag full of fivers. No paperwork, just a handshake.

 

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1 hour ago, roland elsdon said:

£10000 in a carrier bag on one occasion started the boat for him ( he couldn't) told him not to scrape the bottom but go straight to dock  said he would, wandered off and wondered where to put the ££ as bank was shut...

Precsiely what I did with my first boat. He had no address just his boat I gave him 10k in twenties he left. I sold another boat similar a few years later in my pub he gave me twenties, no other paperwork needed in either case.

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1 minute ago, JamesFrance said:

There are some very trusting people on the forum.   Maybe I should put up a free ad, go and stand by a boat somewhere and wait for someone to come by and give me a bag full of money.   Easyer than working for it.

As previously noted, I have bought & sold a number of boats over the last 30+years and the majority have been for cash (both purchase and sale), The exception being the last purchase of a very expensive blue water cruising catamaran.

The previous one was paid for with a £10,000 'deposit' on a debit card whilst I went to the bank to get the balance of £35,000 in cash.

The only time that I would consider using 'contracts' and deposits would be if the potential buyer wants me to 'hold' the boat for weeks whilst they organise a surveyor, and then to use the report to 'beat me down' on price - having then held it and possibly missed out on potential buy-it-on-the-day buyers.

My boat is for sale until the 1st one with the money in their hands says 'I'll take it'.

  • Happy 1
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1 hour ago, JamesFrance said:

There are some very trusting people on the forum.   Maybe I should put up a free ad, go and stand by a boat somewhere and wait for someone to come by and give me a bag full of money.   Easyer than working for it.

 

When buying a boat a fair amount of diligence is required. One needs to satisfy oneself the seller really does own it. 

But the OP asked about selling a boat, and tha is the perspective from which the comments about it being easy originate.

About all that needs to be done is to handle each of the £20 notes to make sure they 'feel' right. Or check the bank statement. 

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