What is my boat worth?

The question 'what is my boat worth? is impossible to answer, since used boat values largely depend on how attractively they are presented. Granted, within each type and year, there's an approximate median price but the spread between a nice clean example and one that has seen better days can be considerable. Would you dig deep to buy the boat shown right?

In the days when hitchhiking was a more acceptable mode of travel, it occurred to me that too many practitioners of the hitchers’ art would have benefited from attending some form of charm school. As I swept past them hunched on the verge, cigarettes dangling from their lips, a slovenly thumb jerking me to stop, an obscene signal viewed in my rear view mirror marking the rejection of their requests, I asked myself whether they really believed that, on appearances at least, I would prefer their company to solitary hours behind the wheel? If their aims were to travel at my expense, it seemed to me that the least they could do was make themselves socially attractive. After all, the payoff for the driver is having someone intelligent to talk to.

Whatever the commodity, selling is a form of seduction – a transaction in which the seducee always has the option of saying ‘no’ if the goods on offer don’t appeal. Although this is a blindingly obvious truth, most hitchhikers and some boat owners haven’t got the message.

Just recently, an overseas client was interested in a largish sailing boat. Before committing to the expense of air fares, he asked me to have a preliminary look at it. From the outside it looked impressive but my heart sank when I went below. Unwashed plates lay in the sink, personal clothing of unknown vintage were scattered in grubby clumps around the cabin, and a festering brown lump was identified as a tea bag. It looked like the boat had stood unattended since the previous season, although the owner’s comments in his advertisement gushed ‘a lovingly maintained family yacht’. My immediate reaction was to feel sorry for the family.

Needless to say, my client was unimpressed. A meticulous man, he reasoned that if the owner couldn’t even be bothered to keep it clean, what chance was there that the rest of the boat had been properly cared for?

First impressions are crucial. The boat business is dream business and dreams are fragile things. Prospective purchasers imagine themselves at the helm of some trim and tidy craft, cleaving the waters with immaculate bows – not the skipper of some floating garbage skip. If their first reaction is one of revulsion it will probably prove impossible to convince them that beneath the grime lay quality.

And imagine any future surveys. Surveyors try hard to be objective, but even they are influenced by involuntary reactions. A summary that includes something like ‘a sound and obviously well maintained vessel’ would be likely to encourage a buyer. But less enthusiasm – ‘although generally sound, the vessel does show signs of neglect’ – would almost certainly have the opposite effect.

What’s more, a tidy well presented boat will not only be easier to sell but could also command a higher price. It’s very much in the seller’s interests to make the ‘bait’ as tempting as possible.

Don't gild the lily

But, whereas tidying up a boat for sale is one thing, disguising her as something she isn’t is quite another. Disappointment is profoundly discouraging. For the buyer to discover at survey that the bird of paradise is actually a turkey is a serious turn-off. For example, there are products that will temporarily restore the shine to faded gelcoat but nothing will undo the harm done by serious surface damage. It’s far better to present the boat honestly and to offer it at a price appropriate to its condition than it is to resort to deliberate deception. Word travels fast in the boating world. The risk of being rumbled is high.

This means you should....

Never hide known defects

A man I knew had a handsome sailboat he had owned since new – a matter of ten years or so. He had maintained it diligently. Because of its age his insurance company demanded a routine survey and he contacted me to conduct it.

‘Nice boat,’ I told him over the phone after my inspection. ‘But I’ve found a few blisters.’

The anguish was almost palpable at the other end. ‘Not...not...osmosis?’ he stammered.

I told him that was the case but that the condition wasn’t advanced and could easily be treated. He seemed deeply troubled at the news and was concerned that I shouldn’t tell anyone else – no problem since the information was confidential anyway.

Less than a week later I was astonished to see a 'For Sale' sign dangling from the guardwires. According to another source, the price was very keen indeed so it came as no surprise to hear that the owner was holding a deposit and another surveyor had been instructed to check her out.

‘It was those darned blisters,’ the owner told be later. ‘I thought I had it sold but the blisters scared him off.’ And away he trudged, paintbrush in hand to touch of the patches of exposed gelcoat.

Apparently three other interested parties came and went before he again reappeared in my office. ‘I’ll just have to reduce the price again,’ he groaned. ‘I’ve dropped it twice already.’

‘Are you telling them?’ I asked.

He looked appalled. ‘About the osmosis? Lord, no. They would run a mile.’

Several cups of coffee later I had persuaded him not to reduce the price further but instead to raise it back up to the perfectly fair level it was before. Less easily, I was also able to convince him that not everyone was as nervous about blisters as he was. My advice was that he should be perfectly frank with all future enquirers and tell them that the price had already been adjusted to compensate for this defect.

A couple of weeks later he sold the boat.

The moral of this story is clear. For the purchaser, unexpected news is always bad news. At best the result will be some pretty hostile bargaining in which the vendor almost invariably emerges the loser.

I believe it’s always better to be candid about the condition of your boat. Not only will your frankness impress the buyer but any declared defects will be effectively removed from the bargaining table.
List every item included in the sale

Ideally, boats should be presented for sale with everything included in the sale on board – and nothing more. But in practice this is often impracticable. Boats frequently change hands while still in commission, when they will be carrying personal gear which the owner will take with him. And, if laid up ashore, valuable gear – such as navigational instruments, sails, dinghies etcetera ­– may have been taken off for security reasons.

The alternative is a comprehensive inventory in which every item of portable equipment is specified. For the new owner to learn later that the barometer he thought was part of the deal was actually a cherished gift from Uncle Fred (and is now a discoloured patch on the bulkhead) is to invite contention.

To head off any arguments a detailed list is essential. Unspecific descriptions such as ‘assorted deck gear’ won’t do. A friend of mine sailed his newly acquired boat around to his home port and put it on his mooring. He then pumped up the dinghy ready to row ashore, only to discover there were no oars!
Spread the good news

You may be selling the finest vessel afloat but it could sit on the proverbial shelf forever if no one knows it’s for sale. Publicity is everything and, in this regard, the world has changed dramatically over the last few years. For this we have to thank the arrival of the internet, the very means by which you are reading these words. Not only has it widened the shop window to literally global proportions but it has reduced the time lag between your decision to sell and that information being presented to the public.

Going for brokers

But some things don’t change. The seller still has to decide whether to go it alone or to place the boat in the hands of a brokerage firm, allowing it to handle the promotional details plus the negotiations and paperwork that hopefully will follow.

Of course, for this they will charge commission on a ‘no sale, no fee basis’ – typically 8% in the UK for a mid-price yacht, though there’s often a minimum charge for very inexpensive craft and percentage reductions for the seriously costly.

Whatever – it’s a sizeable slice of the loaf and some owners might feel that could use that margin to reduce the asking price to gain a competitive edge over similar offerings on the market.

However, there are some distinct advantages in using yacht brokers to handle the sale. Amongst these are:

•  The exposure your yacht will get. Most brokers are based in important boating centres – magnets to potential buyers in search of their dream. The potency of a For Sale sign shouldn’t be underestimated and many deals are clinched to folk who ‘just popped in for a look’. 
• Large brokerage firms are networked and there are other arrangements between likeminded independents who share access to their listings on a commission-sharing basis. This facility is almost invariably internet driven and provides a surprisingly useful tool. I recently met a Californian couple who bought a boat in Greece because they wanted to cruise the Mediterranean. 
• Brokers work unsocial hours, such as weekends, the better to be there when customers might arrive. Because of employment and other commitments, many sellers are simply unable to show people over their boats without prior arrangement. 
• The broker will act as an intermediary on your behalf. Some people find face-to-face negotiations awkward or even distasteful. To have someone representing your interests can be a useful buffer. 
• The broker should deal with all the ‘business’ for you – the sales agreement, holding the deposit, and then the final transfer of ownership. He can also introduce the buyer to sources of finance and insurance. Obviously, the easier you make it for the buyer, the more chance you have of closing the sale.

The hypoactive yacht broker

Although by far the majority of yacht brokers are conscientious and professional, unfortunately some are not. Occasionally you will come across one who sees himself as hardly more than a key-holder – ‘Here are the details, sir. She’s up in the saltings at the head of Bloodshot Creek. I’d show you over her, but it looks like rain and I’m expecting an important oversees ‘phone call. If you’d like to make an offer, I should still be here when you get back. If not, I’ll be having a swift beer down at the Muddled Duck’ ..... And so on.

Quite clearly such a man would be about as useful to you as a bottomless bailer. But, if you feel like supporting him as an act of charity, it might be less frustrating simply to hand him his commission at once and then sell the boat yourself.

The dual approach

Of course there’s no reason why you shouldn’t list your boat with the brokers whilst at the same time trying to sell it yourself. Classified advertisements placed in the appropriate magazines were once popular but there can be a delay of two or three weeks or so before they appear in print. More immediate in their effect are details pinned to yacht club notice boards and simply putting the word about, allowing the jungle drums of local gossip to yield fruitful enquiries fruitful enquiries.

Gaining ground in the sales potency stakes are internet sites which accept free postings. If you have your own website, place an announcement on it, listing the class, year of build and location. Describe the boat accurately and without high-sounding words of praise. Think what phrases an internet searcher might use. If there’s a class association for your boat, see if they have a website that would welcome the news that a boat of that type is available.

Always be sure to offer the boat at the same price everywhere. No broker is going to be encouraged to toil on your behalf if he sees it advertised at a discount by an amount equal to his commission. What you subsequently knock off when face to face with a potential buyer would, of course, be entirely up to you but at least your public stance should be even-handed.

And finally ...

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As a man once said to me as he walked into my office: ‘I’m not certain whether I need a surveyor or a psychiatrist – but while I’m deciding, there’s a neat little ketch I would like you to have a look at for me.’