Buying a Boat – Getting the Right Advice
See a boat you like? Fall in love with it at first sight? Immediately reach for your wallet? That’s all fine – however, you want to be sure that it is a boat that you will continue to be in love with even after that first flush of romance. You need to ensure that the boat continues to provide fun, pleasure and thrills for many years to come. That’s why you should take independent professional advice to help you get the best boat and have the best value for your money. Let’s consider the need for, and some sources of, advice. Why is advice needed? You may very well be experienced in your profession or business. Possibly used to negotiating or being part of a project. Maybe you have technical skills. These are useful. However, we believe that buying a boat is simply more complicated. Think of a boat as a combination of a house, a car, and one that (hopefully!) floats on the water. Multiply those complexities together. This is not a problem in itself, provided that you get the right advice to help you make the right decisions. Sources of advice There are of course multiple sources of advice you can use. The internet provides a great variety of advice. Often, however, you need to know what questions to ask, where to look, who to believe. The internet can be useful; but it can also provide conflicting and unreliable advice. Frankly, I have seen some advice on the internet that makes me cringe as the advice has simply been wrong or even dangerous! Surveyors are an essential and important part of boat buying. However, you need to know how to choose a good surveyor, understand the different types of surveyors and surveys, and how to make best use of surveyors to actually save you money. If you are looking at a boat that has had a previous survey done – maybe a year or two ago – we advise you NOT to rely on it for several reasons. Firstly, the survey is the property of the vendor, not you, so the surveyor owes zero responsibility to you. Next, some issues could have arisen since the survey. Also, if you have been given the survey, then you have been informed of any issues identified, and so you have no come back or room for negotiation on those issues. In a nutshell – you need to get your own survey done. Go Earth can recommend the types of survey(s) you need and assist in finding a suitable surveyor. Brokers are of course often ready to be helpful and give advice. However, please remember that their legal, contractual relationship is with the seller, not you as the (potential) buyer. Also, they – naturally enough – want to sell you a boat on their books. That’s what their job is. Further, if you ask the broker for information, they may simply be unable to give you accurate or full information because they may not know all the boats on their books. Also, it has been known for the seller to forget to tell the broker about significant issues with a boat! Solicitors may be needed for large or complex transactions. However, most solicitors are not specialists in marine matters. Your personal solicitor may, therefore, not be the most appropriate one for a boat purchase. We can help you find a specialist marine solicitor. Go Earth is not associated with any boat broker or boat manufacturer. We are independent. Our mission is to help boaters through all the stages of buying a boat. To do this we provide a variety of services. We can act as your professional advisor and procurement agent. The professional advisory element is typically focussed around requirement specification and identifying makes / models of boats that fit your requirements. Note that we are starting from ‘what are your requirements?’; not from ‘that’s a nice-looking boat, let’s buy it’! Of course, it is not always easy to define your requirements; and so we can help with that process. The procurement agent does what any procurement agent in any industry does – tries to get you the best product at the lowest possible price. Go Earth is an example of a procurement agent, and provides a range of services to help you get the right boat at the best (i.e. lowest) price. While of course nobody is going to give a boat away, a procurement agent can negotiate on your behalf to ensure that you buy at the very lowest viable price. In summary, our services include boat search, boat pre-visits, and perhaps most importantly boat negotiation services. We always recognise that it is your money, and so we will do as little or as much as you want. Our Boats for Sale Listing Explore our select collection of boats! Click Here
Buying a Superyacht
For many people, buying a superyacht is the culmination of a dream. For others, it must remain just that – a dream. This article is intended to help you – either in reality or in your dreams! Definition It is difficult to define what is meant by ‘superyacht’. You can define it in many ways – by size, by the possible need for crew, by cost, by design. Although this article focusses on superyachts, many of the points are equally relevant to lower value transactions. Why buying a superyacht is different There are many more factors to consider when buying a superyacht compared to a smaller boat. These factors can be practical, logistical, financial, location, size, design (interior and technical), self-drive and/or crewed, foreign exchange, regulations in other countries. None of these are problems in themselves – provided that you do it properly, with proper consideration and professional advice. A project The key thing is to realise that buying a superyacht must be treated as a project, not a simple transaction. The complexities of purchase exceed those of even a high-end car or property. If it helps, think of your superyacht as a property combined with a high-powered car that floats and can move between multiple locations and jurisdictions; and then multiply those complexities together. Put simply, do it right and you will end up with a superb, enjoyable, luxurious, asset. Alternatively, buy it on a whim, and spend time and money regretting it. So – how do you manage the purchase process successfully to maximise the pleasure and minimise the cost and your time? At Go Earth, we break the process down into multiple stages, which at a very high level are: • Initial requirements specification• Boat search (refining the requirements if necessary)• Boat negotiation• Validation (survey, legalities, finance)• Completion Initial requirements specification To state the obvious, think about what you want. Initially, perhaps you only have a general idea. This may be an iterative process, where you define and refine your exact requirements as you go along. Some things to think about include: What uses will you make of the boat? Will you want to stay on board? If so, just for weekends or for longer? How far will you want to travel? Will you want to work on board? How many friends and family will you want to accommodate? Do you want a luxury machine or a speed machine or perhaps both? What engines – or sails – do you need? How about the galley? What electronic systems are needed? Does the keel type matter? What about contractual matters when purchasing? What types of surveys do you need? What is viable within your budget? Are you going to charter it out? Will it need coding? It’s your money, and you want to spend it on what suits you. A professional buyer’s agent (yes, such as Go Earth!) can assist in all this. Boat search – refining the requirements if necessary This can also be an iterative process. You search (possibly, we hope, with the help of Go Earth), find a number of superyachts that seem to fit the bill. The process may highlight features that you had not thought about. Adjust your requirements accordingly. Hopefully you then end up with a ‘long list’ which can be whittled down to a ‘short list’ of serious contenders. A key initial question is ‘new or used?’. Whilst a new yacht may seem attractive, you need to be aware of the pitfalls. Firstly, if it is a new build, (as opposed to a boat in stock), then you will be spending a lot of money for a significant period of time before you can even begin to enjoy your purchase. There is also the risk of the yard going into liquidation mid-build. It does happen – and, while rare, happens more frequently than is desirable. Of course, the contract might provide you with a degree of protection – but even if you get ownership of the half-built hull, that is of limited consolation. The big advantage of a new build is of course that it is built to your taste and specification. The degree of customisation can vary. Most yards offer a certain degree of customisation, while others will take on a semi-custom or completely bespoke project. Ironically, the advantage of a used boat is that you know exactly what you are getting – or at least you do after a comprehensive survey and sea trial. Also, just like cars, a used vessel can be significantly better value than a new one. Let someone else take the depreciation hit. Of course, if you then want to make changes to the décor, you can do so – just ensure that you have budgeted for this. Industry knowledge is essential when looking for your first, or next, superyacht. Although many superyachts are advertised widely, some are not for personal or business reasons. In the superyacht world, confidentiality is essential. Certainly, Go Earth, through its bespoke boat search service, can assist you in this search process. If you are ‘time-poor’, a good buyer’s agent can pre-visit a selection of boats for you, take numerous photographs, and even provide a virtual reality walk through of the superyacht for you. Whilst such activities are not cheap, you may be making better use of your time running your business; and only personally visiting a short list of those vessels that appear to suit you and that you like the look of. Boat negotiation Price negotiation is an essential part of the process. Brokers do prefer to be able to tie you down to a price as soon as they can. This is not surprising. It’s their job, after all. Negotiation can become very emotional, especially considering the sums involved. Buyer’s agents such as Go Earth can provide a buffer and enable negotiations to be conducted so that that you end up with the best viable deal. Brokers like to ‘qualify’ potential buyers. Is he/she a serious
