Benefits of Working with a Professional Yacht Broker
Shopping for a Used Boat
When you are shopping for a used boat, you’ll find there are many advantages to working with a professional yacht broker.
At the risk of stating the obvious, a boat is not a car. Although it’s a common practice to buy a used car “driveway to driveway”. Purchasing a pre-owned boat is more like buying a house than an automobile.
Due to the millions of used car transactions taking place every day, there is much more information available on the internet and in guides. Such as the Kelley Blue Book. This information helps a buyer determine whether a car of a certain make, model, year, mileage, and condition are priced fairly.
These guides exist for boats as well. Since marine transactions are much fewer and farther between, they won’t always provide detailed information about a particular vessel. Like a realtor, a professional yacht broker has the data you need to evaluate a particular boat; right at his or her fingertips.
Comparative Market Analysis – Benefits of Working with a Yacht Broker
“We can access the sold-boat data that buyers don’t have readily available to them,” said Michael Galati, sales manager of the Galati Yacht Sales location at Marina Jack in Sarasota, Florida. “We prepare a CMA [Comparative Market Analysis] for our customers when they shop for a pre-owned boat. Even if all the information is not there in our back-end site, we have a network of other brokers we can call to help fill in the blanks.”
Not only will the CMA help buyers understand the used boat market they are shopping in, but it also will give them an edge in making an educated offer for the boat they wish to purchase. Plus negotiating the deal.
Training and Integrity – Benefits of Working with a Yacht Broker
Training and integrity are additional reasons to enlist the help of a yacht broker. Especially when you are buying a pre-owned boat. While it’s not the case in every state, the state of Florida’s Yacht and Ship Brokers Act requires that brokers handling the sale of any pre-owned vessel 32 feet and over be licensed. As well as to undergo a criminal background check and be bonded. “We are also escrow agents,” said Galati.
Support After the Sale – Benefits of Working with a Yacht Broker
Finally, when you work with a yacht broker, you are not just getting one person’s help with the sale process. Instead, you are gaining access to the broker’s entire network of contacts and referrals. Those who can help you throughout the entire life cycle of owning your boat. “The biggest thing we bring to the table besides our extensive knowledge of the market is our local connections with marinas and other marine service providers,” Galati said. “If you are new to boating, we can point you in the right direction. Whether that is to have the boat stored or maintained properly. It’s a relationship business.”
