Selling our boat privately, what do I need to be mindful of?

[Quad]

It's a bittersweet story, but after 7 years living on waterfront in New England, we returned to California to be closer to family.

Among other things, boats and water toys had to be sold. We sold our smaller/older boats easily, and in the cases where registration was involved had bills of sales and contracts written up, easy!

With our 2020 242SE, it's a bit more complicated - I had Facebook and craigslist ads listed late-summer and while it's low in searches, the Facebook ad remained active. I've got a buyer actively interested (we've been going back and forth for days, this isn't riddled with any sorts of scammy chat) and we've agreed on a price and ideal date range for the sale.

Complicating factors include:

1. I'm 3000+ miles away
2. The boat is in storage for the winter with our dealer
3. There is an outstanding loan on the boat
4. Both prospective buyer and I want the buyer to do a sea trial

Buyer knows of the loan and wants to do all paperwork and payment in February/March for everything to clear so he can get it registered in the spring. I'm hesitant to have him pay me early in case something goes sideways. Additionally, I'm trying to figure out how to structure the bill of sale so that he can pay me, take the boat, and feel comfortable knowing that it's his.

I'm considering reaching out to an attorney, but don't have any legal connections for the sale of a boat (I may be overthinking this, and perhaps any generalist attorney would be fine).

Any advise or thoughts based experience from this group?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Can the dealer facilitate the sale?

I’d require a sizable non refundable deposit ($2000 min) for you to hold the boat that long… if he is serious he will put the money down

 

[Quad]

Yea, I'm going to call the dealer today or tomorrow and ask them about it. I'd asked them earlier about brokering the sale entirely (e.g. turning it over to them to market it and have me on hand for when a signature was needed) but they had more inventory than they wanted to deal with at the time. In this case, I've already got a buyer, so they may be willing to entertain it.

Great point on the deposit, I would absolutely do this. I suspect more buyers will be coming out of the woodwork as people start thinking about summer.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Yea, I'm going to call the dealer today or tomorrow and ask them about it. I'd asked them earlier about brokering the sale entirely (e.g. turning it over to them to market it and have me on hand for when a signature was needed) but they had more inventory than they wanted to deal with at the time. In this case, I've already got a buyer, so they may be willing to entertain it.

Great point on the deposit, I would absolutely do this. I suspect more buyers will be coming out of the woodwork as people start thinking about summer.

Right on… I just don’t want to see you sitting there waiting for this guy to make the purchase months away and then have him say “oh dude, there were these guys and.. blah blah blah blah bs, I’m not going to buy your boat”. If he is serious then he will put some earnest money up front for you to hold it for him.

 

[Bottom Bracket]

Cashiers Checks, deposits greater than 10k

 

[Quad]

Cashiers Checks, deposits greater than 10k

Are you saying watch out for these?

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

With the distance involved, brokering the boat is the only logical way to sell it.

The outstanding loan on the boat does complicate things. Best case scenario is that you owe less than the boat is worth. In this case, the buyer may decide to write two checks - one to you for the equity and the other to whoever holds the lien. Previous threads have expressed that Yamaha is notoriously slow in sending out titles.

No interest in keeping the boat and shipping it to your new home?

Jim

 

[Bottom Bracket]

Cashiers checks can be bogus, deposit it and find out the funds are not there 3 days later can happen.
deposits over 9.5k or there abouts the bank makes a tax report, sometimes.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Cashiers checks are the most faked financial document out there! Better to just get a personal check, wait until the check clears and move forward.

 

[I_squared_r]

No need to ask the dealer to broker the sale. You will probably lose 10% through them.

When I sold my AR192, it was already shrink wrapped and in my yard. I had a ton of high quality photos before shrink wrapping and I sent them to the interested buyer "You can come to my house, review the exterior of boat, and if you want to proceed, you have to pay $300 non-refundable deposit (the cost to replace the shrinkwrap if you change your mind), and we can remove the shrink wrap together and I'll start the boat. If there is some problem with starting the boat or damage that I didn't disclose, I'll return your deposit." So that's what we did, and we spoke a lot, and he trusted me to be a honest seller because I had my new boat there so it was obvious why I was selling. We took it to the water (super cold out) and I taught him how to drive the boat. He was happy with the boat. We went together to his bank with the title and DMV forms. He had a cashier's check made there in the bank so I know it's real and we signed all the documents there.

As for the loan, it's best that you pay it off before the transaction so you can provide a lien release with the title. If the buyer wants further proof, he can contact your bank that it is indeed paid off and not a fraudulent letter. If you don't have the money to pay the loan prior to the sale, I'm not sure of the process, but I think this: The process is the same, but you have to contact your bank for the loan pay off amount (or if possible, go to your bank with the buyer to build trust). The buyer can do 2 checks (1 for your bank and 1 for whatever positive equity to you) and make a bill of sale stating everything. You can get the bill of sale notarized to build confidence between buyer/seller, because a notary will request documentation and make it a legal document. The new buyer will have to wait until the lien release so you can ask the bank how long until they can provide the lien release. If it's a local bank they can probably do it soon as the cashier's check is cleared, and the new owner can go to the DMV with that lien release and transfer the title. I think all DMV's do this electronically now and the letter is only your copy.

EDIT: I just read that YOU are 3000 miles away. I initally thought the buyer was 3000 miles away. It's best that you have the dealer broker the sale and you pay whatever their fee is.

 

[crazy4life]

Inquired about having my dealer sell my boat. Thought he would like to add to his inventory. It didn't take long to say the heck with that. 15% fee plus 200 for this and 600 for that and by the time it was all said and done it was 9000 dollars in fees on a 50,000 dollar sale. Said thanks but no thanks.

 

[I_squared_r]

Inquired about having my dealer sell my boat. Thought he would like to add to his inventory. It didn't take long to say the heck with that. 15% fee plus 200 for this and 600 for that and by the time it was all said and done it was 9000 dollars in fees on a 50,000 dollar sale. Said thanks but no thanks.

15% is very high. I've heard the standard is 10% so you can shop around for a better number.

 

[Quad]

Turns out the prospective buyer is actually an old friend of my neighbor out there. Neighbor's spouse had offered to help with selling a few months ago as it was, so we may have some extra trust and options here. Not sure I want to pay 10% for a broker after I've already marketed it and found a buyer; at this point it's about closing the transaction and removing me from any liabilities once the sale is complete. I still plan to talk with my dealer and see if they have any options in this regard.

 

[Quad]

With the distance involved, brokering the boat is the only logical way to sell it.

The outstanding loan on the boat does complicate things. Best case scenario is that you owe less than the boat is worth. In this case, the buyer may decide to write two checks - one to you for the equity and the other to whoever holds the lien. Previous threads have expressed that Yamaha is notoriously slow in sending out titles.

No interest in keeping the boat and shipping it to your new home?

Jim

Yep. I'm hoping some things line up so that I can pay the loan in full in the next few months to remove that from the equation, but it's not guaranteed.

Really wish we could keep the boat.

The reality is that we live in the suburbs now and would need to pay to store it somewhere as there's no space at our home. Not being waterfront, not having it on hand easily, and having to tow it significant distances to use it, we'd maybe use it a couple times a year. Sad to leave this hobby behind, but others will come!

 

[adrianp89]

Is he paying cash or financing?

If he’s financing this is cake, they handle everything.

paying cash…. Just draw up an agreement. Go to bank, have bank create a check from him to Yamaha. This way only they can cash it. Any difference is covered by second check cut at the bank. Yamaha will send title your way in a month or two then you overnight it to him.

 

[Quad]

Is he paying cash or financing?

If he’s financing this is cake, they handle everything.

paying cash…. Just draw up an agreement. Go to bank, have bank create a check from him to Yamaha. This way only they can cash it. Any difference is covered by second check cut at the bank. Yamaha will send title your way in a month or two then you overnight it to him.

Buyer would be paying cash, so yea, if he writes the check to Yamaha, there's no worry on his or my part about the payment clearing.

 

[Quad]

Argh, buyer found a better deal elsewhere. Back to the drawing board.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Find a dealer/broker to facilitate the sale. You'll lose 10% but there will be little to do on your end.

 

[I_squared_r]

Find a dealer/broker to facilitate the sale. You'll lose 10% but there will be little to do on your end.

I agree. In my opinion there isn't another good option considering the circumstances.

 

[Beachbummer]

I had a similar deal for my current boat. Loan outstanding, and we were far away. The time wait is the only area that worries me. I had reasonable trust for not having met him before.

We signed a bill of sale and transferred the boat physically to me with a bill of sale as we mailed the check to clear the loan. Full price minus $1000 incentive to be paid once title was issued. Title arrived shortly after, he got paid, all was well.

He was active military, needing to adjust due to growing family. I really did not expect to have a problem.