Many of us have contributed postings about buying boats, but I can't
recall seeing any about selling. I wonder why that is. I can certainly
attest that the end game is stressful!

To break the mold, let me tell you about my recent experience. As
recounted in great detail over the past couple of years, I made a very
careful purchase of a 1981 President 41 aft cabin in June, 2000. The
boat was in wonderful condition and the price was right. Unfortunately,
we soon learned that the layout did not suit us. We didn't need
dedicated cabins with sleeping for 6, nor did we care for split-level
living. We should have looked further and bought a sedan set up for two.
After some reflection, in December 1999 I decided to try to make the
change, and listed the boat for sale with a broker. After discussion
about book vales, market values, etc., etc., we agreed the boat would
sell readily (ha!) at a price that reflected the original cost to me and
the improvements made subsequently. No appropriation for sweat equity,
of course. And I signed the brokerage contract.

Then, I waited. And waited.

Although the broker wanted the boat to be tied up at his dock, I kept it
in my boathouse. I wanted to continue to use it whenever I felt like it,
and to have it protected from casual tire kickers and sight see-ers.
Lots of people were looking for boats, some of them looked at mine, and
a few of them more than once. By March, however, no one had expressed
anything approaching serious interest - seems most of them wanted
sedans, too - and the broker suggested he include the boat in his
display at the Sidney floating boat show, the third biggest in the PNW
after Seattle and Vancouver. He said the wear and tear factor was
negligible, and that although boats rarely sell at the show, they do
elicit interest that could lead to sale. I said no, because I wasn't
pressed.

The show came and went, and I continued to improve the boat by
installing new goodies. A couple of times the broker arrived to show it
while I was doing things aboard, so I knew there was action and that he
was doing his job. In early summer, an offer came in for 18% less than
the listing. We countered at 8% less but no return offer was received.
At that point I concluded the boat was over-priced for the market, and
reduced the listing price by 5%.

Again, I waited. And waited.

A couple of offers were floated that involved taking smaller boats in
trade, but the transaction costs made them uninteresting and unworkable.

In early March, with the Sidney show once again in the offing, the
broker asked if I'd like to put her in this year, and I said okay.
However, a couple of weeks later, while I was doing some routine
maintenance, a couple knocked on the boathouse door, said the broker was
busy, but knew I was aboard and had told them he thought I wouldn't mind
if they had another (!) look at the boat. I said sure, and offered to
leave them alone, but they asked me to stay to answer questions. It was
clear they really liked her. They, too, were in the process of changing
boats, and had a conditional agreement for sale on their much smaller
one. After they left, the broker came by to say that this was the third
time they had traveled to Victoria to see her, and he was optimistic
we'd get an offer.

And a few days later we did, interestingly for the same amount I had
countered the first time around. The broker said he'd tried to get a
higher initial bid, but although he hadn't been successful, felt there
was "more". So, I countered once again with the same amount as the first
time, and a couple of days later, got a return bid which was now 10%
less than the listing. The broker said this had been the result of a lot
of discussion and he was convinced it was take-it-or-leave-it time. When
I said I'd leave it, the broker offered to reduce his commission enough
to bridge the gap. The deal was struck conditional on the usual surveys
and sea trial.

Once the contract was accepted everything proceeded quickly, and a date
was set for surveys. On the appointed day, the marine surveyor finished
surprisingly quickly, pronounced all well - I overheard him tell the
purchaser that my boat was better than the one he had just sold by a
factor of about 4 - said his written report would be faxed, and then ran
to catch the ferry back to the mainland. The mechanic had earlier
informed the purchaser he would have to break at noon for another
appointment and did so, saying he'd be back for the sea trial at 1400.
We regrouped after lunch and killed time until the mechanic showed up,
then headed out for a run of about 45 minutes. Everything operating as
it should, and the mechanic said to take her back in. As we returned, I
overheard a few snatches of the conversation between the buyer and the
mechanic, and it was clear that the report was good as I expected it
would be. Once in the boathouse, however, the purchaser asked to have a
chat and said the mechanic had suggested that the injectors and pumps be
serviced, a shaft pulled and straightened, etc., etc, and that the total
cost was estimated to be a couple of thousand, and could he assume I
would reduce the purchase price accordingly? I looked him in the eye and
simply said, "No." He looked away, and said he thought that would be my
answer, and that in his view some routine maintenance would take care of
everything.

We then departed for our homes, and the broker soon phoned to tell me
that the purchaser had called him from the ferry to say the deal was on,
that a bank draft would be couriered in the morning, and they'd like to
pick the boat up 6 days hence.

I offered to show up on the day to help them get underway, to tell them
about a few things unique to the boat and to answer any further
questions they might have. I did so, and after less than an hour going
over a few things none of which were consequential, I saw them out of
the boathouse, and got in my car to drive back home. (And no, it wasn't
the second happiest day in my life, for I no longer had a boat, and knew
that the replacement was not going to be easy to find.)

My thoughts were rudely interrupted when my cell phone rang. It was the
broker asking me to return. They boat was back in the marina at the fuel
dock with an overheating starboard engine!

I couldn't believe it. I had never had a temperature problem, and both
raw water pumps had been rebuilt about 50 hours ago. Moreover, the boat
had been pushed at WOT and full RPM's for a considerable time during the
sea trial without the slightest difficulty, and hadn't been run since.
Nevertheless, back I went. The new owner said the temperature warning
alarm had sounded and that I could hear it for myself. I quietly pointed
out to him that he was hearing the depth sounder alarm. It was set for
10 feet and the fuel dock is 7.5. I went up on the bridge and re-set it.
However, he insisted the engine had overheated, and that he had checked
the gauges at both helms. By now, of course, the temperatures on both
engines had fallen below operating, so who was to know? I checked to
make sure that neither surveyor had left a seacock closed - they hadn't

• and pulled the strainer for the raw water intake but it was clear.
  With no tools to hand, the broker suggested calling in the marina's duty
  mechanic which we did. The broker then took the new owner and his wife
  for a coffee while I stayed with mechanic who pulled the impeller which
  was fine. We started the engine and he disconnected cooling hoses at
  various locations until it was clear that everything was operating as it
  should. When I mentioned to the mechanic that I had just sold the boat,
  he nodded knowingly.

Just as everything was reassembled, the couple came back and asked if
the problem had been identified and resolved. The mechanic, a young man
with an obviously bright future diplomatically replied that it must have
been a "temporary airlock which had cleared itself", and that they were
good to go. The new owner, realizing his mistake, was embarrassed and
asked about the mechanic's charge. Hoping it was still possible to have
him feel good about a boat he was beginning to doubt (no matter that it
was without cause), I said I'd look after the bill, and once again
wished them bon voyage. (But not Au revoir!).

Some comments:

It was 20 months from the time of listing to the time of sale, during
which two offers were made, only one of which proved to be serious. I
was relatively unconcerned because although I hoped to sell, I didn't
have to sell. During this time, there were 5 or 6 other President 41's
listed on Yachtworld. Not mine, however, because my broker isn't a
subscriber. Would it have made a difference if he were? Yes, I believe
so, because my boat was well-priced in comparison, and all but one of
the Yachtworld listings sold in the meantime. I thought about changing
brokers, and would have done had I been pressed. I would also have
chosen a broker who had the ability to provide electronic photos, or at
least make good use of the ones I provided.

No one reacts well to dirt and odours, especially women. While we always
leave the boat clean and tidy for the next time, when I decided to put
it on the market, I tried to look at it once again as a purchaser rather
than an owner. As a result, we removed a lot of "stuff" that we had put
on board. (In fact, I was literally staggered by how much I took off
that wasn't included in the sale. It was almost like moving house except
for furniture.) The objective was to reduce clutter. I don't like to
board a boat and see the bedding on spare bunks littered with life
jackets, fishing gear, clothing, etc. even though I'm often guilty of
the same thing. I also wanted to make our personal taste less intrusive,
for even though it's impeccable, there's no accounting for what others
like. Ensuring that storage spaces and lockers looked uncrowded was also
important. To perk up the cabins which are teak and somewhat dark, we
bought some inexpensive but brightly colored throws. The stove, fridge,
heads, and bilges were rendered especially sparkling, and the boat
smelled good. (In the clean-up process I finally found the source of an
odour that had bedeviled us for a year - whoever had cleaned the boat
before we bought her had left a plastic bag of wet cloths in the bilge
under a removable bottom shelf in one of the lower galley cupboards, and
it really stunk.) Once that was removed, the boat smelled great, but
even so, I left slow-release, non-perfumed air fresheners in all the
strategic locations. I also did things like ensuring the fire
extinguishers were up to date (yes, I know) since that's but one more
indication of fastidious maintenance.

While I answered questions factually, I absolutely resisted the
temptation to offer opinions or say more than was required - people who
know me would scoff at this assertion - and avoided leading the
conversations or opening up new areas of inquiry. However, I did use
every opportunity to point out and emphasize what I considered to be the
boat's strong points. When someone claimed to be very experienced and
knowledgeable, especially about Lehman engines, but then went on to make
statements against which I would normally have argued, I simply let them
pass.

In my experience, a ridiculously small thing can often influence a major
decision. When the couple who finally purchased asked about our
anchoring procedure, I explained that my wife handled the helm while I
went forward to do the anchor and winch. Did we use hand signals?  I
showed them the $20 Aviator 500 head-sets that many of us purchased last
year on Joe Engel's recommendation. Try them out, I said, and they were
appropriately amazed and impressed. But, said he, they aren't listed on
the inventory as part of the electronic gear. No, said, I because I had
intended to keep them for my next boat, but if you buy the boat, I'll
include them. They did and I did.

I had asked the broker whether I should haul her beforehand and have the
bottom cleaned, zincs checked etc., etc., but he said to save the money.
However, the cost isn't even a rounding error in the transaction, and
next time I will do it. One of my objectives was to ensure not only that
the boat sold, but that the purchasers would start off happy, and it
doesn't take much to make people nervous. When we did haul, there was a
lot of growth on the shafts, props, and trim tabs, and the zincs were
gone. A couple of workers with a pressure washer and scrapers got rid of
the growth and the shellfish, and I had new zincs installed. No issues
arose, but it would have been better to have had this done earlier.

Finally, I was surprised at how stressful the surveys and transfer were.
Although I was absolutely certain the boat was in outstanding condition,
the purchaser's surveyors have a responsibility to do their best to find
flaws, and the seller has no idea what reaction those findings will
evoke. I had nothing to do during the static surveys, and should have
just gone off and returned for the haul-out and sea trial when I believe
the owner should be aboard. I also now believe that offering to see the
new purchaser off was a mistake. That's part of the broker's role, and
he has the benefit of no emotional involvement. Once the transfer of
ownership had been made, I was legally (if not morally and ethically)
out of the equation, and shouldn't have had to resolve the
"over-heating" non-problem.

Of course, now that I'm back in purchase mode, I'm once again learning
just how frustrating and stressful it, too, can be. Good luck to all
those who are selling, and remember that every thing has a buyer and the
two do connect eventually.

Cheers, Garrett

Last year we sold our 1968 36' Chriscraft that we had owned for 17
years.  We decided to
try for a year, starting in November, to sell her ourselves and then use
a broker.  Note that the dollars here are a lot smaller than in
Garrett's case (we advertised her for $25k cdn).  Unfortunately at that
price we attracted all the people who 'had no money' and just wanted a
cheap place to live. Or we had interest from people who were looking for
a starter boat and our boat was more boat than they were looking for.
One of the reasons we were changing boats is that our name was coming up
on the moorage list at our yacht club.  This meant fairly inexpensive
moorage but it also meant outside moorage - we had always kept the Chris
in a boathouse.

I ended up taking 3 people out for a sea trial.  The first, a nice
couple from Ladysmith, liked the boat but realized it was 'too much
boat' for novices (that didn't stop me 17 years ago!) and realized the
ongoing cost of covered moorage was more of a commitment to boating than
they wanted to make.  In the end I got to go for an hour boat ride with
nice people on a gloriously sunny New Years Day that I wouldn't have
done otherwise.  I also missed the first half of the Rose Bowl where my
beloved Huskies were playing.

The next person seemed serious but the offer he brought to us after
included some bizarre language.  We had to make a long list of
improvements immediately. He would move aboard in 10 days but had 3
months to back out if his new job didn't pan out.  Needless to say we
bid him adieu.

We then got an offer from a young couple subject to survey but,
interestingly, not to sea trial.  They were also going to live aboard.
The surveyor showed up at noon on Friday, and did the in the water
part.  We hauled the boat and he did the hull.  The purchaser still
hadn't shown up.  At the end of the survey he said he would recommend
purchase of the boat with no major improvements needed.  I called the
buyer and he said they would meet us at the boat at ten the next morning
with the money.  I had to pay the marina to for the travelift.  We
showed up at eight to begin taking our things off (and Garrett was
surprised how much stuff he had amassed in only one year).  They never
showed up.  The next month was our trying for days to get a hold of them
and them coming up with a story of how the bank was 'screwing' them.  In
the end we got the travelift money back plus a $500 deposit but we lost
a month of advertising and we lost out on a boat we thought we really
wanted but we did not want to own two boats.

We re-advertised the boat last June, paid for another year of moorage
and resigned ourselves to another summer of cruising with that boat.
Two days later a man came from out of town to look at the boat.  An hour
later he made an offer (accepted) subject to sea trial and haul out.  I
managed to get a copy of the original survey and after talking to the
surveyor he accepted its findings.  We went for the sea trial right away
and the haul out the next morning.  By noon I was in his bank holding a
draft for the entire sum. Where was this guy 6 months ago??  He had
wanted to delay the purchase until the next week when he was coming back
but I offered him a months moorage to do the deal right away.

Looking back, I would try to sell myself again (wife says this is our
'forever boat') but it is an investment in time and certainly in
frustration that some folks would rather leave to someone else.  For
those in the PNW, I only advertized in The Boat Journal and I was
impressed by the response each month.  The boat we bought was only
advertized in Pacific Yachting and the seller sounded like he thought
there would be more action on his ad.  Interestingly, he started to sell
his boat (now ours) the same month we did.  As it turns out the boat we
missed out on (a Mainship 34) we have since decided was not the boat for
us (we like an open cockpit - not covered and you can't see out the side
windows when seated t the table) so we just look at it as a blessing
that the first deal didn't go through.  It sure was frustrating at the
time.  Having dealt with easy to deal with and not so easy to deal with
people in selling we were determined to be the former when buying. Maybe
we'll go through all this again in 17 or so years.

Gregg McKay
First Look
Tolly 37 sedan (just like Garrett's looking for)