5 Things The Yacht Seller Isn’t Telling You When Buying a Yacht

Hi, I’m Chris Mortimer and I’ve been on the other end of the equation; where a seller tells you to stand on a soft spot in the deck so a buyer doesn’t realize or have celebrated when a weak surveyor is hired by a buyer. Here’s 5 things (in 3 minutes), you’re going to want to know before you take your search one step further.

Did You Know Yacht Broker’s Are Often Referred To As The ‘Used Car Salesman’ Of The Yachting Industry?

Don’t let this happen to you!

⏲️⏲️ Time Stamps ⏲️⏲️

00:00 Intro
00:15 Recent Sales Price
00:55 True Charter Potential
01:25 True Running Cost
01:57 Better Alternatives
02:19 Commission Available
02:49 Outro

If you’re buying a yacht, these are the 5 things you must know prior to purchasing any yacht as a salesman may not want you to know this information and an owner probably won't know it. Assuring these details are not omitted, distorted, or exaggerated is the simplest way for yacht purchasers to get the best deal on any yacht.

1) Recent Sales Price

Whether you're buying a sailboat, a catamaran, a trawler, a flybridge, sportfish, or a superyacht, The first thing the seller isn’t going to tell you, is the most recent sale price of a given yacht.

If you’re looking to buy 2012 116’ Azmiut, it’s highly beneficial to know what the most recently sold 2012 116’ Azimut went for. Not only should this help you establish a ceiling for your offer buy more so an anchor to begin your negotiation.

Most brokers use this point and mark up the price of a yacht by up to 30% in order to lead a buyer not working with a separate broker that they’re getting a huge deal if they buy 15% under list when in reality, they should be buying 10% under recent sale.

This information is tracked in the yachting MLS and can be requested at the following link.

2) True Charter Potential

It’s really common for brokers to make the prospect of purchasing a more expensive yacht more appealing by suggesting that your yacht can be chartered out to reduce or zero out operational costs with the potential to produce revenue.

While it’s possible to offset, I highly recommend looking at this strategy as a way to REDUCE operating expenses. This is because more owners are utilizing this strategy which means that more, newer, and cheaper yachts are being made available for charter which adds an element of risk if you exceed your budget.

3) Commission Available

If you have a broker representing you in the purchase of a yacht and they say several things in one direction but then retract or convinces you to turn your perspective in your search to another vessel suddenly, it may be due to the fact that they have found out the seller of the yacht that works best for you will not be paying the full 10% commission.

Walking from the right boat for you over their beefed-up commission.

4) Better Alternatives

If you’re buying a particular yacht from a broker, manufacturer, or individual owner, of course, they’re going to tell you the 99 reasons why you should buy their yacht or yachts, but they’ll never suggest alternate options or better potential values as they have their own agenda, not yours. That’s where having your own broker benefits you, especially since they don’t cost you anything when you’re buying. The way I put it is a buyer broker is supposed to give you 99 reasons why you shouldn’t buy a yacht to make sure you buy the right one.

5) Ownership Costs

The easy, generally accepted way and lazy way of projecting operating costs I to account for 10% of the annual insured value of your vessel to be your operating costs, but when purchasing a yacht, ask the owner to open up their books of running costs and service records before you place an offer.

This will give you better insight as to how they have maintained the vessel throughout their ownership, and it will reduce the risk of under-budgeting or over-budgeting. Should you stick with the 10% projection, the conservative in me asks you to bump that to 12.5 or 15% to make sure you actively maintain and enjoy your yacht more.

So, if you're in the market for a yacht, this video is a must-watch. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe to the Yacht Hunter channel for more insightful tips and information. And for additional resources, be sure to visit www.theyachthunter.com.

Happy yachting, my friends!

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