Yacht broker buyers fee ?

[pugetsounder]

A couple of questions:
I found a cruiser I like that is listed with a Tacoma, Wa. yacht broker. I then negotiated the price over the phone. After we agreed on the price, I went in to sign the sale agreement subject to survey. After the agreed upon price and sales tax amount was a line called "buyers fee" with an amount equal to 5% of the purchase price added to the cost. I asked what the buyers fee was for and was told that covered time to haul the boat in and out of the water for the survey and take care of registration etc. He also said it was a customary and typical fee similar to an escrow service fee in real estate and that other brokers charge this as well. I was surprised as I never heard of such a fee when I had talked to other brokers although I had never gotten this far into a purchase before either. I thought the commission that the seller paid took care of their time for this. I left there without signing the agreement. The agent suggested I talk to the brokerage owner about it after he returns next week. Is this a legitimate fee that others pay or should I refuse to pay this?

I also wonder if the closing of transactions that are done through a yacht broker are usually handled by the broker or an outside escrow and what the escrow typically charges?

 

[newbster]

Re: Yacht broker buyers fee ?

If anything, I would expect the seller to pay the fee unless you hired the broker as your representative. It sounds like one of those ambush tricks to milk folks out of money to me.

 

[pugetsounder]

Re: Yacht broker buyers fee ?

Hiring the broker as a buyers representative was never discussed. I went to him because he had the listings for some boats that I was interested in looking at.

 

[superpop]

Re: Yacht broker buyers fee ?

This is a load of Cr&$. Tell him you are not paying this and if he does not like it you are walking. They are just trying to reach into your wallet. The seller is already paying them probably close to 15% to sell the boat. That is what the percent is for on the sellers side.

 

[grego]

Re: Yacht broker buyers fee ?

good luck! brokers as a rule "SUCK"!!!!

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Yacht broker buyers fee ?

Although I haven't sold boats for a living in 30 years, I did once sell them as a brokerage salesman. We (the broker & I) were paid via a percentage commission borne by the seller. Special items, such as hauling the boat to clean the bottom, or perform a survey, were not included in the commission. Usually these things were paid by the seller, but if a buyer insisted on something like a survey, he or she would be the one to pay for it.

Items such as advertising the boat, office expenses, etc. were included as part of the brokerage fee. Sea trial expenses were sometimes recouped and sometimes not - it really depended on how much money was involved and whether or not the person actually bought the boat. I sometimes threw in things like a few sailing lessons, if I sold a high dollar sailboat to a novice.

The bottom line here, is that whether or not you should pay this fee is a function of what things you demanded as a condition of the sale. If the charge seems to be related only to a survey, but it was already done before you got involved, you shouldn't pay a dime for it. If you did demand a survey and it was performed solely for your benefit, you should expect to pay for it. Even then, however, the charge should bear a reasonable relationship to the actual cost of the survey. If the charges that this broker is trying to attach to the sale exceed that, you should not agree to it.

As for registering the boat, etc., tell them that you would be happy to take care of those items yourself.

One final thought - negotiating a price on a boat over the phone is about like asking a car dealer what he will sell you a car for. You'll get a line of bull and a price that will disappear the minute you walk in the door. If I had been the salesman, the only price I would have given you would have been the standard listing price.