Question on buying a yacht without a broker

You only have to go 12 miles out if the boat is flagged non-US.

I bought my yacht with nothing but a notarized USCG bill of sale from the current title-holder. I don't think anything else is required from a paperwork perspective.

Brokers don't do anything that people of reasonable intelligence cannot figure out.

OK, I only have one data point - my own - a foreign-built hull which was imported and paid VAT 20 years ago.

And I don't mean to malign brokers - they provide a great service of putting buyers and sellers together and doing the due diligence that people may not have time or interest to do. But if already know the seller, I found all the paperwork fairly simple to figure out. The banks and loans are probably the most complicated part, and not an issue in a cash sale.

Careful, you may be treading on dangerous ground here. If you haven't perfected a sale before, you may want to follow along with a Licensed Broker or Documentation Specialist and take notes, (a few times) before setting sail on your own.

A USCG bill of sale may be nothing more than a huge liability, as all debts follow the ship and not the former owner.

Flagging issues are not to be a novice folly.

I could carry on: but to the point - Be Prepared, and know what you're doing. This is not a simple task.

With great respect to this forum and fellow members... I don't think any of us are prepared to render legal advice on these pages.

It is a rare situation when buyer and seller know each other and know about the particlar boat to be sold. That is good for me as a broker that it is rare. However in this case the buyer should retain a maritime attorney to handle the details of the sale.
There are so many variables and technical points that increase with the size and value of the boat it will be worth the cost of an attorney. It is unusaul that I have a sale where everything could be done by following a simple check list.

Tucker and AffrayedKnot make valid points.

I think it was Jack Haley, who ran RBC's brokerage division decades ago, who coined the expression "In every deal, there is a little bit of misery". A truism.

It's the 'unknown unknowns', as Rummy would put it, that experienced brokers fear the most.

Graham,

You can do it, but there is still brain damage to be had if you haven't done it a couple times before. As bad of a rep as some brokers have, the good ones do serve a very valid purpose. We purchased our 45 from a very good friend, (still to this day in fact.....) he and I crafted the deal, numbers, etc., completed the survey, and so on, and took it to a mutually known broker to do the paperwork and have council rubber stamp it. It was worth the point each of us gave him out of the deal.

If you both have a maritime attorney in mind, he or she can conduct the paperwork side of it once the rest of the details (T's and C's) are complete.

Cheers-

I was reading stories in S Fl about novice real estate investors trying to be smart and save money while buying foreclosure on there own with out help from other professionals, only to find out there was second mortgages and other debts inherited on the property after they bought it.
Besides having an experienced broker on your side, how can one verify on a yacht that there is no second loans, debts or what ever else you do not want to inherit after purchase?

Keyword "novice"
Lots of money. Never proper due diligence.

"free and clear of all liens and encumbrances" are powerful words in a contract. Certain states don't require use of attorneys in certain transactions. That doesn't mean it's a good idea not to use one.

I was recently involved in a purchase where I told the buyer to get a condition disclosure statement. There is currently no form covering this that I know of so it's up to the buyer's attorney to create one. In our case an e-mailed statement from the broker sufficed. Going through a broker also gives you an extra guy to go after if you get caught in a fraud. This came across my computer today and it exemplifies why that's important and why, the more people involved in a deal the better. http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/home/...sale-fraud?goback=.gde_1798138_news_494892621

For an interesting insight into the depths you navigate as a beginner or expert, First American Title Insurance Company published:

"125 Plus Ways for an Owner or Lender to Lose a Vessel"

http://local.firstam.com/movables/pdf/WaystoLoseYourVessel.pdf

The publication also explains the single way to perfect title.

6. PURCHASING AT A MARSHALL’S SALE IN ADMIRALTY IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET “PERFECT” TITLE

Good idea to go without broker, just make sure a lawyer reviews contracts