Entertaining discussion for sure. Lots of negative experiences, I'll try and simply describe my recent purchase experience using a buyer's broker....and the selling broker. Simplified? Wonderful.
The detail? 2001 Mainship 390 about 10 hours drive or a plane ride away. On the advice of many here, I worked with a buyer's broker who I knew here, he had the backing of a big name brokerage and the know how for all the details. And he likes the same kind of boats I do. Nearly every other broker I called, when I said "Looking for a freshwater only Mainship or similar single diesel in good shape" said YOU'LL NEVER FIND IT. This guy said, it will be hard, but you must be ready to move quickly.
Well I stumbled on it, (YachtWorld) and with his help and probably beating 10 people here on TF here who also wanted it, negotiated a deal with the outs we needed.
My broker was up front about not being able to travel with me for his part of a <150k boat, I understood his expectations and he mine.
Key point...mentioned by many here: You've got to be invested in the details, nobody will know or care as much as you about the boat, especially something 20 years old. Take ownership of stuff. Ask for help here and from your broker.
I also became close with the selling broker. Initially he was a little unsure, but when he figured out I was doing all the hard stuff and just had some questions that I needed to answer, he became my best friend. The sale was a bit sensitive, as the owner had passed away and the surviving wife was selling, this was all recent back in April. I made extra efforts to prove to them that I was a fair and honest guy, in this case I wanted to treat the seller like I would want someone to treat my wife if she ever had to sell my boat when I'm gone. I won't be ripped off, but I can be kind.
There are many more details, but I got every record they had, as well as he called in favors to other places that had done work on the boat to get their records. I had a great picture of how it was maintained. Survey passed with the usual safety things, but nothing major. Sea trial was good but exposed a bad raw water pump and a future engine circ pump was probably needed. This is where it gets interesting. At this point I was going to cover both of them....as many other aspects of the boat made me feel like I was getting a really solid deal. New fuel tanks installed 2014 (not documented)....lots of Yanmar work done.. newer dink and outboard.....and so many spare parts. I bet I got $2000 in spare parts with this boat! And I just found another racor last trip. Anyway, I offered to pay for it all.
The seller and selling broker insisted otherwise, paid for 1/2 the parts, and a smoking deal on next day installation of all the parts. This was before a holiday weekend in May, and the marina was a mess with angry impatient boaters everywhere. I was kind and patient, and believe that was a huge part in all this. They went above and beyond to help me out, and I tried to do the same for them.
I had a great experience. But I also took responsibility for a lot of things, which in this type of boat, a fairly low purchase price, really is what you have to do. Expecting any broker to do it all for you is your first mistake, especially on a used boat THAT WILL need work no matter how well maintained it is.
I'm sure there are bad ones out there. I found a few good ones. I'd be happy to refer either of them if you PM me. Or I'd be happy to post them here if it's ok.
MNCruiser