Advice on Making Offer to Purchase

[HatHopeful]

I am planning to make an offer on a boat. Looking for advice on: how much to offer off the ask price without offending the seller, special terms and conditions, etc. thanks in advance for your advice!

[Tim Powell]

I am planning to make an offer on a boat. Looking for advice on: how much to offer off the ask price without offending the seller, special terms and conditions, etc. thanks in advance for your advice!

Jack (saltshaker) is the googarue he will probley chine in. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT LISTEN TO FREEBIRD.
sent you a PN

[SKYCHENEY]

Who cares if the seller is offended. Make an offer that you are comfortable with. It's your money.

[rwappleton]

He/She/They should not be offended with any offer you make and you should not be offended if they say no. Like Sky said it's their boat and your money!

[Mambeaux]

I am a "make an offer" kind of guy. The last few boats/cars/condos I've bought have one thing in common...
" I will give you $$$$$$ cash as soon as you can do the paper work" It really makes them think and know you are serious.


Remember-money talks and bull!!!! walks.

Good luck!

[magnawake]

It depends on if you really want the boat or not. Most boats are neglected and people are just hopeful to get a good price for selling which they wont. They prolly wont be offended because they are expecting a low ball offer. However, if you tour a very well kept boat that is cruise ready (turn key) condition, I wouldnt suggest a low ball offer. The seller of a well kept boat has been in the bilge doing maintenance on the engines and updating things as well as varnishing wood etc. (lots of work). My boat is on the market and I would say that I expect a lower offer that I'm asking, no problem. However, a ridiculously low offer would totally make me so mad I would tell the broker not to even talk to this crazy tire Kicker looky lou ever again. So if you really want the boat and its well kept, tread lightly.

[Freeebird]

Jack (saltshaker) is the googarue he will probley chine in. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT LISTEN TO FREEBIRD.
sent you a PN

I thought a googarue was a swamp critter down in the bayou.

As many boats as there are on the market, I'd look at everything on Yachtworld to get an idea of where the market is on the particular boat you're looking at. Initial offers are pretty meaningless and just get the party started. The real fun comes after the offer is accepted, then you can get down to real numbers after a survey and sea trial UNLESS you're looking at a bristol example that doesn't need anything major. You can always back out after a sea trial that doesn't meet your expectations, regardless of what those expectations might be.

Never worry about offending a seller as we've all had lowball offers on things before. Just don't come in with something so low that you're not taken seriously. Otherwise you'll never get to the fun part I mentioned above. If you see a really nice version of the boat you want for $300K and there's a crappy one listed at $150K, offer $150K on the nice one. You can always increase your offer, but you don't want to leave money on the table. The seller will let you know where the middle is, and you can start from there.

[saltshaker]

There are no rules, guidelines or formulas. I don't care too much about asking price. As Sky said make an offer that you are comfortable with. If you come to an agreement great if not then move on. if you like the boat but feel it's priced 50% higher than its worth to you, make the offer. Same applies to a boat you feel is priced right. Make an offer based on what you think it's worth to you, don't low ball it just because you think you pay a certain percentage under the asking price. I just withdrew an offer on a house we wanted. Initial offer was 10% under the ask with no home sale contingency. Our offer was qualified with comps and an pre inspection noting certain deficiencies we would not look for further discounts from the home inspection. Seller was offended at our offer. We got up to within 5% of their ask and they still felt we were too low. They were trying to push me up or wait me out while trying to get a better offer. I withdrew my offer and said we're done. I know they would be tough to deal with surfing inspections and not easy to get to close. I'd rather kill the deal now than drag it out. Same applies to your boat purchase. Base your decisions on the individual boat and how the negotiation progresses or stalls. I'd also say don't blow a good deal by trying to get it for less or beat the buyer up on survey when no real deficiencies exist. Too many buyers try to lock up a boat with a higher number than they intend to pay. They figure they can drive the price down after the survey. That doesn't work unless you have solid evidence to warrant the price adjustment.

[magnawake]

There are no rules, guidelines or formulas. I don't care too much about asking price. As Sky said make an offer that you are comfortable with. If you come to an agreement great if not then move on. if you like the boat but feel it's priced 50% higher than its worth to you, make the offer. Same applies to a boat you feel is priced right. Make an offer based on what you think it's worth to you, don't low ball it just because you think you pay a certain percentage under the asking price. I just withdrew an offer on a house we wanted. Initial offer was 10% under the ask with no home sale contingency. Our offer was qualified with comps and an pre inspection noting certain deficiencies we would not look for further discounts from the home inspection. Seller was offended at our offer. We got up to within 5% of their ask and they still felt we were too low. They were trying to push me up or wait me out while trying to get a better offer. I withdrew my offer and said we're done. I know they would be tough to deal with surfing inspections and not easy to get to close. I'd rather kill the deal now than drag it out. Same applies to your boat purchase. Base your decisions on the individual boat and how the negotiation progresses or stalls. I'd also say don't blow a good deal by trying to get it for less or beat the buyer up on survey when no real deficiencies exist. Too many buyers try to lock up a boat with a higher number than they intend to pay. They figure they can drive the price down after the survey. That doesn't work unless you have solid evidence to warrant the price adjustment.

Man, thats sad. 5% kept the deal from going through? You must have not really wanted that house and they must not have really wanted to sell it. 10% lower than asking is a great offer I think. Most people have a 10% cushion built in to the asking price to come down and give the buyer a warm fuzzy feeling. I cant say too much yet. I havent even got an offer on our boat yet. I guess people are looking for a fire sale. Mine isnt and never will be a fire sale.

[saltshaker]

Man, thats sad. 5% kept the deal from going through? You must have not really wanted that house and they must not have really wanted to sell it. 10% lower than asking is a great offer I think. Most people have a 10% cushion built in to the asking price to come down and give the buyer a warm fuzzy feeling. I cant say too much yet. I havent even got an offer on our boat yet. I guess people are looking for a fire sale. Mine isnt and never will be a fire sale.

We definitely wanted the house. I came up 75K from where I wanted to be and they were not at all receptive. I felt we were paying a bit too much for the house but the house was a very good fit for us, and that's not easy to find. If the sellers were more receptive I would have tried to close the gap but they were pushing back hard. Our thoughts were that they would be difficult to deal with when it came to deficiencies discovered through inspections. My initial offer took into account the fact that it would need a new roof and new HVAC. We also discovered that the pool needs about 25K worth of work. Work that they are aware of and failed to disclose. We didn't even get to discussing that yet. None of these items are listed "as is" and at 5% off the original ask I shouldn't be expected to just accept it. This house is in a very desirable neighborhood where homes are selling within 60 days on average. This house has been on the market for nearly 3 months and ours was the first offer. I'd say the sellers were foolish and I did the right thing by withdrawing my offer. At some point you have to say I'm done. Funny thing is if they accepted our offer we would be under contract right now. The day after they failed to respond, we discovered a great house that is for sale by owner, bigger, nicer property, lower taxes and can be bought for what my last offer was if not less. That looks like the direction we will be heading