Everyone wants a great boat in great condition that fits all of their cruising needs.  Our job is to help you strike a balance between the kind of yacht you want, what type of cruising you are looking to do, the quality of your desired yacht, and how much you want to spend. 

The nuts and bolts of what we'll do for you as a buyer:

• Help you learn about the boating market
• Help get you pre-qualified for a loan
• Inundate you with searches for boats that may interest you
• Take you shopping anywhere you want to go
• Advise you on highlights and shortcomings of yachts we find
• Thoroughly analyze your favorite yachts and similar boats on the market
• Help you devise an offer and negotiation strategy
• Prepare and explain contract documents
• Negotiate the deal for you
• Coordinate inspections
• Help you navigate the loan and title work process
• Help you find insurance
• Get you through the deal to a smooth and on-time closing
• Remain your friend and yacht adviser LONG after the deal is done

How we'll do it:

Education

Let's get educated together before we head out to look for a boat.  Whether you're coming from out of town or already local, we'll start out by inundating you with lists of available yachts that you may be initially considering.  We'll step outside that box as well to show you what else might be possible that might not have crossed your mind.

Budget and pre-qualification

We don't care how much you spend!  Wow! What? Really?  Yes! Our commission on the transaction is such a small percentage of what you're spending, it really doesn't matter to us what the purchase price is as long as we get the best possible price on the most desirable yacht we can find for the money you have to spend.  Making you a satisfied client with a manageable monthly payment makes you happy and then you send us more business when you brag about your happy purchase experience!  We don't advertise at all.  Previous clients refer the vast majority of our clients to us.  It's critical to us that we keep that wave going! 

We can get so much done ahead of our first shopping trip together.  We'll help you get pre-qualified with a great lender.  We'll help you tailor your finances in preparation for a purchase.  We'll even work with you a year or two before you're ready to buy to help you get your credit in order and savings in place so that when it is time to pounce, we'll be ready to go. 

Lenders care only about your ability to service the monthly mortgage on a yacht as a percentage of your total monthly budget.  In other words, you can look at your yacht purchase like a long term lease, like for a car.  You'll own it for a while, care for it, maybe enhance it, then you'll pass it along to the next owner.  With this logic, the lower interest rates are, the less the payment will be and the more boat you can qualify to buy.  Do you need to max out your qualification and buy as much boat as you possibly can? NO! Don't become yacht poor.  You'll hate yourself (and us) each month when you write your loan payment check.

We work with several great lenders who bring to the table the same level of professionalism that we provide.  We'll help you find the best rate and terms for a loan, tailored to your financing needs. 

Shopping

We want you to see everything you could possibly be interested in before we pounce on your favorite yacht.  Doesn't it work that way with everything you shop for whether you are buying a new TV, a kitchen appliance, or a car?  Boats are a big purchase; we MUST know that we've exhausted every avenue to find the best one.  We'll sort through our lists of yachts, prioritize them, make all the appointments and hit the marinas.  Yachts have two parts you need to examine carefully.  You've got bones and lipstick.  We've seen some horrible boats that mechanically are a disaster but have no signs of wear and tear with new upholstery, new canvas, great teak and holly floors and beautiful wood finishings.  That's all lipstick on bad bones.  Likewise, we've seen some great boats that have been worn cosmetically and have dirt, grime, chalky hulls, and peeling wood varnish, but have fantastic engines and systems.  A few modest updates and they will be gorgeous once again.  It's our job to help you see past the surface, evaluate what a yacht really has and needs, so you can decide if it could be the dream yacht you've been seeking.  Our background in cruising and living aboard gives us a unique perspective that you will find useful.  We'll help you see beyond what a yacht is to what it could become after you own it.

We've found it

We'll reach a point where we think we've found your future yacht.  If we're early on in our search, let's keep looking just to be sure.  Maybe we did find the best yacht that first or second day but are we ready to pounce?  Here's the beauty of continuing the search, at least for a bit: After finding your favorite, every yacht we'll see after that will either remind you that you've already found 'that one' or it will open your eyes to new possibilities and we'll keep searching.  Remember, we want to know we've found the best yacht before we decide to write an offer.  We'll examine our yacht of choice very closely, call it our pre-yacht inspection, research similar yachts looking at active and sold boats to help us determine value.  Then we'll devise an offer strategy and go for it.

Poker Time

We love the art of the deal.  We help friends and acquaintances buy cars all the time too.  We are known as the 'spending consultants.'   Negotiating a successful deal on a yacht is like a good game of chess.  The best way to win is to think several moves ahead before you make each move.  Anticipating how the party on the other side will respond and making a strong case for our side is crucial for winning in the end.  We've done this so many times over the years and, each time we navigate the process, we learn that much more about how to play the game.  In yacht brokering, practice definitely makes perfect!

Got it! 

Once we're under contract, we'll perform our inspections, further negotiate any corrections that need to be made, and get quotes for insurance, all while our lender and title company are processing our loan or your bank is processing your payment.  If we stay on top of our game right up front, its a smooth sail to closing. 

Yacht shopping should be a fun and exciting time in your life.  We'll do our best to make sure it is exactly that.