Author: Miranda
Location:  Santiago, Chile

His name is Scott, and I desperately want him to be my new friend.

He is our broker.  Our “buyer’s broker,” to be exact.

This is one of those ways in which the boat buying process is actually similar to that of buying a house.  Now for those of, you like, me who’ve never purchased a home, this analogy may not work so well, but most of us understand that the process involves an agent working in the best interests of the seller and a separate agent working in the best interests of the buyer.

In the boating world, this is called the listing broker and the buyer’s broker.  Some folks who have many years of experience around boats choose to go without using a buyer’s broker when looking to purchase a boat.  They know exactly how much the models they are considering should go for.  They know when they’re getting a deal and when they’re getting swindled.  They are patient and know how to hide their excitement when they are viewing the perfect boat.  They can deal with pushy listing brokers and know the buying/selling process well.

We aren’t one of these folks.  Yet.  Maybe someday we’ll be.  But, for now, while we have to hold down our day-jobs, are new to the process, and are still perfecting our poker faces, we’ll use a buyer’s broker.  To be honest, I don’t know why people would pass it up.  The price is definitely right.  Free.  Yup, the buyer’s broker will get paid out of the commission made from the sale of the boat, with no fee or payment from the purchaser.  It doesn’t change the final price of the boat, and if you’ve got a good broker, they’ll be saving you money in the end by helping you negotiate and make a smart decision.  How often, in this world, can you find free, expert advice when you’re up the creek on something totally new?  We feel so blessed to have a new friend in Scott, the boat broker.

So, we skyped with Scott today.  He works in the South Florida area, and he was a breath of fresh air to someone who’s dug though the depths of the Internet looking for what to expect in the boat buying process, and hasn’t landed anywhere fruitful.  He answered all our newbie questions without judgement, nor did he caution us that any piece of our plan was ill-prepared or ignorant of how things work.  He was a wealth of knowledge, and he seemed genuinely excited about working with us.  After we got of the phone, we both looked at each other and said, “What a nice guy!”

After chatting with Scott, we have much better idea how long the process will take and how we might set up the precious few months we have stateside this summer to ensure we leave at the time we’d like, come fall.  We set up a tentative plan for when we’d be spending time in South Florida to scour the market for a boat that will suite our price, our sailing itinerary, and the accommodations we’d like.

Trying to plan such an endeavor while living a continent away from the boat market we’d like to get our hands on can be quite frustrating, at times.  Therefore, it feels great to have someone on the ground, working for us in the mecca of ocean-going cruisers for sale!