From shortlist to closing: the steps

The buying process · Power & sail

Most used-boat purchases follow the same path: look, make a written offer that depends on a survey and sea trial, put down a deposit, survey the boat, then accept, renegotiate or walk away before closing. Knowing the order and the contract deadlines protects you.

Before you make an offer

• Walk through the boat yourself first. What you find helps you decide whether to offer at all, shapes your price, and gives the surveyor a list of worries to look at closely.
• Before you sign anything, find out how busy local surveyors, engine mechanics, riggers and haul-out yards are. In spring the good ones can be booked weeks ahead, and the contract needs a survey window you can actually meet.
• Base your price on what similar boats have actually sold for, adjusted for equipment and condition, not on asking prices. Price guides assume a clean, typically equipped boat; only a surveyor who has been aboard can value this one.
• If the boat is far away, have a surveyor or someone you trust confirm that it exists and that the seller really holds the title or registration before you send any money.

The written offer and the deposit

• Offers are made in writing on a purchase and sale agreement. It names the price, the boat (make, model, year, hull ID number, engine serial numbers), the equipment that comes with it, the key dates, and what the deal depends on.
• The usual conditions are a satisfactory survey and sea trial; many buyers also make the deal depend on getting financing and insurance. The contract should say how and when your deposit comes back if a condition isn't met.
• Broker sources describe a deposit of 10% of the offer as the common practice, held in escrow by a neutral party such as the broker's trust account or an attorney. Some brokers take it with the offer, others once the offer is accepted.
• Check that the listing details copied into the contract, such as engine hours and tank sizes, are right. The broker only knows what the seller told them.

Survey and sea trial

• The buyer chooses and pays the surveyor, the haul-out and any fluid analysis. The seller gets the boat ready, opens up the systems and runs the boat, or hires a captain to.
• A typical survey day has three parts: an in-water inspection, a short haul-out to see the bottom, and a short run so the surveyor can check engines and running gear under load. Ask for the engines to be left cold for about a day so you see a true cold start.
• Go along. You will learn more about the boat in that one day than in months of owning it, and the surveyor can explain what they find as they go.
• Reports usually take a few days. Set the acceptance deadline at least a week after survey day, and have it run from the last result (oil analysis, rigging report), not from the survey itself.

Accept, renegotiate or reject, then close

• Once you have the reports you have three choices: accept the boat, amend the agreement (lower price, seller repairs or new dates), or reject it and get your deposit back under the survey condition.
• Closing happens when the money is paid, the paperwork is signed and ownership can pass. One broker's guide, for example, requires the balance by wire transfer and proof of insurance (a binder) before closing.
• For a Coast Guard documented boat the seller signs a Coast Guard bill of sale (form CG-1340) that goes with your documentation application. For a titled boat the state title is signed over. See Documentation, titles, liens and the bill of sale.

General guidance for recreational boaters, researched from the sources listed and written in our own words. Your equipment manuals, local knowledge, the Navigation Rules and a qualified instructor come first.