??? about buying a boat
 

Ok so I am kinda new to making big purchases with items, when paying in cash.... not financing.

Say you found a boat you like and you live 1000 miles away. You find a surveyor and everything checks out. You've talked to the seller and feel comfortable with the purchase and want to buy it.

Here's my question.... do you drive the 1000 miles with say (just for example purpose) 50k dollars cash and meet the seller in person? DO you use a wire transfer from the bank and trust the seller to meet you with the boat?

Would you feel comfortable counting out and somehow verifying all the bills are real?

Please let me know what you guys have done in the past.

Thanks

I don't give the guy a penny in cash until I'm there picking up the boat to take it home. Or I will wire it into his account after everything checks out and I'm there to pick it up.

go see the boat, put a deposit after all paper are ok and them do the rest of the money via wire transfer.

See the boat in person.

I flew to OK to look at boat, liked it, gave him a deposit and had the money transfered when i went and picked it up.

Sure it costs a little more money and time that way but at least you are sure of what you are getting.

SEE the BOAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no matter what the Survey sez ..... you can wire a depost ..say 1000.00 on a 50K boat ..then when you go see the boat and it all checks out ..then have your bank wire the rest to his bank ...His bank can confirm the transfer .....m

Can the transfer be done instantly, or does it take a few days?

I own my own business and cannot be gone out of town for days at a time. Not to mention, the time taken to drive back with the boat if it works out.

I Went to Texas (from NJ ) to look at a Cigarette, i spoke with the owner a few times agreed on a price, i flew with a $ 5,000. check, and it was either give him the check and make the deal or walk away, we loved the boat, bought it wired money to his bank, and 3 years later it was the BEST thing we ever did, PS ijust bought our dully from Miss.

Yes the transfer can be done the same day.

If you can't drive then hire a transport company.

dually not dully

I flew out of Jacksonville Florida on a Friday Morning @ 6:30am ...Got into Minneapolis about 11 am ... Drove 1.5 hours to check out a boat ...Made the deal ...drove back to the airport and was in Jax about 11:30pm .... the boat arrived in jax the following wed ....

Is using a transport company expensive? With diesel at 3.70/gal I wonder if it would be worth driving and picking it up myself? Is there a general way to figure cost? Like a usual price per mile?

I would highly recommend looking at the boat in person, and possibly sea trial it too, while you are there. Remember, everybody's definition of "PERFECT" is different :rolleyes: . I flew to look at one boat that the owners sent me many pictures. When I got there, I asked "where's the boat in the pictures?" The pictures were 4 years old! They failed to tell me that! If you try, you can probably find same day round trip tickets to where you want to go, or relatively close, for a reasonable cost, compared to the $$$ of the boat. I have bought some of the boats that I flew to look at, and several others, just shook my head, having had taken a day or two off work to go look. Small price to pay, compared to the suprise you may get buying without seeing it personally.

now .... prob 2.00-3.00/mile

I found mine in West Palm, Florida through the internet. I sent a deposit with a contingency offer. made prior arrangements with a surveyor, shrink wrapper & transporter.

Flew from NY on a Monday morning into West Palm completed the survey, sea trial. Tuesday the boat was shrink wrapped and loaded onto my transporter's trailer, paid the owner by certified bank check. I jumped on a plan and home tue night, the boat was in my driveway Thur night. very smooth... Just takes good planning.

Definitely, sea trial the boat and try to be there with your surveyor. my $.02

Good Luck,
JB

With all expenses, it will probably cost you about half of what a transporter will cost you.

1000 miles there at 15mpg will cost you about $250
1000 miles back at 10mpg will cost you about $375

By yourself, it'll probably take you 3 days/2nights. Figure $100/nt for hotel and $50/day for food, etc. Thats another $350.

Looking at roughly a $1000 to do it yourself and 3 days of your time. A transporter will do it for around $2500.


As far as the money thing. Set up an account with national bank that has a branch in the same city as the boat. Have the money in your account and then go to the bank with the seller and pay him in cash, transfer or bank check. Its that or a wire transfer. I also would not buy a boat without seeing it.

Like everyon said. See the boat and try it if you can.
AS far as funds. Several options. YOu can take a certified Check with you all or a partial amount. Research if there is a bank that you use in the location where the boat is. If you like the deal, you can get a cert. check from your bank and it's done. If you can't travel, get the check or fund to the bank the seller is using. Do not transfer funds. You can put funds in an escrow account and release it whan you are satisfied.
Get a local lawyer where the boat is. Have him hold the title and papers untill you pay for it (or pay the lawyer) Once funds are exchanged the lawyer can release the papers and/or the boat.DOn't take cash. THere arealso bank checks, money orderes, per-paid credit cards, you can use many optins but do not wire $. Once you wired it's gone, and you hope you get what you want.
BUYER BEWARE. good luck. Where is he boat anyway?

Whatever you do, make sure that you go see and run the boat thoroughly before you release the money, and satisfy yourself that you are getting what you want. I guarantee you it will cost you much less in the long run if you satisfy yourself that what you have been told is correct. The survey prior to going will help you determine if it is worth your time to make the trip, but I wouldn't take the survey to be the gospel, especially where engines are concerned unless the survey includes a certified leakdown and compression test among other things. If you get everything lined up with your bank, you can have the wire sent in the morning hours and the money will clear within an hour or so in most cases.

The reason I say this is that I bought a boat with a survey that did not have an extensive engine check (my own fault), and I let the seller meet me 1/2 way with the boat to exchange the funds, as I also had a limited amount of time to be away from my businesses. He had doctored the motors up to the point that it was able to make about a 15 minute run. One engine was missing upon initial startup, and by the end of the run, both engines wouldn't idle, but I let him talk me into believing all it needed was the carbs adjusted. He was a great salesman, I thought I was getting a great deal, I was 800 miles from home with a limited amount of time to get back and I fell, hook, line and sinker. (This was all my fault mind you, I'm not blaming anyone but myself) Well the result was an additional 20 grand to rebuild the 2 failing engines before I ever got to the water the first time. If I had just slowed down, taken my time, examined the situation thoroughly, I would have saved myself thousands of dollars, and maybe this will keep someone else from being as over zealous as I was and get the deal that won't cost them a lot after the fact.

Check out the boat. Wire transfer is instant but he has to wait for the funds to clear for 3 business days. You must see the boat though that is KEY
-MIke

Thanks guys for all the responces.... I would never buy a boat without a visual inspection and a test ride, especially not for this kind of money.

Paradox, the boat I want is in New York and I am in Southest Texas. It's like 1600+ miles from me. I screwed up and really have my heart set on this particular one... and the worst part is I am waiting for my money to come through on selling my racecar.

So I am just trying to get a feel for what I'll be doing (hopefully) in a couple weeks.

we have our own truck to pull our boat, but when w e bought the boat from Texas we thought it was better to hire a Pro i think it was 1 600 miles i hired a company called Dolan Transport 3 years ago they charged me $ 1, 600, FOR 1 , 300 miles i just didnt want to drive 3, 200 miles to go get it and back,

Well... if we can help, let us know. Many OSO members would be willing to check out the boat for you. I'm sure. And if you need.. my sister is in NY so she can check it out also. She is a boat nut to, but more in the cruisers now, not in the HP boats.
She grew up a bit.. I haven't