35 QUESTIONS

Buying and Selling

1. 01

   Sailing yacht or motor yacht for a first-time buyer?

   What decides is the learning curve rather than the type: a sailing yacht asks more skill but forgives mistakes more cheaply; a motor yacht is simpler to handle but makes fuel and engine maintenance a main item from year one.

   The decision should follow your intended routes and how often you will use her. Survey emphasis shifts too — the rig on one, the engine room on the other.

2. 02

   What paperwork matters when buying a foreign-flagged boat?

   Under a foreign flag the risk sits in the chain rather than the boat: whether the seller is the true owner, whether a mortgage is registered and how the flag will be deleted. A deposit paid before those three are verified may not be recoverable.

   Which flag the boat will carry afterwards should also be planned from the start. British registration is a frequently chosen route at this point.

3. 03

   How do I sell my boat?

   What speeds a sale is reducing the buyer’s risk rather than cutting the price. With a current survey or valuation in hand, the buyer knows their own survey will not produce surprises, and the negotiation shifts from defect-hunting to price.

   A pre-sale report usually earns back its cost in that negotiation — and it removes the discount buyers apply automatically to an unknown boat.

4. 04

   How does a builder’s warranty work and does it transfer on resale?

   Transfer depends on the builder and the type of warranty; hull warranties are often transferable while equipment warranties usually stay with the first owner. Complete service records are normally required for a transfer.

   Where servicing was not carried out by an authorised dealer, the warranty effectively lapses — which is why the maintenance log is worth as much as the warranty itself.

5. 05

   What financing options exist for a boat purchase?

   Some banks and finance houses offer marine loans; assessment usually requires a current survey and a valuation. Rate and term follow the boat’s age and value.

   What the lender looks at is not the asking price but an independently documented value, so having the valuation done before applying speeds the process and affects the collateral figure.

6. 06

   How is an offer made and how does the negotiation run?

   The healthy structure is an offer conditional on survey: the price is agreed and the right to revise it after the survey is reserved. That protects the buyer from defect risk and the seller from open-ended haggling.

   The urgency grading and cost ranges in the report then make the revision objective rather than a matter of argument.

7. 07

   Ashore or afloat — how should a boat be laid up for winter?

   Storing ashore costs more but opens a maintenance window: antifouling, anodes, shaft and hull work all fit the same period and the hull dries. Afloat is cheaper but the hull stays wet, and a spring survey then needs its own lift.

   The decision should be taken together with next season’s maintenance plan rather than on storage price alone.

8. 08

   What raises and lowers a boat’s value?

   The three items that move value most are hull condition, engine history and maintenance records; the equipment list comes behind them. Equipment that does not work lowers value rather than raising it.

   A buyer reads a broken instrument as a repair item. A valuation states explicitly which finding moved the value and in which direction.

9. 09

   How does VAT apply when buying and selling a boat?

   The tax burden follows the boat’s flag, her age and how she is imported, so the same boat bought by different routes produces a different outcome. The purchase structure should be settled before price negotiation.

   General rules are unreliable here; the answer is specific to the file and current legislation is verified for each transaction.

10. 10

    How should a sale listing be prepared to attract buyers?

    What attracts buyers is reduced uncertainty rather than more photographs: honest images, engine hours, maintenance history and, if available, a current survey report.

    A listing that conceals a defect loses both the negotiation and the buyer’s trust when the survey finds it. Transparency filters for serious buyers early.

11. 11

    How do you research a used boat’s history — damage, mortgages, liens?

    Records research and physical inspection complement each other: the registry shows a mortgage but not a past grounding; a survey finds the repair but not the legal charge.

    Run separately, one side always stays open. Hammer testing and moisture readings reveal repairs concealed under paint, which is the half the registry cannot see.

12. 12

    Is the deposit refunded if the sale contract is cancelled?

    The contract’s cancellation terms decide it; without a clause making the sale conditional on a satisfactory survey, the deposit usually stays with the seller.

    This is why the survey condition belongs in the contract from the outset. An independent, measurement-based report then gives both sides the common ground a dispute needs.

13. 13

    What is boat management and what does it give an owner?

    The value of a management arrangement is that maintenance moves onto a plan: a missed antifouling or a postponed anode change becomes next season’s repair item.

    A well-kept maintenance record also raises the boat’s sale value directly. A pre-season check is the natural starting point for that plan.

14. 14

    How do you recognise and avoid fraud when buying a boat?

    Fraud has one common denominator: urgency. A price noticeably below the market, payment requested before viewing, resistance to a survey. A seller who will not permit a survey is the clearest warning of all.

    Paying through an escrow account and verifying the registry entry closes most of the remaining risk.

15. 15

    What is the difference between the harbour register and the ship registry?

    They carry different legal weight: a registry entry formally establishes ownership and mortgages, while the harbour register is a simpler record. For lending or international voyaging, the registry side comes to the front.

    A tonnage measurement is the technical document required for registry entry — which is why the two questions usually arrive together.

16. 16

    How does boat co-ownership work and what are the risks?

    Co-ownership divides the cost but not the responsibility: unless maintenance decisions, the usage calendar and the exit route are written down, disagreement is inevitable.

    The common ground between owners is usually an independent condition report — everyone reads the boat’s present state from the same document. A valuation serves the same purpose at exit.

17. 17

    What does an EU flag and VAT-paid status give a buyer?

    It means the boat can be used freely in European waters; once that status is lost, regaining it is expensive.

    This makes the completeness of the paperwork as valuable as the boat’s physical condition. Both registry and VAT documents should be verified before purchase.

18. 18

    Which listing platforms and sources should you use?

    Platforms are useful for seeing the price range, but an asking price is not a value — it is what is being asked. Real value comes from the boat’s present condition.

    Platform comparison and independent valuation are not substitutes for each other; they answer different questions and are used together.

19. 19

    What clauses are essential in a memorandum of agreement?

    The clause that protects a buyer is the survey condition: the right to withdraw or revise the price on the survey result, in writing. Alongside it belong the delivery condition, the inventory and a warranty of clear title.

    Without those, a payment made has little to stand on in a dispute — which is where most boat purchase disagreements end up.

20. 20

    How is a boat’s market value established?

    A correct value is a reasoned range rather than a single number: age, make, length and specification set the frame; technical findings such as moisture, engine condition and maintenance history move it up or down; comparable sales test the result.

    The report states which finding moved the value and in which direction, which is what makes the figure defensible rather than merely stated.

21. 21

    What taxes and duties does a seller pay in Turkey?

    The burden on the seller depends on the form of the transaction: a private transfer and a commercial sale do not produce the same result. Transfer duties, notary and harbourmaster charges should be calculated at the outset.

    Current legislation is verified for each transaction; the answer is specific to the file rather than a general rule.

22. 22

    Who pays the broker’s commission and how is it set?

    Commission is usually taken from the seller as a percentage of the sale price, which means the broker sits on the seller’s side of the table.

    For a buyer the important thing is knowing that — including that a surveyor recommended by the broker may be looking the same way. Choosing an independent surveyor is the buyer’s simplest protection.

23. 23

    From which year are older boats considered risky?

    There is no firm cut-off, but two periods get flagged: pre-1980 resins are less water-resistant, and pre-1990 wiring and rigging are approaching their age limits.

    Even so, a well-maintained 1985 boat can be in better condition than a neglected 2005 one. Age is an indicator; measurement is the evidence.

24. 24

    How do you check whether a boat carries a mortgage?

    A mortgage does not appear in a physical inspection; only a registry search reveals it, and that search must be completed before any payment.

    Transfer of a mortgaged boat cannot complete without the lender’s consent, which is why the records search runs on the same timetable as the survey.

25. 25

    How do you negotiate the price of a boat?

    The only thing that works in a negotiation is documentation: "there is moisture in the hull" is an opinion, "22-28% at twelve points on the starboard topsides, repair range as follows" is a basis.

    The survey should therefore come before the deposit, or the offer should be made conditional on it. The urgency grading then decides which items are legitimately on the table.

26. 26

    How do I sell faster when listing a boat?

    Speed is decided by the buyer’s uncertainty. Honest photographs, open engine hours, maintenance history and a current report show that their own survey will not produce surprises.

    A listing that hides a defect loses both price and trust when the survey finds it — which it will.

27. 27

    Which documents should you check when buying?

    Document checks verify ownership, encumbrances and identity: registration, mortgage and lien searches, VAT status, insurance and maintenance records.

    Even complete paperwork says nothing about physical condition. Records research and survey do not substitute for one another; they complete each other.

28. 28

    Can a foreign national buy a boat in Turkey?

    Yes; the real questions concern what follows — which flag she will fly, how tax will arise and where she will be berthed. All three should be planned before price negotiation, because changing them later is expensive.

    British registration is one of the routes foreign buyers most often choose, and it can be run in the same file as the survey and delivery.

29. 29

    What is an escrow account in a boat purchase?

    Escrow ties payment to transfer: the money waits with a third party and is released when ownership passes. It also gives the survey and the registry search time to complete before payment.

    It is the most practical protection in remote purchases and with foreign-flagged boats, where the parties cannot meet at the moment of transfer.

30. 30

    Is a deposit refundable in a boat purchase?

    The contract decides. Without a clause making the purchase conditional on a satisfactory survey, a deposit usually cannot be recovered.

    The survey condition therefore belongs in the preliminary agreement from the start. An independent, measurement-based report gives both sides the common ground a dispute needs.

31. 31

    How is a preliminary agreement drawn up?

    The purpose of a preliminary agreement is not to reserve the boat but to put the buyer’s withdrawal conditions in writing. Survey condition, timescale, delivery condition and inventory are the essentials.

    Without those clauses a deposit may be unrecoverable even when the survey finds something serious — which is precisely the situation the agreement exists to prevent.

32. 32

    What should you pay attention to when selling a boat?

    What costs a seller most is uncertainty: incomplete maintenance records, undisclosed repairs and inaccessible compartments make a buyer cautious and pull the price down.

    A pre-sale valuation closes that gap and makes the asking price defensible. Concealing a defect works against you — instruments see fresh work regardless.

33. 33

    How is the value of a used boat determined?

    Value comes from three layers: age, make and length set the frame; technical findings move it up or down; comparable sales test the result. The output is a reasoned range rather than a single number.

    The report states which finding moved the value and in which direction — which is what allows the figure to be argued for rather than merely asserted.

34. 34

    Do you have to use a broker when buying a boat?

    No. A broker speeds the process but usually takes commission from the seller and therefore stands on the seller’s side. That is not bad faith; it simply shows where the interest lies.

    The buyer’s counterweight is an independent surveyor — one they choose themselves rather than one the broker suggests.

35. 35

    What does a yacht broker do?

    A broker handles matching and process: listing, viewings, negotiation and the flow of paperwork. Technical assessment is not their job, and should not be.

    When both roles sit in one pair of hands, impartiality is lost. The healthy arrangement is a broker running the sale and an independent surveyor documenting the condition.