• Untitled Document

    Join us on March 29rd, 7pm EST

    for the CBEC Virtual Meeting

    All EYO members and followers are welcome to join the fun and get to know the guest speaker!

    See the link below for login credentials and join us!

    March Meeting Info

    (dismiss this notice by hitting 'X', upper right)

89' E34 I'll be going to see this week, curious what others think.

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Guy said it well.
One of the best-regarded surveys in the NW has told me that the seller, the broker, and the buyer all have their individual viewpoint and wants/needs. The surveyor is the ONLY person who speaks only for the boat. i.e. gives the boat a "voice".

As you might surmise, this particular surveyor is not popular with some brokers, but buyers wait in line if need be. Also, in case of damage where an ins. co. wants an honest appraisal of how much an repair will cost actually them, they like her honesty. A lot.

Regards,
Loren
 

Rick R.

Contributing Partner
My surveyor was referred by a knowledgable friend and captain. He was truly the bucket of cold water type. Not friendly, not warm but cold and indifferent. By the end of his well-paid work, both the seller and myself couldn't stand him. He did provide me with a well written survey highlighting issues the seller had to fix before we moved forward. The repairs were made and the sale was complete.

About a year later, the Admiral and I were on the hook at one of our favorite anchorages, when in came this 49' Beneteau. He dropped his anchor, lifted it, moved , dropped, moved, repeat at least five times. We were having a glass of wine and a chuckle watching the show. They were a couple hundred yards away so we did not know who it was. Shortly after they finally achieved, this guy in a dinghy comes motoring up to us and it was the surveyor. Now he was as friendly as Floyd the barber. I guess he was trained to be cold and Spock like in surveyor school.

Last week I was invited to come along with my friend and the surveyor to deliver another 49' Beneteau from Cocoa Beach to Pensacola. Not sure I could have made the ten day trip with Mr Spock..lol
 

ofshore74

Member III
This is exactly what he is paid to think.

A surveyor would never calculate the cost of parts and have a $0 value for labor time. That would not be realistic in the valuation of a boat. The only way to calculate the value is what would it take to have competent professionals bring the boat up to good shape, or condition (this has a definition, which is all installed systems functional, no safety issues, and a similar appearance to sister ships that are on the market at the time. Anything which does not fit this criteria, is deemed necessary to repair or replace. The amount to have a competent local yard fix or replace the broken, or missing items, is deducted from the value off the boat off of the fair market price of the boats in comparison to other vessels.

How else would the value of a boat be established? You noted earlier that you thought that maybe surveyors where there to kill deals and crush dreams. They are there in a capacity as a disinterested 3rd party with experience the field. If reality and dreams do not match, then indeed the surveyor may seem like a deal or dream crusher. The idea that the good surveyors are recommended by brokers is in my experience absolutely not true. The broker wants the worst surveyor that they can possibly get you to take. They get the highest amount of money and the seller and the broker get the most in their wallet. The surveyor is hired by you, and works for you. He is the only person on your side in buying a boat. If he seems to be harshing your mellow, remember he is YOUR MAN, and the only person between you and a good fleecing.

Guy
:)

Thanks Guy I appreciate your insights. I love your line about harshing my mellow, he was indeed but I'm confident in his ability to sober the situation up or as you say prevent a fleecing. Most surveyors in my area do 40 + surveys a year this guy has been doing 300+ per year since the early 90s. I like picking someone who's busy.
 

ofshore74

Member III
One of the best-regarded surveys in the NW has told me that the seller, the broker, and the buyer all have their individual viewpoint and wants/needs. The surveyor is the ONLY person who speaks only for the boat. i.e. gives the boat a "voice".

That's a great viewpoint.
 

ofshore74

Member III
My surveyor was referred by a knowledgable friend and captain. He was truly the bucket of cold water type. Not friendly, not warm but cold and indifferent. By the end of his well-paid work, both the seller and myself couldn't stand him.

lol certainly adds some color to the buying process, I love the Spock comparison he sounds like a card!
 

ofshore74

Member III
34 Update

Survey happened. And I have to say I'm not terribly excited to take on the amount of projects the old girl needs. The pre-haulout list grew with hundreds of 2" + blisters I tried to count as water evaporated while she sat in the slings, not to mention more delamination. So to temper my overwhelming list of boat repair anxiety the next morning I turned my attention to an Ericson 38 just 50 miles south. Hoping to see it tomorrow.

I think at a certain point when I began to loose track of my To-do list and couldn't quite wrap my head around a wildly expanding budget, the boat lost it's appeal.

Edit: And the surveyor was NOT worth the money, too much chewing the fat not enough inspecting. Next time I'll steer clear of big egos.
 
Last edited:
Top