| Without passing any sort of judgment here, your kids probably got
about what one should expect to get when the "asking" price is $28k. If there is any sort of indication that the asking price might have
been a little on the low side, I think it might hve somthing to do
with the fact that few people will write a check, (let alone a good
check), for something north of $20k to buy an item they have never
seen from a person they have never met. They essentially wholesaled
the boat to a pro who knows how to buy at the bottom of the market and
resell closer to the top. The fact that they got four more calls on the same day from other
parties indicates that the $28k price was low enough to attract at
least some interest, if not an actual buyer at that figure. Over the many years I worked high-ticket and luxury retail gigs I
always knew immediately when I had advertised something way too
cheaply....
the phone would be ringing off the hook. :-) The good news is that if they took even $5k less than they might have
realized by holding out for a genuine retail buyer they probably still
aren't all that badly abused in this situation. If it took several
months to find that retail buyer willing to pay more money, the
expenses of keeping the boat insured, moored, maintained, etc while
waiting for that higher offer could easily have chewed up most of the
additional money. Maybe the only thing I would have done differently would be to show
the boat to the other folks who called while the first caller's check
was "in the mail". I don't consider a deal binding until there's money
on the table, cash talks and we all know what walks. (I would have
told the first caller that I wouldn't consider the boat sold until
there was money on it, as well). I had a friend who listed a 32-Bayliner with me years ago when I was
brokering boats. We found a buyer who would pay $72,500, but my friend
dug his heels in at $75,000 and wouldn't drop a dime. Period. The
buyer dug in at $72,500 and wouldn't come up a dime. Period.
An offer to adjust the commission to bring the two sides together was
rejected, as my friend said "I know what my boat is worth and I don't
want to see somebody buy it for anything less." Once the issue is no
longer intellectual or financial but becomes emotional instead things
can get really screwy. Meanwhile, my friend bought another boat through me and became a two
boat owner. His 32-footer boat was still for sale six months later
when I took a leave from the brokerage business to accept my current
gig, but I passed his listing to a very good and effective broker Every time I saw him he'd joke "Why didn't you *make* me take that
offer at $72,500? What's wrong with you!? You should have been looking
out for me..." Two years (and two different brokerages later) he finally found a
buyer for somewhere in the mid 60-s. Only thing was, the buyer was 80-
some years old and couldn't get financed due to a lack of income. My
friend accepted about 1/2 down and the buyer was making payments of
$1000 every month......for about 7-8 months until he died. Last I
dared ask about the situation, the buyer's estate was trying to force
my friend to take the boat back and refusing to complete the contract.
My friend had an attorney (ka-ching) trying to force the estate to pay
off the balance Point being, sometimes the first offer is the best offer. Your kids
have sold the boat, and they're off to a new phase in life. Maybe when
the kids are older they will come back to boating again, but in the
meantime it sounds like they have a lot of exciting changes to keep
them busy. |
