Beginning Your Yacht Search

  • April 15, 2019
  • Buying
  • by voorheesds
  • 910

The best way to start your search for a boat is to carefully consider and articulate your criteria. A good broker will try to help you establish the important issues to consider and to itemize. Ultimately, the chief criteria in boat selection are:

  • What can you afford to pay for the boat? Will you need to consider financing or will you deploy fully cash for your purchase?
  • What is the ‘mission’ for the boat? Will you use it for long range family cruising, or fishing, or as a local family ‘cottage’? The mission will dictate yacht features that may not be obvious to you, like power requirements, vessel range, crane capacities, stabilizers, hull design, etc. Getting clear about your intended mission will make both your boat search process more efficient and your time aboard more enjoyable.
  • How many people will you regularly take out on the boat? How many overnight guests do you anticipate? There may be Classification Survey considerations that may impact or drive your decision process.
  • Where are your intended cruising grounds? There are many considerations, including matters of vessel draft, climate equipment specifications, port authority requirements, questions regarding yacht charter.
  • What is your timing? It is important to be candid with your broker so that he can know how best to help you. If you’re prepared to make a purchase immediately upon finding the right boat, that requires a different approach for your broker than if you are ‘just thinking about it’ or expecting it will be next year. In order to be appropriately respectful of your time and the broker’s its important to have a clear understanding of your needs and capabilities.
  • Once you and your broker are clear about your parameters, your readiness, the mission and the desirable features, he can make some inquiries and present some vetted recommendations for your consideration.

For more inside secrets to yacht purchasing, sales and ownership, contact us at: daniel@aurorayachtsales.com or call +12064076411 or +393470485433.