Selling your boat on the Gold Coast: what actually moves a boat

Most boats that sit unsold are not overpriced by much and are not bad boats. They are boats that were listed before they were ready, photographed badly, and described in a way that told a buyer nothing. Getting those three right is usually worth more than dropping the price.

How brokerage actually works

A broker does four things: prices the boat against what is genuinely selling, presents it properly, filters the enquiries so you are not showing your boat to tyre-kickers on a Sunday morning, and handles the paperwork, survey and sea trial without either side losing the plot.

The commission buys you the last two more than the first two. Anyone can list a boat. The value is in a broker who knows what a comparable hull went for last month rather than what one is advertised at, and who can tell a serious buyer from someone filling in a weekend.

We run our brokerage from the marina at Southport Yacht Club, which means boats we list are on the water, in a place buyers already come to, and we can walk someone down the pontoon the same day they ring. That matters more than most sellers expect.

What buyers actually look at

Buyers make a shortlist from photos and a decision from the survey. In between, what they are really doing is forming a view about how the boat has been looked after, and they do that from details that have nothing to do with the hull.

Tired upholstery reads as neglect even when the engine hours are low. Corroded deck hardware reads the same way. A bilge with oil in it will cost you more in a buyer's head than the cost of cleaning it ever would. A boat that smells damp is a boat with a problem, as far as a buyer is concerned, whether or not there is one.

None of that is about deceiving anyone. A well-kept boat presents as a well-kept boat, and the jobs that close the gap are usually small.

The jobs worth doing before you list

Clean it properly, including the bilge and the lockers. This is the single highest-return hour you will spend. Our cleaners and polishers range covers hull, vinyl and stainless.

Replace the obviously tired deck hardware. Rusted fasteners, a cracked hatch catch, a cleat that wobbles. Each one is cheap and each one tells a buyer a story. Boat parts and hardware covers most of it.

Sort the upholstery and the canvas. Faded, split vinyl is the first thing a buyer touches. If the seats themselves are sound, a clean and a cover often does it; if they are not, replacing them is rarely as expensive as the discount a buyer will ask for. We stock boat seats, pedestals and covers and boat covers and biminis.

Make everything work. Every light, every pump, every gauge. A buyer who finds three small things that do not work assumes there are thirty. Electrical and lighting and pumps and plumbing cover the usual suspects.

Service what is due and keep the receipts. A folder of recent service records does more for a buyer's confidence than any amount of description.

Pricing, honestly

Price against what has sold, not what is listed. Asking prices on the internet are a wish list; sale prices are the market. A good broker has visibility of both.

The other honest point: an overpriced boat does not sit still, it goes stale. Buyers watching the market notice a listing that has not moved in three months, and by the time you reduce it they have already decided something is wrong with it. It is better to be realistic on day one than to discover the market over six months.

If we think a boat is priced too high we will say so. That conversation is more useful than a polite agreement followed by silence.

What happens once you have a buyer

Offer, deposit, survey, sea trial, settlement. The survey is where most deals wobble, usually over something the seller knew about and had not mentioned. Disclose it up front and it becomes a negotiating point; let the surveyor find it and it becomes a trust problem.

The sea trial is simpler than people fear. The boat needs to start, run, steer and stop, and the systems need to do what you said they do. Which is another argument for fixing the small things first.

Talk to us

We list and sell boats across sail and power, from trailer boats through to flybridge cruisers and offshore yachts. You can see what we currently have on the water on our boats for sale page.

If you are thinking about selling, come and have the conversation before you start spending money on preparation. Sometimes the job you were about to do is not the one that will make the difference.