Getting Your Boat Ready

The two most important things you can do to prepare your boat for sale is cleaning inside and out, including the bilges and engine room and removing as much of your personal gear as possible. A clean boat will sell faster and for more money than a dirty one. Potential buyers will open cabinets and lockers, wanting to see a clean and organized space. In addition, you will benefit from making necessary repairs. It also helps to touch-up bright work or paint. Make sure that everything to be sold with the boat is onboard, and anything that you would like to keep is removed. If you have any maintenance records or documentation of major work done, provide these documents to the broker. Make sure you have all ownership papers in order and give copies to the broker, as well as any outstanding bills owed to the yard or marina, the name of the bank and approximate payoff of the loan (if applicable).

We often advise that you have a survey completed by an accredited marine surveyor: this can be a worthwhile sales tool and adds value to your boat because we will make the survey available to potential buyers who make an offer on the boat; it will also put you “ahead of” most of the boats on the market. Please, disclose to the broker any major damage that occurred to the boat in the past and the repairs completed. Disclosure is very important. The best way to approach selling your boat thinking of yourself as the buyer: imagine what you would want to see when you inspect the vessel.

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