Boat Buying: What Your Yacht Broker Knows – But You Might Not

1990 Regency 40

Feb 23, 2023


a 1990 Regency 40

As spring approaches, the market starts to heat up, and as you are starting to search for that perfect boat, you might want to be aware of what a Yacht Broker can bring to the table.

More intel

Perhaps most importantly, yacht brokers have access to a lot of information that a buyer may not. The biggest used boat site – Yacht World – uses a back door web site called Boat Wizard. This site is only for paying subscribers to the Yacht World platform, and most professional yacht brokers subscribe. This site allows the broker to analyze the market and give a potential buyer helpful data that they are not able to access themselves such as: sold boat information, listing status, history on the listing, number of inquiries on each listing and much more.

Hanse 470ea 2009 Hanse 470e

 

Soft costs

Keep in mind the “soft costs” associated with a boat purchase that a professional broker can help you navigate successfully. These include:

1- Duty – is it applicable and why?
2- HST or PST – how it is applied and what’s the difference?
3- Survey costs and travel expenses
4- Transportation and yard costs
5- Lien and title checks

There are other issues that are involved in a boat purchase that many buyers may be unaware of:

1- Which marina will accept your boat if only a launch is needed?
2- Who is going to be able to provide the necessary services to commission the boat?
3- Is a Customs Broker needed to facilitate the import of a boat into (or export out of) Canada?
4- The documentation process once a buyer takes possession of a boat. Does the boat need to be federally registered, or would a pleasure craft license suffice? What is the difference between the two, and how does a buyer obtain such paperwork?

At our brokerage we specialize in helping you navigate through the process to help make the buying of your next boat a smooth and fairly painless process!

Pat Sturgeon

Pat Sturgeon Yachts, Mississauga ON

In 1984 Pat started with John Burn Yachts in Bronte as a commissioned salesman selling brokerage. In 1985 Pat, with a partner, bought out John Burn Yachts and continued to sell brokerage, forming Pat Sturgeon Yachts on his own in April 1986.


Pat is a Certified Professional Yacht Broker and was instrumental in the formation in 2005 of Boating Ontario Dealers. Pat headed up the alliance between Boating Ontario Dealers and the CAC (Certification Advisory Committee for the CPYB) of which he is currently the chair. Pat has also been an active board member for Boating Ontario Dealers from its inception.

Related Articles

Video Gallery

Nimbus 365 Coupe – A real long-stay cruising boat for exploring

By Andy Adams

There is no shortage of fun and exciting new boat designs hitting the market, but for the last few years these have been mainly outboard-powered day boats. Some are day cruisers; some are centre console fishing boats or designed for tow sports. A new live-aboard cabin boat has become a rare item these days.

So when I heard that Pride Marine in Orillia, Ontario, had a Nimbus 365 Coupe in the water, I jumped at the chance to get out on it.

Read More

Destinations

Tahiti—Updates from Paradise

By Zuzana Prochaska

I’ve been to Tahiti seven times—six on charter and once as crew for a couple of yachties. Over the 25 years that I’ve been visiting, it’s changed dramatically. Yet, inexplicably, it has also stayed the same.

Lounging on the flybridge of our Sunsail 454, I had time to think about this dichotomy as I toasted the nighttime skies of Bora Bora and specifically the Southern Cross, a constellation that never fails to hypnotize. As the Crosby, Stills & Nash (1982) tune reminds us:

…you understand now why you came this way.

Read More

Lifestyle