Yes, I am interested. My wife and I have been looking for a bigger boat and this one came to our attention a couple of months back. I generally like the Downeaster product, but no sure if this particular boat is the one for us. Sounds like some poor quality workmanship plus recent neglect has reduced it to more than a fixer upper. The highlites of the survey would be appreciated.
Glenn
Glenn Ross said:
Yes, I am interested. My wife and I have been looking for a bigger boat and this one came to our attention a couple of months back. I generally like the Downeaster product, but no sure if this particular boat is the one for us. Sounds like some poor quality workmanship plus recent neglect has reduced it to more than a fixer upper. The highlites of the survey would be appreciated.
Glenn
You have hit the nail right on the head Glen.
I made an offer of $50,000 last month which was accepted, but I was not really happy even at that, and I withdrew when the brokers would not tell me their closing costs, or put the name of the owner on the contract. I have suffered an inordinate amount of aggravation from the broker, which made the whole process a considerable trial, instead of an enjoyable exciting process, so I’m personally relieved to be out of it. I had an initial survey by a reputable BVI surveyor and we discovered some serious discrepancies in the advertised specification and hull. Some of these have now been altered in the Yachtworld advert, but all this “new in such-and-such year” is just BS, because what matters to any buyer is what the boat and equipment is like now, and this one is pretty grim, at least by my standards. I consider it would need about $50,000 to bring it back to my standards, and that’s doing a lot of repair work myself.
I see it has just been reduced yet again to $59,000, but this one is definitely a classic case of caveat emptor. But then I suppose somebody will take it at a price.
I could write a book about trying to buy this boat, because I do want a schooner. I visited and inspected it, so I’m pretty out of pocket on it now. I will sell the survey for $100 to recoup some of my expenses.
Yes, I know what you mean Stephane, because I also had fine ideas about this boat, which seemed just right for us. I spent a lot of time and money looking at it, and finding things out, along with a survey. But in the end it comes down to personal opinions and standards you are prepared to accept, and in the matter of boats that is always very subjective. Therefore, I am not prepared to explain everything in this open forum, but if anyone wants the whole dirty story you should e-mail me at colfremantlle@hotmail.com
Just an update on this. I just spoke with Mr. Brian Duff who is the broker on this boat. I don't know him personally, but I do know he has been around as a boat rigger for a while, and has a good reputation over on Brian Toss's spartalk forum from his rigging days. In speaking to him, I found him very straight forward.
I wasn't there so can't speak to the truth of either side of this dispute. Mr. Duff will be posting his side of this here on the forum when he gets back to where he has internet access as he feels that the description of the boat is doing it a dis-service as well as the lady that owns it and who needs to sell it. The price of the boat is much lower than you would expect to see for a DE-45 so that indicateds that their probably are issues with it. However for the right buyer that is actually an incentive. It is what got me to buy Valkyr.. I got a great price but also got a list of stuff that I needed to fix up 🙂 I encourage Mr. Duff to post more details about this DE45 here.
So, here are the ground rules. Everyone can have their say. However if it devolves into name calling or gets ugly in any way I will censor it. Here is the site's official policy on moderation http://downeasteryachts.com/fo.....moderation
I think we have the largest set of listings showing DE's for sale and
would like it to continue to grow. This site is an awesome tool for the
owners and prospective owners of Downeasters. It is a source of technical information, community support, hellping owners sell their boats or prospective owners find a boat. All these things help enhance the value of our boats over time.
Good Morning Board.
I am writing today first and foremost to correct Mr. Roger
Hughes (jollyroger, with the new email colfremantle@hotmail.com) concerning the DE45 Schooner ‘Breeze Maven’. Roger and I have been attempting to put in
place a deal where he could buy this boat.
Roger did indeed visit this boat with his wife, and has also had a local
surveyor stop by the boat recently for a ‘quick inspect’ pre-survey visit. Note this was not a survey as stated by
Roger, nor was the boat ever under contract formally, but almost! As
yet, Roger has not put a complete formal offer into place on the boat at any
time (couldn't get him to sign all pages) , we also couldn't get a full agreement on dates and inventory (or that signed), and so no full agreement has been put in
place. Further down here I have included
the information I send to every client preparing to make an offer. I thought it
might interest the board.
In relation to closing costs, there are NONE for buyers
here, as mentioned to Roger during out talks.
You will be asked to pay any costs related to your investigations into
the boat such as your travel, a survey should you have one (highly recommended!)
and launch/haul for any sea trial. The
sellers are responsible for preparing the boat to be available for your survey,
sea trial, or whatever you ask for on your offer. There are not sales taxes, no
hidden fees, and no additional costs to the purchase beyond your offer
price. Should you buy the boat, you
might want to register it, or insure it, rebuild it, but those are ownership costs and not
closing related at all!
We at BVI Yacht Sales have a 29 year history of selling and
buying boats with Clients, and are the largest brokerage in the Caribbean – by that
I mean we sell and buy more boats in the Caribbean than any other non-charter
affiliated brokerage in the world, each year. (Moorings/Sunsail/Footloose do beat us, but
only them – and they sell mostly charter inventory each year) We sell just under 100 boats each year. Our clients give us raving
reviews. We provide many hundreds of
photos, pargraphs of information, and do everything we can to properly inform you
about every boat so that you buy the one that is right for you.
I am sorry that Breeze Maven is not right for Mr.
Hughes. She is right for somebody. She
has a lot of recent expensive kit, she is a solid boat that sails well and has
lots of space. She is pretty. She is
also now dirt cheap. She bears serious
consideration and I currently consider her one of the very best deals in all
the Caribbean. Please contact me to see
a long list of known defects, to visit 273 additional photos I have taken this
year of the boat, and to learn all I know about her. This boat is a good deal, come check it out. But bring your tool kit, she does need some work!
Roger – I understand that you are not ready to go through
the steps used to buy a boat, but don’t come out here and lie to the public (correction -Lie here to mean that you state the situation incorrectly, and not with such a punctilious approach as you are well aware I adhear to -10/5/10) about
what has transpired, simply to ensure the boat doesn’t sell until you are
ready. This boat deserves to be sailing! So Do you!
Glenn, you have been given all the info Roger was given. Did you feel I was honest about the boat and its condition? Did I do a good job in your eyes?
As many of you know, because I will have shared with you
such information already, I describe the process of buying a boat like this:
If you would like to proceed
with making a formal offer on this boat, you will need to tell me exactly how
much you wish to offer for the boat.
When considering your offer
price, please take into consideration the official inventory listed on our
website, information I have already provided you as to the current condition of
the boat, any work that you consider needed, and the value of the vessel. The
price we agree to on this offer is the price at which the seller will be
obligated to sell you the boat, do not count on a further reduction after
survey. Of course, if something major comes up or we learn the boat is
different than represented, after survey, you have the right to refuse the
vessel or make a new offer. Ideally, however, you will have a price here that
is a number which you are happy to buy the boat as represented by me.
Then I will need to know the
date by which you would be able to come and see her or will have had the
opportunity to complete all due diligence needed such as obtaining financing,
completing a survey inspection, or any other steps that you need to complete to
be able to complete the purchase of this boat. Finally I will need to know the
date by which you can have full funds available and wish to close on the boat
and begin ownership of her.
I will also need your full
name, address and citizenship with which I can create the formal offer for you
to review, endorse and send back to me. The inventory will be provided for your
endorsement as an ‘Attachment A’ to the offer. Once I have your offer signed and returned, I
can work to have the seller agree to your offer, and they will also then sign
the agreement. Should both parties agree on a price, terms and dates, you will
receive a copy of the buyer/seller signed offer from me and then you
would need to wire a 10% deposit to our escrow account, which would stay there
until the closing date or your rejection of the yacht.
If at some stage on or before
the acceptance date you choose to reject the boat for any reason at all, then
of course your deposit is returned to you.
Your silence after the acceptance date will also result in a rejection
of the yacht, and your deposit will be returned as well.
Now, as you can see, this is a process specifically
designed to protect the buyer making placing an offer easy and safe for
potential buyers. For a copy of our offer form, or any other questions, drop me
an email brian@bviyachtsales.com .
I have read and respect the rules of engagement for this forum, but I hope Scott will permit me a reply, because I don’t like being called a liar. The truth is I finished up simply not trusting Brian Duff.
The boat was owned previously by his father, whereupon he was quick to tell me he knew every inch of her. Yet I discovered some “inexactitudes” in his Yachtworld advert, which were corrected pretty smartly afterwards.
The boat had no cutlass bearing and a leaking rudder, and the owner will not spend a penny more on her. So the purchasing protocol they insist on is impractical, not to mention expensive, for anyone not actually living in the Virgin Islands. At least I found it so, but the broker remained totally intransigent. So unless someone is prepared to have the repairs done at their cost, how can they test the boat, let alone give closing dates etc.?
Even after receiving an incredibly childish and offensive letter from this broker I persevered, asking the owner of BVI Yachts to appoint another agent I could deal with. He refused—which is his prerogative—but not a very smart way to keep a serious buyer. So I withdrew my offer and have moved on.
It certainly takes a rare broker to mess up a cash deal for $60,000 in May, then loose the same customer again in September, all on a protocol issue. So their answer is to drop the price another $10,000? I wouldn’t be too happy about all this if I was the owner, and I certainly won’t be coming back a third time as he implies.
It might indeed be a steal for someone who is prepared to jump through all their hoops. So far as I am concerned they can have it, but also remember, caveat emptor.
Ok,
Everyone has had a chance to speak and I am now locking this topic. I can see that stuff fell apart during this attempted deal and it ruffled feathers. This happens. Been there done that myself on both sides of the transaction.
Roger is now looking at getting another DE45 . 🙂 more power to him.. We also wish Mr. Duffy all success in selling the DE45 in the BVI's. It might turn out to be the deal of the century for some one else on the forums here. I would encourage Mr. Duffy to either update a post on the website that might already have that boat listed or create a new post in the boats for sale forum and post details and a bunch of those pictures he talks about. We have the largest consolidated list of Downeaster Boats for sale of anywhere on the Internet I believe. The number of people that look at the boat listings is pretty impressive also. One or two of the boats have exceed 1000 visits in just a few months. So it is a great free resource to list a DE on. It would also be a good place for people to ask questions about the boat that Mr. Duffy could answer if he is willing to do so in this sort of format. It would leave the answers and questions available to other interested parties also.
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