Selling a Boat, Questions...

[jawsf16]

So I’m reluctantly getting serious about this “selling my boat” situation and I have a strong potential buyer who lives in Oklahoma. I thought I would ask the experts... if we meet and they like the boat, how do I accept payment?

Cash is the easy answer. That’s how I’ve sold previously. But what if buyer is using a loan, LOC or used boat or home equity, to buy the boat?

I miss the days when you could, mostly, trust everyone’s intentions. I want to protect both the buyer and myself. I worry about the fact that everything seems to be counterfeit susceptible these days. Keep in mind the boat is not near either person’s bank. Good news is the potential buyer is already a member of the site and has done a good amount of research.

One, maybe easy, option I thought of is me just opening an account in a bank in the town a few minutes a way. Driving there and letting them do some banking magic with his OK credit union.

One option we will not consider is funneling the funds through a Nigerian Prince via PayPal. So don’t get any ideas @Jebinok

Looking forward to yet another round of free, insightful advice from you fine folks!

 

[Beachbummer]

Depending on the loan type you can go close at his bank and they can give you a cashier check on the spot. I've sold a car that way when financing was obtained by the buyer from a Credit Union.

 

[jawsf16]

The challenge is that the bank branches are not near the lake/boat or even in same state and a couple hours drive apart. Trying to keep it reasonably convenient for both parties.
I was thinking a bank to bank wire transfer might work...

 

[Beachbummer]

That could work. Once received a Bank Wire transfer is pretty close to cash. If your bank does not do them often it may take a day or two to finally get assurance it went through. That's the only drawback.

If you semi-trust the person, you can call the bank through a number you find on your own to validate a cashier's check. Bill of Sale upon payment receipt and title handed over once the check clears. Challenge with that is that a bad check can take as much as 3 weeks to finally show up. When I bought my boat I gave the seller a Chase "oficial check" and he was able to call them to verify before seeing the check, then he confirmed when I handed him the check it was the same he had verified. It was a cross state transaction, and we had only met once. (I drove 600 miles to see the boat) We created some mutually assured steps to make sure we were both confident we could persevere if the deal went sideways, but added enough information and trust we both felt OK with the deal. Luckily neither of us was into funny business and we just wanted to complete the boat transaction, so it went well.

Best of Luck. There are so many scams it's tough to lower your guard with normal people. Best of Luck!

 

[Dwrat]

Cash only.
Any other way and then there are potential problems.
Even a cashiers check can be canceled.

 

[Beachbummer]

well... I'm sorry to digress...cash can be counterfeit too. it's tough out there.

 

[Dwrat]

The new 100 dollar bill has yet to be counterfeited. (from what I know anyways)
Plus, you can take the cash to any bank and have it ran through the bill counter machine and checked by the teller.

 

[Noko]

A cashiers check is easy to get, so if anyone has the cash, they should be able to get a cashier's check. Write up two Bills of Sale with the VIN but don't give the title until the check clears. Make that known up front. My bank will FedEx me a cashier's check. If I need a loan, my bank will give me a email with a certified check. Until the funds clear, no title.

 

[Beachbummer]

The new 100 dollar bill has yet to be counterfeited. (from what I know anyways)
Plus, you can take the cash to any bank and have it ran through the bill counter machine and checked by the teller.

If he brings the cash over and you deposit into your account, I guess the bank should be on the hook then if the cash is bad. That is a good one.

 

[DavisAR195]

From my previous experience as a loan officer and doing boat and car loans. The bank or credit union will require you sign additional paperwork beyond the bill of sale and my even require a notary. With that being said you will most likely have to go into a branch/office near by. Depending on the price, I would ask if they can get a personal loan and then they can come with a cashiers check in hand. The buyer could always convert it into a boat loan after the fact.

 

[Dwrat]

If he brings the cash over and you deposit into your account, I guess the bank should be on the hook then if the cash is bad. That is a good one.

Any bank teller will know instantly if the bills are fake.

 

[chrisinslc]

So I’m reluctantly getting serious about this “selling my boat” situation and I have a strong potential buyer who lives in Oklahoma. I thought I would ask the experts... if we meet and they like the boat, how do I accept payment?

Cash is the easy answer. That’s how I’ve sold previously. But what if buyer is using a loan, LOC or used boat or home equity, to buy the boat?

I miss the days when you could, mostly, trust everyone’s intentions. I want to protect both the buyer and myself. I worry about the fact that everything seems to be counterfeit susceptible these days. Keep in mind the boat is not near either person’s bank. Good news is the potential buyer is already a member of the site and has done a good amount of research.

One, maybe easy, option I thought of is me just opening an account in a bank in the town a few minutes a way. Driving there and letting them do some banking magic with his OK credit union.

One option we will not consider is funneling the funds through a Nigerian Prince via PayPal. So don’t get any ideas @Jebinok

Looking forward to yet another round of free, insightful advice from you fine folks!

I would just accept a cashier's check.

 

[Betik]

If the buyer is a member then he will understand.
You need to get whatever form of payment he/she is willing to provide and WAIT for it to clear. That is not the same as you see the funds in your account. You bank might “clear” it in good faith and the. Potentially it can bounce. If it makes you feel better you can send him the tittle and keep the boat until the payment has cleared ( it should clear within 8 days ).

If his bank demand that he takes possession of the boat the moment they issue the loan then you have to be at the branch with the buyer. It is worth the trouble to get the piece of mind.

Note if you open new a new account and for whatever reason that check bounces you will be for investigate of committing fraud. You will be able to clear your name but not worth the trouble.

 

[Bluewater272]

Walking around with twenty grand in cash poses its own concerns and headaches. Do your due diligence with the buyer, and if you feel like you can't trust them enough to complete a transaction you should probably trust your gut. You can also engage an escrow service like this one. Escrow.com | Never buy or sell online without using Escrow.com.

 

[Jebinok]

@jawsf16 WTH?

 

[Mainah]

When we sold our one year old camper a few years back we went to the buyers credit union. They handled all of the paperwork. This included a document specifing when the buyer would take possession. It was just the beginning mud season and the camper was on the back of my property with a large snowbank blocking the way out too so it was a no later than date at my discretion not to damage the yard or mire the camper.

Wether you owe more than it is worth (you have to kick in some money), the buyer is getting a loan, or it is cash these are all things the buyers bank or credit union can handle safely for both of you in person.

 

[2kwik4u]

I bought a truck out of Canada a few years ago. I had to pull some strings with a good friend to get a check in hand situation when borrowing the money from a Credit Union. The run down I got was a "typical" transaction is that the owner had to sign over the title and list the credit union as a lien holder before the funds were released. Because I was good friends with the branch manager and he knew my side was on the up and up, he cut me a "live check" for the amount financed. I stuck this in an envelope, flew to the border (didn't have a passport at the time which caused a whole 'nother set of complications) and took possesion of the truck. Buyer took the check and we signed a "probably legal" bill of sale on the spot. That was enough to get the truck through customs at the border, then through registration at home. The check didn't "clear" for him for about 14 days after I had possession and title in hand, or about 28 days from the physical handover of property.......He knew this going in, and was OK with it. We, too, were both members of a similar forum as this, and there was some level of trust on both sides to make this happen.

When we sold our boat back in '13, the buyer was from Indiana, and we were in Kentucky at the time. She handed me a $1k deposit to hold the boat until she could come back with full funding. I made $500 of that "non-refundable" as a means of keeping the shenanigans to a minimum and ensure she was a serious seller. She returned with a $5k "live check" from the bank, and I let her leave with the boat. At this point there was about 10 days of constant and consistent communications, and I had a level of comfort that she wasn't out to pull anything over on me. My wife had done some "facebook research" and verified a number of her comments, and we felt like she was trustworthy. She ended up keeping contact over the next 3 months as she fought through the process of getting the thing registered and transferred to her name. Big ordeal to get a new VIN for a trailer in Indiana I suppose. The trailer was old and originally from Tennessee, and then Kentucky where trailers aren't required to have tags unless leaving the state.

On the other hand. I sold my Audi A4 a few years ago (right after buying the Winnipeg truck), and I forced that one to be super official. It was a low price sale ($3,500), and the buyer was just this side of crazy as best I could tell. I had the car by the side of the road with a "for sale" sign on it, and got all kinds of lookers. This one lady seemed serious, but communication was sketchy at best, and the story on where the money was coming from changed about 4 times. She had several different people with her when she looked at it twice. Just didn't really get a good warm fuzzy about the situation. SO, I made her meet me at the BMV to transfer the car into her name, and I brought along a friend with his notary license to help. We didn't exchange money or keys until we were both sitting at the desk in front of the county clerks official to transfer everything. I walked out with $3,500 and she walked out with the keys. It went smoothly in the end, but it was VERY touch and go there for a few days.

SO........at some level this type of transaction comes down to trust. If the buyer is a member here, has done their research, has good consistent communication, and you feel comfortable with them.......Then if it was me.....I would probably let them take the boat when they handed me a check. You can find a few protection documents online that might help if things get ugly, like a bill of sale, and buyers contract and things like that. Ultimately though, it's gonna take a little trust. This isn't much different than what a dealer extends to you if you buy on a Sunday afternoon and lets you take the car home with you. If you feel like it's sketchy at any level, then trust your guy, and make it as official as possible. I typically do this by going to the BMV/County Clerk/Whomever that will be doing the transfer. You take the boat and leave it in the parking lot, they bring the money. You exchange money and transfer the title in the officials office, then go outside and transfer the property. Gonna cost you a longer driver, and probably a days vacation, but it's probably the safest way to make it happen.

 

[biffdotorg]

Wether you owe more than it is worth (you have to kick in some money), the buyer is getting a loan, or it is cash these are all things the buyers bank or credit union can handle safely for both of you in person.

That's exactly what we did last spring. I filled out loan paperwork at my credit union. We wrote up intent to buy paperwork that read we had agreed upon a price given a good water trial. The money was approved and wired to the owners financial institution to satisfy a majority of the loan.

The two financial institutions understood that either party had the right to cancel the request if the water trial failed, or it was not as advertised and the institutions would transfer the funds back. The owner was responsible for the balance of the loan before they would release the title to me. But they also were under the agreement not to release the title to the owner, but to only send it to my credit union. So there was no way he could skip with the boat once paid off.

This is not new for the FI's. They can offer you safe options. And many work with each other to make a safe transaction. All they want is to make it easier to borrow money.

Good luck!

 

[I_squared_r]

I bought my boat privately. I went to my credit union for pre-approval via VIN number. Then I looked at the boat, water tested it, negotiated, and then we went to my bank to finish the paperwork. All they need is a notarized signature from the buyer and the seller that the transaction happened and the purchase price. We live nearby so we were able to go to my bank together. He notarized it and went shopping while I finished the paperwork. Then I called him when the check was ready.

If his bank isn't close, then you 2 can notarize a bill of sale and then he will return to his bank to finalize paperwork and get the check for you. If you are skeptical then you can call his bank to verify that he went into the branch and was given a check.

The other time that I made a large purchase through a private seller was for a 1-year old Ducati Sportbike. I paid $10k in cash and I don't really recommend that. I was a lot less mature and many things could've went wrong with a cash transaction. Fortunately, everything went okay. I handed the seller an envelope and he says "WOW I thought when you said 'cash' that you meant a cashiers check. I need to carry a gun when I go to the bank!!!"

 

[jawsf16]

@jawsf16 WTH?

I’m just messing with you Jeb! As I typed that sentence, I had an image of you looking over your shades at me with a sly grin and uttering that line acting like you were almost serious... so I just thought I'd give you a shout out! FOR THE RECORD, I would shake Jeb's hand over any deal and not lose a wink of sleep, but I would also demand payment in the form of a lifetime supply of his famous jerky.

And Jeb, as far as selling the boat goes, don't even get me started.