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A personal transition

CaptnNero

Accelerant
I just wanted to make a brief announcement about a career change. Last week I took a part time job in the Annapolis area as a boat broker for Adventure Yachts. I'll still be doing computer programming but I'm looking to transition into the boat business and this seemed like a good way.

Sailing became a lifestyle for my wife and I long ago. We've cruised for ten years on the Chesapeake and several charters in the Carribean. Before we took our first sailing course at Annapolis Sailing School a decade ago, I wouldn't have considered selling boats. I've always been a technologist. Now with the passion that I have developed for sailing, this career transition seems totally natural.

Of course I won't be posting anything commercial to the forum. I do hope that the perspective and information that my new career provides me can eventually benefit the forum discussions and its members.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Neal,
Nice announcement -- professional and dignified.
I wish you the Best of Luck!
Which of course seems to favor those who prepare well and persevere...
:)

Decades ago, right after the Earth cooled, I did some brokering of small sailboats for a couple years -- found out that it is less glamorous than often depicted in those "yachting" magazines. :rolleyes:

I learned a lot and generally had fun, though.
Somewhat similar to real estate, you live and die on having adequate numbers of good quality listings to show, IMHO. That, and having a good location to display the boats afloat that attracts/excites shoppers.

Cheers,
Loren in PDX
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Best wishes, Neal

Neal,
This sounds like a good move for you. Best wishes in your transition! We will all be looking forward to all the wisdom and "inside tips" you can share with us about the sailboat brokerage business, so we can all buy even nicer Ericsons!!
Frank.
 

CaptnNero

Accelerant
Thanks Frank, I'll keep that in mind.

Tip #1: Selling or buying a boat are like reefing sails; if you think maybe you need a broker then you should already have one... ;)

Frank Langer said:
Neal,
This sounds like a good move for you. Best wishes in your transition! We will all be looking forward to all the wisdom and "inside tips" you can share with us about the sailboat brokerage business, so we can all buy even nicer Ericsons!!
Frank.
 

CaptnNero

Accelerant
Thanks Loren,

After 1100 skydives I was concerned that I may have used up my luck, so I took up sailing. That was ten years ago. So far, so good.

Indeed, I'm spending much time on the web and phone surfing for listings. I also think its better to have the vessel in the water first.

Loren Beach said:
Neal,
Nice announcement -- professional and dignified.
I wish you the Best of Luck!
Which of course seems to favor those who prepare well and persevere...
:)

Decades ago, right after the Earth cooled, I did some brokering of small sailboats for a couple years -- found out that it is less glamorous than often depicted in those "yachting" magazines. :rolleyes:

I learned a lot and generally had fun, though.
Somewhat similar to real estate, you live and die on having adequate numbers of good quality listings to show, IMHO. That, and having a good location to display the boats afloat that attracts/excites shoppers.

Cheers,
Loren in PDX
 

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
I have limited experience with brokers but here is what I have to offer. When we decided to purchase a larger boat, a decision that led to owning our E38 "Ruby", we went boat shopping. I called many boat brokerages and was suprised to find that many brokers didn't want to talk to me or even return phone calls! Maybe it was the fact that we weren't shopping for a half-million dollar boat, but lookingin the $45 to $65K range? We finally hit it off with a local independant broker who runs his own shop. He clearly loves what he does, knows the intermediate $40 to $100K boat market like the back of his hand and really works hard to help you find a boat. He spent an entire Saturday showing 11boats to us in 11 seperate yards. He led us through the whole purchasing, surveying, etc. process and was excellent to work with. He claimed to move 30 to 40 boats a year by himself and I believe it.

Why am I telling you all this? His attention to our needs and spending time with us is why we liked shopping with him. The other guys missed the sale because they didn't even bother calling us back. So good luck to you in your new career. It would seem very lucrative to the right person with the right attitude. If you ever find an E46 contact me offline! :D
RT
 

treilley

Sustaining Partner
My experience

Sounds great neal. I had a similar experience to RT. I ended up finding a boat on my own. The selling broker was somewhat helpfull. He commented that he got more emails from me than anyone he could remember. I think I sent less than 20 emails in the 4 week process. Unfortunately my perception of used boat dealers is not much better than used car dealers. I believe RT's broker had it right. Work hard and you can be very sucessful. I bet RT will go back to his broker when it is time for a new boat.

When it came to selling my boat, it could not have been easier. After joining a local yacht club, me and my boat earned a very favorable reputation. I was known as a meticulous owner with an outstanding boat. When one of the members found out I might be selling, he asked around the club and got the info on me. I took him for a 1 hour sail and the boat was sold before his feet hit the dock. I sold her for my asking price. 25% more than I paid 4 years before. Of course I did not make any money but it wasn't too far off.
:egrin:
 

CaptnNero

Accelerant
Tim,

You obviously had a great experience. In your case you did your own marketing up front and being in the yacht club certainly helps. We've bought all three of our vessels from the same broker, though the first one was at a previous brokerage. We sold the first two boats thru him also. Maybe he decided to hire me when I said that I liked this boat so much that we'll never sell it :) .

treilley said:
Sounds great neal. I had a similar experience to RT. I ended up finding a boat on my own. The selling broker was somewhat helpfull. He commented that he got more emails from me than anyone he could remember. I think I sent less than 20 emails in the 4 week process. Unfortunately my perception of used boat dealers is not much better than used car dealers. I believe RT's broker had it right. Work hard and you can be very sucessful. I bet RT will go back to his broker when it is time for a new boat.

When it came to selling my boat, it could not have been easier. After joining a local yacht club, me and my boat earned a very favorable reputation. I was known as a meticulous owner with an outstanding boat. When one of the members found out I might be selling, he asked around the club and got the info on me. I took him for a 1 hour sail and the boat was sold before his feet hit the dock. I sold her for my asking price. 25% more than I paid 4 years before. Of course I did not make any money but it wasn't too far off.
:egrin:
 

Sean Engle

Your Friendly Administrator
Administrator
Founder
Get off the freeway, turn left and keep going...

Good going, Neal - making that 'hard left turn' in life is a tough decision - but it's one (I think) you'll never regret.

Speaking as someone who is currently 'hauled out' (career-wise) himself, I believe that life is too short not make the turn when the feeling seems right.

My own father (with a very successful career himself) - a guy who would otherwise never admit a mistake - once confided to me that his only regret - was to have passed from his twenties (college) to retirement with only one occupation (MD), one practice - to his late sixties (retirement) - like "a tunnel" he said.

There are many among us who are very happy with a single career - and that's great - but I know that the hours of solitude on O Barquinho helped me decide to make that big left turn - and I'm happy I did. I want as many 'chapters' as I can pack into this book of mine...

//sse
 

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
treilley said:
I believe RT's broker had it right. Work hard and you can be very sucessful. I bet RT will go back to his broker when it is time for a new boat.

I felt I should add two more things:
My broker was highly recommended by others at my club. Some had bought and sold 2-3 boats with him. I actually looked at a few boats he had bought and sold a couple of times. He knew them like members of his family. Thats what gave us confidence in him. Turns out we were right:D I will definitely go back to him if/when we sell Ruby and trade up...

Secondly,
I have been through several "careers", corporate and otherwise with success. Economic changes and other reasons have lead me all over the map with respect to occupation. I have an MBA and used to hold a "corner office" type job in high tech. Now I have a small home remodelling company and call myself a carpenter. I don't have a big salary, house, expensive cars, etc. But I do have time to spend with my wife and our boat. I smile a lot and enjoy going to work now though. Do what makes you happy, get out of the rat race and don't play the keep up with the Jones' game. You are not here long enough to waste time impressing anyone. RT
 
Last edited:

wurzner

Member III
I share my broker experiance since it will likely be a good reference point for you. when we decided to chance from the E32-2, I knew the boat I wanted was an E38-200 with the aft cabin/head configuration. A quick search of the various databases showed about 10 for sale. I contact the broker and was really upfront about what was important and what wasn't with respect to the boat. I also outlined VERY CLEARLY that I could not afford to fly around the country looking at boats so I needed very good information before booking airline tickets. He was very upfront and did an excellent job representing the owners and me, and gave me good guidance on what the owners bottom line would be. This saved me a couple of useless airline tickets as we bought the boat and are very happy with it. Also, he sells Catalina's and was pretty honest about them as well. He did say the newer Catalina's from the late 90's are all excellent boats, but look at what they run. He agreed that a mid 80's boat would be good for lighter sailing, but were not build to the standards of the newers boats.

In short, he was not full of s*$t, was honest, and a pleasure to deal with. He has an open invitation to come up and go for a sail if he is ever in the neighborhood. I would consider him a friend to the degree that time spent together during the deal was beyond just business.

good luck.
shaun
 

CaptnNero

Accelerant
Thanks

Meanwhile I've been calling FSBO's and walking boatyards and piers to find that first listing. When I told a slipmate about the brokerage, he said he wants to buy up in two years, and there is another guy I'm supposed to call in September on the short end of the season here. We'll see.

My business cards come in this week. I actually got a mag mount antena for the metal roof of our house so that I can list my cell phone as the contact number. We're on the west shore of the Chesapeake (Herring Bay, actually) and the service on our side of the street is too spotty for the built in antenna.

I especially want to thank everyone for sharing their thoughts and experiences on this. I certainly do appreciate the input. I didn't know what to expect when I made the brokerage announcement to the forum and it turned out to be a very positive experience.

See you on the water someday...
 
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