What is the job of a yacht broker?

The profession of yacht broker, or used boat broker, dates back to the time of sailing ships, and was first developed in the Anglo-Saxon world.

Today, the yacht broker positions himself in the sale of used boats, and sometimes in their rental. The profession is defined and supervised by specialized associations (Mediteranean Yacht Broker Association – MYBA- or Association of Broker and yachts agent -ABYA-), but also by a NF standard in France (Accord AFNOR Courtier AC X50-828)

The yacht broker supervises boat sales, details the inventory, estimates the value, advises the buyer, and also acts as a technical consultant. His priority remains however to secure the transactions, for the buyer as well as for the seller of the boat.

He defines a sales process based on the documents in force in the profession (contractual inventory, exclusive or non-exclusive mandate, sales agreement, flag cancellations and administrative records). The yacht broker also supervises the technical interventions (expertise, mechanical revisions, various services).

What are the missions of a yacht broker ?

The missions of a yacht broker are multiple: in chronological order, and within the framework of the sale of a second-hand boat, we can mention :

– The discovery of the boat, its history, the reasons for the sale, and the administrative situation of the boat.

– An “inventory of fixtures”, including the detailed inventory of the boat, the state of the technical elements, a diagnosis and a definition of the work, purchases and maintenance to be planned. This is a sort of “pre-expertise” which aims to avoid surprises during the pre-purchase expertise.

– A specific report on the safety elements on board if necessary.

– The drafting of the boat advertisements, the putting on line of these advertisements, the presentation of the boat to the prospects of the customer base.

– The development of the boat, the organization of visits.

– The presentation of experts, the organization of the water exit, the expertise of the boat and the sea trial.

– The management of any work to be carried out on the boat as part of the sale.

– Management of the administrative and financial file.

– Advising the buyer (berth, insurance, maintenance, follow-up…)

What are the qualities and skills of a good yacht broker ?

As a professional of the sale, the yacht broker will, from the beginning to the end, take care of everyone’s interests: compromise subject to expertise, deposit on an escrow account, direct payment to the seller… Everything is done so that the buyer and the seller do not run any risk.

The Anglo-Saxon tradition pushes a little more in this direction, since most sales involve two yacht brokers.

– The yacht broker who visited the boat, wrote the ad and published the ad will represent the interests of the seller, mandated by him.

– He will share his commission with the second yacht broker, who introduces the buyer, and negotiates on his behalf.

One of them will make sure to cancel the previous registration. Or – even request a de-flagging. And the other will proceed to the new registration of the boat.

The job of a yacht broker is a real passion at MED’IN BOATS

At MED’IN BOATS, it is not uncommon for us to work with colleagues. Central catamaran, Denison, Multihull company in the United States, Media Ship in Italy, Berthon brokerage in Europe, Grand large brokerage and many others are recurrent interlocutors.

In this context, the exclusive mandate is almost indispensable; it would be very difficult to have colleagues work on the file without real control of it.

We speak then of a “central agent” mandate, the “listing broker” is a central agent, and all the professionals can propose the said boat to their customers, knowing that MED’IN BOATS grants then a sharing of commission. It is undoubtedly in these circumstances that the professionals are the most efficient.

The presentation of the boat is unique, exclusive, but all yacht brokers can work serenely on this type of file.

At MED’IN BOATS,  we love our job! Regular travels in France and abroad, multilingual files, various procedures, rich meetings… no file is like the previous one!

Find out more about our team.