You’ve been researching buying a houseboat for quite awhile. You have a pretty good idea what you’re looking for. You’ve even said to yourself, “I’ll know it when I see it.” You found a boat from the website that looks like it checks most the boxes on your list, and you make an appointment with your friendly broker to show it to you. You have your spouse, and your children with you to help you decide. It looks nice from the outside, but when you first walk in the front door and step inside, it looks better than the pictures, and it smells good. Yes, smell is a big deciding factor in the purchase of a boat. If it smells funky, there is usually something funky going on somewhere. With each room you walk into, it just feels right. You can picture this room for this child, and then realize another one of your children is missing, and low and behold, you find them. They have found their room, and they love it.
You are preparing to leave, when the broker asks if you would like to take one more look through before they turn out the lights. You oblige them, and confirm your feelings. As you shake their hand and prepare to leave, you tell the broker, you have several other boats you are going to look at, and you will get back with them early next week.
Sometimes a customer kicks themselves for a boat that got away from them. A majority of the time, it just wasn’t meant to be, and there is something out there even better and more perfect for their family. We love helping make that happen. But occasionally, the customer knew it was perfect. They realized this was THE boat. It’s just not in their nature to make such a quick decision. They like to mull it over for a few days. Then here comes customer number 2. They also know what they want. They walk in, and just know it immediately. They sense that if they loved this boat, there is a good chance others will love it too. They have been looking for awhile, and are not going to let this one get away. They make an offer, and after a few phone calls they have agreed on a price, and are on their way to enjoying boating more than they could have ever imagined.
Our first aluminum hull houseboat was a 1993 Sumerset 16′ x 73′. It was a very nice houseboat in it’s day. The moment we saw it we knew it. We also knew it wouldn’t last. We never regretted buying that boat with a quick decision. The memories we made are etched in many of our family members minds to this day.
It’s painful for a broker to see someone miss out on a boat they really wanted, but a broker can’t talk you into making an offer, and you wouldn’t want them to. Only you can do that.
The moral to this story is, do your homework, make a list of what you and your family members all are looking for. And when you find that boat, and you’ll know it, squeeze the trigger. Life is a journey, and you can’t erase memories, ever. Good Luck!
