Luxury yachts are not for everyone, but, if you can afford one, it can be a wonderful way of ‘getting away from it all’ without actually getting away from it all. You can pull up anchor whenever the wanderlust hits you, and sail off to explore remote corners of the world, all without sacrificing the level of comfort and style you are accustomed to.
Luxury yachts can measure from 100 feet to more than 300 feet, can have 4 or 5 deck levels, and come with a host of special features, which are more often than not customized to meet the owner’s requirements. Some of these features include a swimming pool, guest cabins with en suite facilities, owner’s suite, staff quarters, captain’s cabin, spacious staterooms, study, salons, dining room, well-stocked bar, well-equipped gym, sun deck, Jacuzzi, helipad and helicopter garage, mini submarine, banana boat, catamaran, and much more. All beautifully done up by the best interior designers in the boat business, of course.
If all these sound like essential items to have on your world travels, you might consider getting a yacht of your own. Here is how you go about buying luxury yachts.
Research
Understanding what you are getting into is the first step. Find out how many different kinds of yachts there are, how they operate, and what their special features are. Read magazines and websites. Visit shows and marinas. Talk to owners, crew, builders, brokers, and other professionals in the yacht business. Find out what kind of permissions, certificates, and other legal paperwork are required in order to own a yacht. Find out about current yacht price ranges, salary ranges of the crew, and the cost of fuel and maintenance.
Once you have checked out different kinds of yachts, pare down to the one type that interests you. Find out about its particular features and operational requirements. Find out how many of these are available on the market. Compare prices. Consider if you want a brand-new vessel, which you may have to order from scratch from a shipbuilder, or a pre-owned one. Again, compare prices.
Charter a Luxury Yacht
Reading up on yachts and checking out yachts is fine, but to get an exact idea about how a yacht operates and what life on board is like, you need to be out on one for a few days. You can charter a luxury yacht for a short holiday and see what it feels like.
Contact a Broker
Once you have made up your mind to buy, contact a reputable yacht broker. A yacht broker does with yachts what a real estate agent does with real estate. Your broker will inform you of currently available yachts, arrange for reviews and inspections, and help you find the best deals possible. The broker will act as a go between you and the seller and make sure that the sales agreements and other paperwork are in order. He/she will also help you file ownership registration papers later on, and inform you on which clubs and yacht societies to join in order to socialize within the exclusive world of luxury yacht owners.
Make a Formal Offer
Once you have zeroed onto the luxury yacht you want to buy, your yacht broker will present a formal offer on an industry standard contract to the seller. The formal offer is a sales agreement listing a detailed and photographic inventory of the yacht in question, and specifying when you would like to conduct a sea trial, get a professional survey of the yacht done, and the estimated date of accepting and closing the deal. Along with the formal offer, you must make a 10% deposit on the offer made. This is held in escrow with your yacht broker. Then you wait for the seller to look over your formal offer and accept, reject, or bargain.
Carry out a Survey
If the seller agrees to sell you the yacht, the next step is calling in reputable yacht professionals and carrying out a thorough survey of the yacht. This can take several days, even weeks. The yacht is hauled out of the water and has all its parts and equipment tested. The survey will acquaint you with the yacht’s current condition and whether any repairs are required. If the yacht needs some repairs, the owner may agree to undertake them before selling or may slash the price according to what it would cost you to get them done. The survey will also give you a clear idea about exactly what maintaining the yacht will cost you. You will know it is going to be on the expensive side, starting with the little fact that you will be paying for the survey yourself. Yacht maintenance, in addition to purchase price, fuel price, and crew salaries, will easily set you back in the range of a few million dollars.
Conduct a Sea Trial
Now that you know that the vessel is structurally sound, you need to check its performance out on the sea. For a limited period of up to four hours, which the seller pays for, you can check how slow or fast the yacht can go, how smoothly and noiselessly the yacht works, and how much of the engine noise is audible inside the cabins.
Convey your Acceptance to the Seller
If you are happy with the yacht, you can now give your written acceptance to the seller. If the seller is going to make repairs to the yacht or give you a reduced price for repairs, make sure the acceptance agreement hinges on this point.
Close the Sale
With your yacht broker’s assistance, draw up new registration papers and get yacht insurance. Then close the sale. You and the seller will both sign the sales documents and keep copies each.
Hire a Crew
Now that you are a yacht owner, you can look into hiring a competent and experienced crew for your yacht. You may have to pay high salaries for a good crew, but it will be worth it if you run into problems and rough weather later on.
Do over the interior Décor
Your luxury yacht will come with a well-maintained luxurious interior, but if you want it personalized to your tastes, you can hire a yacht interior designer to do it over for you.
Invite Guests
A luxury yacht is great for inviting friends and business colleagues. Up to 14 people can be accommodated with ease and no doubt will liven up your holiday.
A yacht, though expensive, is seen as a status symbol of the rich these days. If you want to rub shoulders with the rich and famous, then a party aboard a yacht can be the perfect way to inch into their circle. These tips on mentioned above should ensure that you get a good vessel, well worthy of the lifestyle you are accustomed to.
