Both sides of the same sale, and how we handle it

A buyer wrote to us this week and his first question, before anything about the boat, was whether we had any relationship with the brokerage listing her. It is the right question and most buyers never ask it.

So here is the answer in advance, for anybody considering working with us.

What dual representation is

A brokerage represents the seller on a listing. A buyer comes to the same brokerage wanting a broker of their own. Sometimes the boat the buyer wants is the boat that brokerage has listed. That is dual representation: one firm standing on both sides of a single sale.

It is not rare, and at a boutique brokerage it is less rare than at a large one, because the pool of boats and the pool of clients overlap. Aspire is a small firm in a market where everybody knows everybody. It will happen.

Why we tell you rather than wait to be asked

Because the alternative is that you find out later, and at that point nothing we say about the boat sounds the same.

A buyer who learns halfway through a survey that their broker also represents the seller has to go back and reconsider every piece of advice they were given. The information may have been perfectly good. It no longer feels that way. The cost of disclosing early is a short conversation. The cost of disclosing late is the deal.

What we commit to

Five things, and they are the same five every time.

It is disclosed in writing before an offer. Not at closing, not when it comes up, not verbally. In writing, before anybody signs anything, so the decision about whether to continue is made with the facts.

Straight dealing with both parties. The condition of the boat, what the survey found, what the paperwork says: both sides get the same account of it, and it is the accurate one.

Neither side's position is carried to the other. What a buyer is willing to go to, what a seller will accept, the reason somebody is selling, the deadline somebody is under. None of that crosses. This is the one that matters most and it is the one you should ask any brokerage about.

The commission does not change. Aspire earns the same whether the buyer came through us or through another firm. There is no version of this where acting for both sides pays us better, which removes the incentive that would make the rest of it hard to believe.

Separate representation is arranged on request. If you would rather have a broker with no connection to the listing, say so and we will introduce you to one. That is not a grudging offer. A client who is uncomfortable is a client who will second guess every piece of advice, and that helps nobody.

What does not change

The survey is still yours. You choose the surveyor, you pay for the survey, you receive the report, and nobody at Aspire edits it. If the surveyor finds something, you hear it from the surveyor.

The sea trial is still yours, and so is the decision after it.

The escrow is still held by a closing agent, not by us.

And you can still walk away. A deposit held subject to survey and sea trial is held subject to survey and sea trial, whoever represents whom.

What a buyer's broker actually does

Worth setting out plainly, because "represent your interests" is a phrase rather than a description. On a typical purchase the jobs are:

• Finding boats that fit, including the ones not listed with us, which is most of them
• Reading the listing properly: what the specification says, what it leaves out, what the photographs do not show
• Pulling the history. On a documented vessel that means the abstract of title, which carries the mortgages and liens recorded against her
• Advising on an offer, and what the comparable boats actually sold for rather than asked
• Writing the offer and its conditions, so the survey and sea trial are conditions rather than hopes
• Appointing and attending the survey, and reading the report with you
• Negotiating what happens about the findings, which is where most of the money moves
• Running the closing: documentation, title, the closing agent, the funds, the delivery
• The things nobody mentions until they bite, such as whether the boat can be insured as she stands and what her registration means for the way you want to use her

None of that is specific to dual representation. It is simply the work, and it is the same work whether the boat is ours or somebody else's.

The question to ask, of anybody

If you take one thing from this page, take the question.

Ask any brokerage, in writing, whether they have a relationship with the listing or the listing agent on the boat you are considering. A straight answer either way is fine. A vague answer, or an answer that arrives only after you ask twice, tells you something.

And ask the follow up, which is the real one: if you act for both sides, what stops my position being passed to the seller? Our answer is above. Hold anybody else to the same standard.

Frequently asked questions

Can one brokerage represent both the buyer and the seller?

Yes, and at a boutique firm where the listings and the clients overlap it happens regularly. What matters is whether it is disclosed in writing before an offer and what the brokerage commits to about keeping each side's position confidential.

Does Aspire charge more when it represents both sides?

No. The commission is unchanged whether the buyer comes through Aspire or through another brokerage, so acting for both sides is not worth more to us than acting for one.

Will my budget be passed to the seller?

No. What a buyer is prepared to pay, what a seller will accept, and the reasons behind either are not carried across. That commitment is the substance of the arrangement; the written disclosure is only the notice of it.

Can I ask for a different broker?

Yes. Say so and we will introduce you to a broker with no connection to the listing. It is a reasonable thing to want and there is nothing awkward about asking.

Is dual representation required to be disclosed by Florida law?

Florida's Yacht and Ship Brokers Act, Chapter 326, is a licensing statute and does not set out agency disclosure rules in the way Florida's real estate law does. So what is described on this page is Aspire's own practice rather than a legal minimum, which is the reason to put it in writing and publish it.

Who holds the deposit?

A closing agent, in escrow, not the brokerage. That is the case whoever represents whom.

---

This page describes how Aspire works. It is not legal advice, and the particular terms of any sale are in the agreement you sign. If you want your own counsel on an offer, ask and we will introduce you to a maritime attorney.