How to Buy Your First Yacht: The Step-by-Step Playbook
From defining the brief to signing the MOA — a disciplined path that first-time buyers routinely wish they had followed.
Begin with a written brief: cruising ground, guest count, sleeping configuration, minimum range, and hard budget — capital and annual running. A one-page brief spares months of drifting through unsuitable listings.
Retain a buyer's broker on the buy side, not just the seller's listing agent. Their commission is typically shared from the seller's side; their loyalty, however, is contractually to you.
Shortlist three vessels, view all three, then commission a full pre-purchase survey and sea trial on the preferred hull. Structure the offer subject to survey acceptance, class continuity, and clean title verification.
Fund escrow through a regulated third party, register under an appropriate flag, and put crew, insurance, and berthing in place before the closing wire clears — not after.