Here is a little insight on the overseas sales process shared by our DBY broker Darren Parker as he briefs us on his recent sales trip to Greece. It highlights once again how small the world now is and opportunities abroad.
Last week I flew over to Greece to meet an Australian client wishing to purchase one of our international listings. The vessel is a Gulfstar 60 and the Australian owner has called Greece her home for around 20 years.
The current owner hauls her onto a hardstand every season for winter and puts it back in for a few weeks over the European summer. The yard not far from Athens has plenty of capacity to keep boats in good shape,.The costs are reasonable and the setup is very secure.
The Gulsftar 60 is located on one of Greece’s beautiful islands and after flying into Athens and then taking the local ferry across, I then had a couple of days to tidy her up and get familiar with everything before the inspection date.
The client arrived and we spent 2 days on-board going through all the various systems and asking the yard to quote on upgrades and repairs that were discussed.
Negotiations commenced and we are optomistic that a deal will be agreed to.
The major benefit for me going to Greece was to get a bird’s eye view of some of our offshore listings. As expected, the owner’s pictures were outdated. A little work was organized (ie some quick detailing, elbow grease and TLC) which allowed us to show the boat proudly.
“The whole Greek experience is so worthwhile”
Every night I’d walk down from my hotel room to the beautiful cosy harbour and watch the daily flotilla of yachts arrive. In the mornings over breakfast I would see them from my hotel room balcony as they left one anchorage and headed for another.
They would all tie up alongside one another and some would meet and greet whilst others just dined on the back of their own boat.
Most of the restaurants were only half full so it gave plenty of options to consider from grilled octopus to Greek salads… I dined well needless to say!
Whilst on the Island, I rented a 50cc moped which gave me the freedom to explore the whole place and some of it’s turquoise coloured bays at around $2 Euro per day in fuel – Amazing.
Greece should be on your list whether you intend to pass through, holiday, charter or own a boat there. Everybody else is doing it, so it can’t be that hard!
For more information on our international listings, contact us at sales@dbyboatsales.com.au or +61 2 9999 3311. Darren Parker can be contacted directly at Darren@dbyboatsales.com.au