Used Boat Purchase Agreement and Closing: Deposit, Contingencies, Bill of Sale and Who Pays What

BoatUS reminds buyers that an offer is a binding contract and that a seller might say yes to a low offer. Before you make one:

• Line up where the boat will live (slip, storage or driveway space).
• Get insurance quotes; some insurers want a survey first.
• Talk to lenders if you need financing. BoatUS notes boat loans often work more like a mortgage than a car loan, with financial statements and tax returns. Mercury points out that boat loans can now run much longer than car loans (it mentions terms up to 20 years), which lowers the payment but raises the total interest; compare the full cost, not just the monthly number.
• Budget for the costs that pile up at once: survey, haul-out, insurance, storage, taxes and fees.
• Check your calendar. You'll want to attend the survey and trial run, and you need time to take the boat away after closing.

Whether or not a broker is involved, BoatUS (2025) recommends making the offer in writing on a purchase and sale agreement (PSA). Standard forms written by attorneys for broker associations are designed to protect everyone. If a brokerage uses its own form, ask where it came from, because a rewritten form may protect you less. For private sales, Discover Boating notes some states publish their own boat purchase agreement forms, and some require the agreement to be notarized.

Read the whole thing, ask questions, and don't sign what you don't understand. Terms can be negotiated.

Before you write the number, ask the broker whether there are other offers on the boat. A longtime BoatUS consumer-affairs adviser lost a clean boat by a few hundred dollars because she assumed a slow market and a counteroffer; there was already another offer. Bid realistically on a boat you really want.

BoatUS lists the minimum content of a boat sales agreement. Make sure yours has:

• Full names and addresses of buyer and seller
• A full description: make, model, year, HIN, and engine serial numbers
• The trailer's serial number (VIN), if one is included
• A complete equipment list of what conveys with the boat, and anything excluded
• The price, the deposit, and how the balance will be paid
• Separate prices for the boat, the motor and the trailer (states often tax and register the trailer separately)
• A delivery or closing date and place
• The boat's condition at delivery, and whether it is sold "as is" or with any warranty
• Your contingencies (step 5)
• A statement that the boat is free of liens and encumbrances

If a broker filled in details like engine hours or tank sizes, BoatUS warns the information is only as good as what the seller provided; check it.

• Amount: the International Yacht Brokers Association (IYBA) says the pleasure-boat industry standard is a deposit of 10 percent of the offer. On a private sale of a small boat it's whatever you agree; write it down.
• Timing: BoatUS says the deposit is typically made within two to three days after the offer is accepted.
• Who holds it: a neutral third party both sides trust. IYBA lists a broker's trust account, an attorney's trust account, a bank or escrow service, or a joint account. Never wire a deposit to a stranger, and never use an escrow company the seller insists on; see our boat-buying scams guide.
• What happens to it: the agreement should say exactly when the deposit is refunded and when the seller can keep it. IYBA notes most fights over failed deals are about who broke the agreement and who gets the deposit.

Contingencies are the conditions that let you back out and get your deposit back. BoatUS says to spell out that the sale depends on:

• A satisfactory survey
• A satisfactory sea trial or trial run
• Getting acceptable financing
• Getting acceptable marine insurance

Discover Boating adds a mechanical inspection as a common contingency. IYBA notes that the refund only works if the buyer notifies the seller within the time the contract allows. So the dates matter as much as the conditions: write down the deadline for each one and how notice must be given (for example, in writing by email).

Boat in winter storage? Owners often ask what to do when the boat is shrink-wrapped or stacked in a heated building for months and the seller won't take it off the market without a signed offer. That's normal. Make the offer with a deposit held in escrow, and set the survey and sea trial deadlines for a date after the boat can realistically be launched, with the refund terms spelled out if it can't be.

BoatUS (2025) also warns not to lean on these "outs" to escape a deal you weren't ready for. If your financing or insurance plans aren't really in place, you can still lose the deposit or end up in an awkward dispute.

BoatUS (2026) says to start the survey process as soon as the offer is accepted:

• You choose and pay the surveyor. The surveyor works for you, not the seller, broker or lender, and the report belongs to you. Check which surveyor associations (SAMS or NAMS) your insurer and lender accept.
• A typical pre-purchase survey includes an in-water inspection, a short haul-out to see the bottom, and a trial run.
• The seller (or their captain) runs the boat. The boat still belongs to the seller, so neither the buyer nor the buyer's broker should drive it, especially near the dock.
• Ask for a cold start. Ideally the engines haven't run for 24 hours, so the surveyor can watch the first start.
• Consider an engine survey by a mechanic for that engine brand when the engines are a big part of the boat's value, and a rigging survey on a sailboat.

BoatUS says a survey report usually takes three to four days to arrive and can run about 30 pages. It recommends setting the acceptance date in your agreement at least a week after the survey, so you have time to read it, ask the surveyor questions, and renegotiate if needed.

After the survey and trial run you have three choices:

• Accept the boat as is, and sign the acceptance by the deadline.
• Renegotiate. Big findings or a survey valuation well below your offer are fair reasons to ask for a lower price or for the seller to fix something before closing. Put any new price or repair promise in a written amendment signed by both sides. If the seller is paying a yard for repairs, list the specific jobs in the amendment and ask for the yard's invoice before closing; otherwise you can't tell what the money actually bought. The same BoatUS buyer also suggests reading the yard's warranty on that work and checking whether it transfers to you, since there's no standard warranty length for service work, and testing the repaired items right away.
• Reject the boat under your contingency, in writing, before the deadline, and ask the escrow holder to return your deposit as the agreement says.

Never let a deadline pass while "waiting to hear back." Silence can count as acceptance in some agreements.

BoatUS explains that a bank loan normally has to be paid off before the title can transfer. If the seller still owes money:

• Close at the lender's office, or through your closing service, so part of your payment goes straight to the lender.
• Get the lender's written payoff amount and, after payment, the lien release (or the clean title) before the rest of the money goes to the seller.
• For a documented boat, BoatUS suggests checking with the Coast Guard's documentation center whether any mortgage or lien is recorded. Our paperwork guide explains how to request the Abstract of Title.

The bill of sale is the receipt that proves the deal. Discover Boating says it should include:

• Buyer's and seller's names, addresses and contact information
• The boat's brand, model, year, length and HIN
• An outboard motor listed separately with its serial number
• A trailer listed separately with its VIN
• A separate price for the boat, the motor and the trailer
• Equipment included (electronics, trolling motor, spare props), with serial numbers when available
• Date of sale and signatures of everyone on the title

Discover Boating notes a state bill of sale isn't for Coast Guard documented boats, which use separate forms. BoatUS says the seller of a documented boat should complete the Coast Guard bill of sale (form CG-1340); get the current form from the Coast Guard documentation center's website.

• Funds: BoatUS (2025) says brokers accept only wires, and many banks still require you to come in person to send one. Plan for that day.
• Signatures: you usually don't need to be in the same room, but documents may need to be signed, notarized and mailed, which takes time.
• Verify wiring instructions by calling a number you already know for the closing service. Don't trust new instructions sent by email.
• What you should hold at the end: the signed title (or documentation bill of sale), the bill of sale, any lien release, the trailer's title or registration where required, keys, manuals and service records.
• Risk passes to you. BoatUS notes the boat becomes your responsibility the day you close, so have insurance in force and a plan to move or store it.

Customs vary by region and broker, so write the split into the agreement. Common practice:

• Usually the buyer: the survey (BoatUS says you hire and pay the surveyor), the haul-out for the survey, any engine or rigging survey, sales or use tax, title and registration fees, documentation fees, insurance and transport.
• Usually the seller: paying off their own loan and liens, getting the boat to the survey and running it for the trial, and the listing broker's commission when there is one.
• Negotiable: escrow or closing fees (often split), slip or storage fees on closing day (BoatUS suggests agreeing whether dockage is prorated), and "extras" like a tank of fuel left aboard.

• Transfer the title and registration into your name within your state's deadline; late filing can bring penalties. Our paperwork guide covers this step by step.
• Example, Texas: Texas Parks and Wildlife says the transfer must be filed within 45 working days of the purchase or tax penalties and interest apply. Outboard motors there have their own titles, trailers are titled separately through the county tax office, and a handwritten bill of sale must list the trailer's price separately. TPWD suggests buyer and seller go to the office together, so any title problem can be fixed on the spot, and warns that a purchase without the title and bill of sale may only be titled through a slower, more expensive bonded-title process. Check your own state's rules; they differ.
• Keep a folder with the agreement, amendments, survey, bill of sale, lien release and closing statement. You'll need it for taxes, insurance and the day you sell.
• Send the survey's safety findings to the top of your to-do list before the first trip.