If you’re ready to sell off that beauty that’s taken you on many wonderful adventures on the open waters, there are things you should do. When it comes to selling the boat, you could either find a broker to sell it, choose to trade it or sell the boat by yourself. Knowing you, you’ll opt to sell the boat by yourself. That being the case, here are some of the things you should do to simplify the sale:
Prepare the boat for sale – clean the carpets, give the engine some attention, and remove personal items from the drawers and the cabinets. To start filling out a boat bill of sale document, click here.
Take photos – a photo is worth a thousand words and most of your potential buyers will be interested in your boat or show disinterest depending on the quality of the photo you take. So, avoid blurry images and work with light for the best shots.
Don’t wait too long – put the boat on sale as soon as the boat season hits. Waiting too long means finding bad deals and eventually failing to sell the boat.
Once the sale is complete, you should do the following:
Complete the paperwork
Just because you have your cash in hand and the new owner has driven away with the boat doesn’t mean that your work is done. There is paperwork waiting for you, and since the new owner might not fill out the documentation properly, you should look into the details provided.
The paperwork and the lengthy documentation processes involved in boat selling and boat buying transactions require you to submit the HSMV 82050 form with the office of the tax collector. And if you live in Florida, the statutes provide that you should record the transaction within 30 days of that sale if you want to avoid any civil liabilities around the operation of that vessel.
Get the bill of sale form signed
While most people assume that a signed bill of sale is the only documentation needed to officiate the sale, it’s not true. The bill of sale has to be notarized, as per the requirements of the DMV. You should also keep a copy of the bill of sale, as well as any other documentation. The signed and notarized bill of sale form also helps in processing the sales tax.
Note that the buyer of the boat is expected to register the boat with the DMV within 30 days after obtaining ownership for the boat. Doing this keeps you on the right side of the law. To download Arkansas bill of sale form, click here.