My dad brought me his boat up over the 4th to sell(look to classifieds soon). Anything in particular I should be aware of about selling a SD registered boat in MN?
Also, what is the current acceptable payment methods one can accept now days. I haven’t sold anything large in a while and want to make sure I’m not out of the loop on the latest scams.
Appreciate the advice!!
I bought my boat from Illinois, it was no different on the buying end. You will need to check what South Dakota requires from the sellers end. As far as payment Cash still works best, or certified check.
CASH is king. Make sure you have the signed title available.
Make sure you have ALL the paperwork. You must have the boat registration (from the DNR), the title to the boat, possibly the title to the trailer (if titled), and the registration for the trailer license.
If a spouse is listed on the title in addition to your father, both must sign the title(s).
In addition to all this stuff, if there is a “security interest” listed on ANY of the title documents, you must have a lien release letter from the lender or similar card stating that the loan was paid off. And before someone chimes in claiming there is a way around this, NO! There is no way around this. MN will NOT transfer a title if there is a security interest listed. You must present documentation that it was paid off.
I would not accept anything but cash as payment unless it is above 10,000. In that case, I would agree with any buyer that a cashier’s check would be acceptable drawn on his own bank.
I would write the buyer a bill of sale saying sale is complete pending the clearance of his cashier’s check and verification from your bank that the check was good.
Do NOT give any buyer the boat OR the ownership documentation (title, registration, etc) until the check has cleared. If the check is a fake, you will then have both the boat and the title still in hand.
Grouse
Is it wise asking someone to carry large amounts of cash? I did for a boat purchase and wouldn’t recommend it.
Set up a wire transfer between your bank and the buyers. Confirm via phone call transaction is complete. Draft a purchase agreement (templates available on web) to include items with serial numbers, total price. Have a witness signature for both buyer and seller (if available). Should be good to go. Worked many times for me.
Most deals are done on the weekend when wire transfers aren’t possible. If you want to close a deal cash is King.
Is it wise asking someone to carry large amounts of cash? I did for a boat purchase and wouldn’t recommend it.
This ruse has been successfully used to rob innocent victims. Perfect plan, if you are a mugger and want to guarantee the guy you mug is carrying a large payout. Looking at it from the buyers viewpoint, he has no idea how trustworthy you are either.
I don’t care if you are going to meet in a public place, muggings occur everywhere all the time.
A) I wouldn’t announce the fact I was bringing cash.
B) Only meet in high traffic parking lots like Wal-Mart or malls. Never bring large sums of cash to a buyers house.
C) You would be surprised the amounts of cash going up and down the streets of cities all over the country every hour of every day.
D) I’ll stick by my statement……..cash is king.
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