are you ready to live the boating lifestyle?

A completed Boat Loan APPLICATION. The link below will take you to my 2 part application. The first is an email to me, letting me know what you are buying and what the final price is. There is an option to attach documents on that first step.

Drivers license- For EACH borrower - Clear photo please.

If NOT a stated income loan,  we need 2 years worth of taxes ALL SCHEDULES, Personal and Business. I will tell you if this is required based on your loan, but generally all loans OVER 150k or loans to self employed are NOT stated income.  There is a section on the first step of the application where you can attach documents. 

Sales / Purchase agreement, signed by ALL parties. I have provided a blank form in the downloads section, or I can email one over to you. A purchase agreement is NOT the same as a BILL OF SALE. One starts the transaction, the other ENDS the transaction. You can read the differences HERE.

This approval letter will note your RATE, your TERM and any STIPULATIONS that the bank requires. It will also show the breakdown of services that we provide for you, such as Title or CG Doc, Vessel and Trailer registrations, UCC Filing and taxes. In most cases, all of these will be included in the loan so that you only have to write 1 check for the down-payment.  EXAMPLE APPROVAL NOTICE HERE

Copies of the titles and or registration for boat and trailer (Front and Back) OR Coast Guard Documents. If this is a NEW boat, we need a copy of the vessel builders MSO, the Trailer MSO and the Engine MSO- Front and Back, signed over to the buyers. Names MUST MATCH the application.  If their is a lien on the vessel, we will need payoff information. In a later step, we get the sellers information from you.

*****If you are buying a used boat, please ensue that the names on the titles/registration match the seller. This is a common problem and will cause delay if the names do not match. If you are buying a used boat from a broker, we MUST PROVE chain of custody. The name on the title MUST MATCH the name on the purchase agreement and Bill of Sale. The dealer must have legal authority to sign for the seller.******

Proof of down payment as agreed. This down payment goes to the seller. An image of the check or receipt of wire transfer will suffice for us.  

Vessel Inspection ****As noted on the approval letter****

If a Survey is required, It needs to be commissioned by you, and they must be a NAMS or SAMS certified surveyor.  You can find a list of surveyors in your area on the NAMS or SAMS website.

If a 3rd party inspection is required, this will be ordered by us, and it will be at your expense (Up to $350). This is a less expensive alternative to a survey, and is for verification of the asset. It is NOT a stand in for a survey and should not be treated as such. 

If Pictures of Hull ID and Engine numbers are noted, then no inspection is required. Just clear pictures of the vessel to include closeups of the HIN and Eng Serial number. 

Insurance Binder, showing the Loss payee indicated on the approval letter. 

If you need an agent, I work a lot with some of the best. I can send you their information upon request. I will try to have them listed in the "Useful Links" section.

COAST GUARD DOCUMENTATION.  If your approval letter indicates "Coast Guard Documentation required"  This means that your vessel will be TITLED by a Coast Guard Document. This is something that we handle in a step listed below, and it is a cost to you. It MUST BE performed by a BANK RECOGNIZED doc agency. 

Hailing port OR Storage location and Vessel Name (If Coast Guard documented)

Address and slip number for Summer AND Winter locations -OR-

Is it stored at your residence? Dry Stack? 

And lastly, Sellers contact information. Email and phone number please.

We will send them a wire information form so we can pay them.

Once we have ALL of these items, we will prepare a closing package. That package will include a sellers side and a buyers side. 

The seller will receive Official Bills of Sale that we prepare and send to them via Email. They will sign those in front of a Notary and return to us ALONG WITH THE ORIGINAL TITLES, Signed and Notarized as well. If the seller is hesitant to send the titles, we can send over a "WARRANTY OF TITLE" that basically states they WILL send the originals to us once funded. 

You will receive your closing package via Email. There will be highlighted places for you to sign, as well as a couple of items to have notarized. This package will need to be scanned and emailed back to us, and then placed in transit with a tracking number. 

 We are a DRY FUNDING LENDER 

”The seller does not receive any money from the lender until all the loan documentation has been fully vetted and processed by the lending financial institution. ” 

Simply “Signing papers” is not considered a closing – it is a signing.

When we are through with all of the stipulations that were included on your approval notice, we will start to prepare a closing package.  

I will let you know that we have “Moved to signing” where our closing staff will prepare that closing package. That package will come to you via email with instructions on how to complete.   You will PRINT and SIGN this package with a notary – THEN you should scan it back to us. 

The instructions also state to – SEND US THE ORIGINAL PACKAGE BACK WITH A TRACKING NUMBER.   We take your scans and go through them, checking for errors, then we send it to the bank for their review while waiting for the originals.  They will pick it apart and look for all closing items (Drivers license, tax returns signed, clear title or payoff, proper form of down payment etc)   

THEN, and ONLY then, they will put us in line for funding. We receive those funds and distribute them as needed. (Seller, Taxes, Title, Reg etc.)  This process can be quick with some of our banks – and funding may happen the day that we receive your originals.  SOME banks right now are 5 to 6 business days in reviewing and funding.

This is OUT OF OUR CONTROL.   Please do NOT expect that the monies will be wired to your seller on the same day that the closing package is signed. 

Once BOTH the sellers documents AND your closing package are received and verified, we will initiate a wire transfer to your seller, and the vessel will be yours!

Now, the seller will want to know how THEY get paid. Click over to my BLOG for an explanation on this. 

Now it's time to let everyone know you have a new boat! You will have friends that you never knew you had before! Find me on FACEBOOK and share some pictures of your new vessel, and give me a shout out for being an awesome guy!

Ready to sell your pride and joy? Maybe you re moving up to a new vessel? Let me explain how the transaction works when your buyer is getting a loan through us. 

(Skip to the bottom to see how you are paid)

First, they have an application to fill out. We check a lot of things- but what is important to you is the APPROVAL letter. Once your seller has that, it SHOULD set us on the right path. They will most likely have a few stipulations to meet, and some will involve you! 

It starts with the Sales / Purchase agreement, signed by ALL parties. I have provided a blank form in the downloads section (AVAILABLE HERE). It includes all of the information to make the rest of this simple. A purchase agreement is NOT the same as a BILL OF SALE. One starts the transaction, the other ENDS the transaction. More on that HERE.

I will need scans or pictures of the titles and or registration for boat and trailer (Front and Back) OR Coast Guard Document.  We need these in order to ensure proper chain of custody. I warn my customers that this is THE NUMBER ONE cause of delay. You can NOT sell something that you can not prove that you own. I can not tell you how many times a trailer was never titled/registered.... If there is going to be a loan, we HAVE to verify ownership. 

If this is a NEW boat, we need a copy of the vessel builders MSO, the Trailer MSO and the Engine MSO- Front and Back. At closing, these will be assigned over to the buyers. 

Names MUST MATCH the application.  

Vessel Inspection. This will no doubt take some coordination with you. 

If a Survey is required by the bank, It needs to be commissioned by the buyer and they must be a NAMS or SAMS certified surveyor.  

If a 3rd party inspection is required, this will be ordered by us, and it will be at the buyers expense (Up to $350). This is a less expensive alternative to a survey, and is for verification of the asset. It is NOT a stand in for a survey and should not be treated as such. 

If Pictures of Hull ID and Engine numbers are noted, then no inspection is required. Just clear pictures of the vessel to include closeups of the HIN and Eng Serial number. 

Down payment as agreed. This down payment will be determined by the bank and/or the buyer. Stick with me here- It's about to get tricky. 

IF THERE IS NO LIEN- The down payment goes to you as the seller. We will need proof of this down payment, so cash is tough. We prefer that you be given a check or certified funds. When we close, we will send you either a WIRE or an Overnight Check.

IF THERE IS A LIEN - Then things change a little bit. We will need your lending institutions information, along with account number and YOUR Member number or Social Security number. We will need to call and get an official 10 day payoff.  

• If you owe LESS than our loan amount- We will send a CERTIFIED CHECK via FEDEX to the bank that holds your note, and send YOU the excess funds via wire OR overnight check. 
• If you owe MORE than our loan amount, then we will have to have some portion of the down payment sent to US by one of you. We will accept WIRE or Certified funds. We take these funds and combine them with our loan proceeds to pay off the lien. This is done by CERTIFIED FUNDS and a FEDEX OVERNIGHT package. We do NOT wire payoff funds to a bank. Any leftover will be sent to you via WIRE or OVERNIGHT check. 

COAST GUARD ABSTRACT OF TITLE. If the vessel being sold is of a size that would indicate CG Documentation, then we will be performing an Abstract of Title. This is basically a title search on the Federal level. This is handled by the Coast Guard and we are completely at their mercy as to time of completion. Sometimes it is 3 days and sometimes it is 9 days. 

Approval is done, inspections are complete and the day has arrived! Now, how do you get your money?  

As the seller, you will receive Official Bills of Sale that we prepare and send to you via Email. You will sign those in front of a Notary, then scan and email me an electronic copy. Then return to us ALONG WITH THE ORIGINAL TITLES. (Instructions are included with the bills of sale). I understand the hesitation to send the titles- We can send over a "WARRANTY OF TITLE" that basically states you will send the originals to us once funded. 

Your buyer will receive the buyers closing package via Email as well. They sign these with a notary and return to us. When we receive that package, we run a quality check, ensuring all of "T"s are crossed and "I"s are dotted. Once BOTH your documents AND the buyers closing package are received and verified, we will initiate payment as described above, and the vessel will be theirs!

When it comes time to send your money, We will be funding via a Dry Loan

A dry loan is a specific type of closing where the funds are supplied after all of the required sale and loan documentation has been completed and reviewed. (This includes Titles, Registrations, MSOs, Bills of Sale etc)  For the buyer and seller, dry loans provide more insurance that the transaction will be completed without problems. The conditions of dry loans differ depending on the collateral.

A dry loan is also called a dry funded loan. In a dry loan, the seller does not receive any money from the lender until all the loan documentation has been fully vetted and processed by the lending financial institution. Dry funding provides an added layer of consumer protection to help ensure the legality of the transaction. Because dry loans have a slower closing process and no funds are disbursed at the closing, there is more time to address any issues that may arise. A dry loan provides an extra layer of protection to the buyer and seller, helping ensure the legality of the note.

Dry Loan vs. Wet Loan (Typical Mortgage)

The opposite of a dry loan is a wet loan. A wet loan is a note in which the funds are obtained before all required documentation is completed and kept in an escrow account with an attorney or contracted 3rd party. This allows the borrower to “purchase” property at a more rapid pace and take possession of the property. The monies in escrow are distributed at the time of “Recording”