Selling a boat out of state
 

I have a prospective buyer. We agreed on the price. What is the next step? I still owe on my boat. Buyer is asking for VIN number to go to bank for financing. Is this ok? I hate to be so doubting, but there are tons of scams out there and I want to make sure I don't get burned somehow. For you guys who have sold out of state before....how do you do it?

I haven't sold out of state, but I have bought from out of state several times. The easiest way is to have the buyer meet you at your banking institution, they turn over a cashier's check, you pay off your loan, and fill out a bill of sale & transfer title.
You may need to make some prior arrangements with your banker in order to make that happen.

I have sold boats out of state before. Just do not deliver the boat or title until the boat is paid for. Feel free to give him the Hull ID and Trailer VIN. Also, I would contact his bank and have them confirm it all for you and get a copy of the cashiers check or have them wire you the money. Just take all precautions and you will be fine. Make sure the money is in your bank and collected. You can find more about him too, by google'ing him and his email address to make sure you fell comfortable with who he is.

Are you buying a new boat from a dealer to replace this boat? If so then maybe the dealer can handle some of this for you. They are used to that kind of transaction. Also, you may be able to sell the boat through the dealer and treat it as a trade towards the new one. That would save you a bunch of tax dollars toward the new boat.

its ok to give the vin number, he cant do anything with that just dont hand over the title until you have money in hand

i sold my last boat out of state and it was very easy. first off regardless of where the buyer is from they need to be serious and show they are serious they should want to see the boat in person. the guy i sold my boat to flew into san jose, i picked him up and we went to the delta for the day. this was after many calls, emails and pics, and a agreed price based upon the boat being in the condition i stated. once he saw the boat was exactly like in the pics and he test drove it he left me a cash deposit, just a simple 500 in cash no big deal. he took nothing in exchange. he flew home that same day his bank talked to my bank, when my bank was paid they released the title to him, because he was paying cash not a loan. part of our deal was i would drive the boat half way and make the exchange. very simple process really. this was a cali to az sale.