Commonwealth Boat Brokers

AggieMike88

AggieMike88

Touchdown! Greaser!
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The original "I don't know it all" of aviation.
Anyone have any info to share on "Commonwealth Boat Brokers"?

Their name appears as the seller on some of the email alerts I receive about aircraft for sale. One such example is this one on Controller: http://bit.ly/Mss9bP (example only, I have no plans to pursue this aircraft).

I was curious if they are among the "okay to deal with" crowd, or "avoid them" crowd.
 
I've considered them. They are repo men, so take it as that. Some planes will have no logs or bad stains / scratches from upset owners, etc. there is also the chance of getting a plane with a fresh reman engine and prop (likely what lead to the repo).

These guys aren't salesmen, they're in acquisitions. They get these birds for pennies on the dollar then try to sell way below market or at market to get whatever's they make. Most repo men I know aren't pushy in sales because they don't really care about sales pressure. They will often tell you straight up not to bring it back if it wasn't what you were expecting, which is why a pre buy is a must! They will know almost nothing about the plane's history, just the basics you see posted.
 
I will relate to you my experience with them. I had some interest in two planes they had listed. One seemed to loaded to the gills with great equipment and a very low price and I was going to have a friend in VA look at it. Turns out someone in a type club knew the plane and it was acutally in New England even though it was listed as being in VA. The person did a look see for me and said fuggedaboutdit, had been sitting for a very long time and had flat tires and paint was hurting.

The second plane we were very interested in and I actually called their office to get information as we or one of my partners were going to fly out and take a look at it. It took more effort than made me comfortable to get a call back. Once I did get a call back I asked several questions about the plane. The rep told me it was out of annual only because the plane was repoed during the annual and the shop stopped work mid annual as once it was repoed they were not assured of getting their money. The price was ok not great but ok IMO. The plane had striping that ended abruptly at the cowl which made me think that it had a hard landing and perhaps firewall replacement. When I asked about seeing the plane the rep said just ask the FBO or shop for the keys when you get there they will let you check it out but he could not give me the name of the place He also told me it was at one airport when given the photos I was pretty sure it was at another one in a different city but he was positive it was in the city and airport he told me.

So I did some research ( gotta love google earth and Airnav) and figured out where the plane was. I contacted the shop it was parked in front of and they confirmed it was out of annual and were good enough to email me a list of discrepancies which had to be corrected before they would sign off. The discrepancies were in the neighborhood of $13,000. yes that is 13 THOUSAND.

My feeling was that rather than intentionally misrepresenting the plane they just weren't real sure about the condition. I got the feeling they had not seen the plane and were just reading off a spec sheet. In their office in VA and the plane was a few states away.

I also think that if you are careful and do your research and get very very through pre buys you can get a very attractive deal from these folks. I get the feeling they just want to move the inventory so like I said you might get a prize for Way below market, just go in with your eyes wide open.
 
Back when I was looking for a boat I went by their yard and was not impressed. For those of you in VA/DC they are located north of Richmond on RT1 by Greentop Sporting goods. (just being next to Greentop makes the trip worthwhile. :))
 
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