Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes Hold plane for how long? Opinions please?

I've had a potential buyer looking at my plane for 3 weeks as of tomorrow.

He's in Alaska and hasn't seen the plane personally.

He put a $1000 hold deposit on the plane on 9/20. Now it seems he's dragging his feet and i've got other eager potential buyers waiting for an opportunity to have a look at the plane. They'll not wait forever.

I feel like he's probably holding my plane while he shops the market looking for anything he might like better.

How long is reasonable to hold the plane for him while he makes his decision.

Facts:

I've taken the plane in for him to 2 different shops for pre-buys on 9/30 and 10/04. The first pre-buy read so good, i think the buyer didn't believe it was honest. The second inspection read just like the first. Both mechanics used numerous gleaming superlatives and included that the plane was an outstanding 152 and that they had only good things to say about the plane. Only a few minor squaks, none of them airworthiness issues.

All logs were sent to him on 9/27 and 10/3.

On 9/30 he sent me a generic AOPA purchase contract all filled out with price and all other details listed. Only his signature was missing. On 9/30 i signed and returned the contract. That was 9 days ago.

Now he says he's having the documents and contract looked at by his people and he won't have an answer for me till at least the middle of next week, so probably longer??? (The documents were of his own choosing, and he's had 9 days so far with the log books for a 152, not a space shuttle!!!

I've recieved a great deal of interest in the plane and i hate to keep telling people they have to wait till this guy makes up his mind.

I see now that i should have put a deadline on his hold money.

He's spent nearly $600 of his $1000 hold money on pre-buys now
and i don't want to be held liable for that if i send him his balance back and sell to someone else.

Any opinions on what i should do at this point?

I've decided to ask this question publicly because i've got more buyers who are chomping at the bit to come see the plane, and i'm unsure how to proceed. This hold can't go on indefinately.

Let me ask, was part of the $1000 used for the prebuy inspections? Seems like you're getting screwed. I'd probably ask an attorney but you should be able to send him a demand letter stating either complete the paperwork and put up the purchase price by x date or the deal is off and there will not be any further refund of the deposit. What's the point of a deposit if he can force you to forgo a sale to someone else indefinitely and then get his money back?

He should have sent you a signed copy of the purchase contract before you signed it. Without reading the actual contract, it would seem that since you signed it already, he can prevent you from selling the airplane because if you did, he can then sign the contract you returned to him and claim you had already sold the airplane to him.

Good luck getting this sorted out. I'm hoping the buyer is a stand-up guy and completes the paperwork and sends you your money. You might have to get some legal advice if he continues to stall.

Boy, I sure would hate to give some inadvertent bad advice here and cause you further anguish, Russ. So I will leave that to the legal eagles. Too bad you didn't stipulate in writing how long the $1,000 would hold the airplane for.

Though, I am curious. That $1,000 should have gone towards the purchase price of the airplane. Why is it being used to do prebuy inspections? Wouldn't that be the buyer's responsibility above and beyond that $1,000?

Bill
Grants Pass, Oregon

Hey Russ...I may have missed it in there somewhere, but...have you just told the guy that you have other buyers and he needs to get off the pot on this if he is going to close the deal?

Legally, (depending on your state) you probably don't even have a oral agreement since you didn't stipulate how long. If it was me, I would call the guy, tell him you need it done by XX/XX/XXXX or it goes to the next buyer, then follow that with a letter confirming that (registered/return receipt). Give him 5 to 10 days and after that....move on.

Russ,
Did you send him the actual logbooks? If so it is imperative that you get those back before things go sour. He already has about 30% of your planes value if he has the logbooks.

I personally have never held a plane for this reason... you want to trust people, but there's a lot of flakes out there. I think the above advice to give him a "get off the pot" date is sound.

Darren

Hey gents, thanks for your responses.

Obviously the ol' country boy hand shake doesn't get 'er done anymore, and precautions and foresight are the order of the day.

The present buyer may well be fine and dandy, and perhaps even next weeks newest 152 owner. Just seems like what was once goin' gangbusters has fizzled to a slow burn and it's made me raise a curious eyebrow.

I never figured the fellows deposit was non-refundable so i didn't mind spending it on his pre-buys. If he wanted to follow through with the purchase, he'd have to pony up the extra for the inspections. I expected folks would move through the decision process at a reasonable pace, so a deadline seemed unnecessary.

I've not told the fellow of any other buyers, and till recently didn't really think it would be necessary.

I plan to call the fellow tomorrow and discuss the deadline/purchase terms as suggested.

Again, many thanks for the help.

Darrin, thanks for your thoughts. I only emailed scans of my logs.

I'm inclinded to agree with you regarding holding the plane on deposit. I won't be doing it again if this buyer falls out.

Best, russ

Russ, curious how this turned out for you? Did you get it all settled?

One way to deal with this in the future is to state clearly that a portion of the down payment, say $100 or $200 is a non refundable option to purchase and that options time frame is good for _____ maybe 3 weeks. This will send tire kickers running, but serious buyers won't flinch.

ALWAYS put these things in writing!!! It can be inked on the back of a business card, but write it down in their presence and remind them when the time frame will end, a week or so in advance.

It is reasonable to have what I call "skin in the game" if you want to tie up someone else's asset. No skin, or cash as it were, then there is nothing to keep the buyer from dragging his feet or bailing out when he gets tired of the chase.

Aircraft Purchase Agreement [Date]

[Name, address of purchaser], herein referred to as purchaser, offers to purchase the [name of plane, registration number, serial number] from [name, address of owner], herein referred to as seller, for the purchase price of [amount]. This offer is subject to the following terms and conditions.

1. The aircraft will be sold free and clear of all liens and encumbrances; furthermore, the aircraft will be sold as having no major damage history.

2. Upon acceptance of this offer, a [amount] deposit shall be made by the purchaser.

3. The plane is sold ready to fly as a [type of plane; for instance, experimental (homebuilt) that meets the criteria for Light Sport Aircraft] is registered, has an airworthiness certificate, and current condition inspection. The plane shall meet these requirements by [date].

4. The deposit is a non-refundable deposit unless the seller does not abide by all terms and conditions stated in this contract.

5. Closing shall take place within seven days of a demonstration flight by the seller and completion of all items listed in paragraph three.

8. This offer, when accepted, represents a binding contract between the parties and shall be governed by [name of state] Law.

8. All documentation, logbooks, and paperwork associated with the aircraft will be the property of the purchaser after closing is accomplished, and shall be made available for inspection before closing.

Agreed and Accepted
[name and signature of seller, date]

Agreed and accepted
[name and signature of buyer, date]