Rob wrote:


I guess the moral of my story is to hang in there, and watch out for
those brokers.

Unfortunately, there are some bad ones out there and they make their
whole industry look bad. When I was in the market for my last plane,
I found a prospect that looked good and was only a short flight away.
I was a little leary about it because it was being sold by a broker.
When I asked around the local area (my old hometown), everyone told me
not to worry, that the broker was great to work with. They were right.
None of the sleazy "used car" tactics. Everything was laid out in the
open and he even got me in touch with the IA who'd done the last
annual. All of the paperwork was done correctly and the title cleared
as promised (sometimes a problem with a private sale). Overall, it was
a great experience. I ended up not buying the plane I initially went
to look at. I found my plane sitting on his ramp. It had just arrived
and hadn't been advertised (that's how you find the best deals).

The tipoff for bad brokers is what you described. Lots of pressure
to close the deal and the mention of other buyers who are about to buy
the plane out from under you. The most common tipoff is that they
won't tell you the N number until you give them a large deposit. If
they really have a contract to sell the plane for the owner, they
shouldn't worry about you trying to buy direct. They get paid anyway.
Without a tail number you can't do an FAA records search to see if the
plane is what they say it is.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)