Airplane For Sale - Step 4 and Step 5 of The Buying Process

Airplane for Sale: Buyers Guide Step 4: Research Your Aircraft

Gather all information related to your aircraft including, a complete list of specifications, photos, maintenance history, damage history, etc. Knowing the history of an aircraft is essential. All maintenance should be complete and well documented. Airplanes with missing records or major damage may still be good, but they are usually worth less and you may want to speak with a broker to determine value in a situation like this.

When buying a plane, the owner/seller should be willing to provide you with all the information you request. You can also do a little research on your own.

Airplane for Sale: Buyers Guide Step 5: Put a Deposit Down on the Aircraft

After you have reviewed all available information about the plane and you feel fairly comfortable that this is the plane for you, it is time to put down a deposit to remove the aircraft from the market. This will secure the aircraft while you make arrangements for a pre-purchase inspection.

Why put down a deposit?

This tells the seller that you are serious about the plane. You are saying that yes, I have the money to buy the plane and if it is everything that it is represented to be, I will buy it. This gives you first rights to the plane, meaning that the plane will not be sold out from under you.

A purchase agreement should be signed by both parties, outlining the terms of the sale. Before sending your deposit money, you should trust the seller, make sure you understand and agree to the terms of the sale, and be sure your deposit is refundable.

It is common for the seller to retain a small portion of the deposit, if there were expenses involved, but this should be clearly outlined beforehand.

Escrow Services

If you find a plane you like, but you are not comfortable sending a deposit to the seller, you can enlist the services of an Escrow Company. For a fee, an escrow service will hold the money and the aircraft documents until both parties give authorization for release. Then the money & documents are disbursed to the appropriate parties.

Most Escrow companies that charge for their services are insured by the FDIC. This is not always the case, however; so it is a good idea to verify this before you send your money to a third party.

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