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Aircraft Broker

bnicolette

By bnicolette
in Miscellaneous Aviation Talk

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bnicolette Veteran

bnicolette

Posted
Posted

I don't believe we have a thread on aircraft brokers so I thought I'd start one.

 

 

I hope that Nick won’t mind but I just had such a wonderful experience that I really felt the need to make a post.

 

I wanted to sell my Mooney 201 and had pondered it for probably over a year before I finally decided to take the leap.  I was, for a short time thinking of just buying a single that had TKS when I came across a Mooney Missile that was listed for sale.  The listing was one of the nicer ones I have seen and was put together by New Heights Aviation (Nick Eberling).  It wasn’t long after it was listed that I heard from Nick and he was moving it across the country to its new owner.  A few months later when I decided to finally put mine up for sale I got in touch with Nick and we talked about his process and fees.  I was immediately taken back when I heard what small fee he charges and then when I learned what I got for that fee it was a no brainer.  I was ready to get started instantly and I was made to feel like I was his number one priority.  Well that was not just a feeling or fluff.  Nick only carries a few clients so each and every one of them gets his complete attention.  Within one week of his very noble “handshake” agreement Nick was at my airport to meet the airplane first hand and begin the photo process.  When I say process, I mean PROCESS!  I am sure that Nick’s professionalism, work ethic, demeanor and fastidious behavior come as much from his upbringing as it does from his training and current profession of serving our country as an F15 fighter pilot.  He had to make sure that we picked the right day, as he wanted as much as possible to have perfect atmospheric conditions as he photographed my Mooney.  He showed up at sunrise, literally, and began to surmise the area like a Hollywood producer.  I thought that I had cleaned the airplane up well, but evidentially I didn’t as I came around the corner and just saw feet hanging out of my baggage area as he was face first inside the airplane vacuuming.  It was during my first phone conversation with Nick that I knew I had picked the right guy for the upcoming job but when I saw this I almost broke down in tears because it’s so hard this day and age to actually find somebody that is so committed to doing a great job. I also knew with his commitment that I was going to have to wave goodbye to my beloved Mooney before long.  Oh did I mention that it was less than 20 degrees while this was going on and those feet that were pointed skyward out of my baggage area had no shoes on them.  He was up and down the wing and didn’t want to dirty the wing walk.  This dude is nuts.

After a minimum of 3 hours Nick had finished up the pictures of which he had taken over 180 of them.  Folks you need to know that his attention to detail with these photos is not to try to make the airplane something it’s not but to give prospective buyers the very best representation of the airplane possible while they’re sitting in front of their computers instead of just guessing what the airplane is like from the 5 pictures we see when inevitably shopping on Controller or Trade-a-Plane.  I am sure that I’m biased but I believe if you ask the new owner of my Mooney if it was what he was expecting he would overwhelmingly say that it was.  I hope so because he bought it sight unseen, which with anybody else listing the airplane would be a huge mistake, most of the time.  But with Nick at the helm it’s a non-issue.

I believe that it was within a day of Nick being here to do the photos that there was a website dedicated to my aircraft with bundles of high-resolution photos and links to a complete copy of the logbooks.  For the life of me I can’t understand why every single broker out there doesn’t put this information on the listing as just about anybody looking for an airplane is going to want to see the logbooks?  Nick puts every bit of information out there for prospective buyers to peruse at their leisure and if they’re interested then they will get in touch with him.  I for one love this process instead of having to beg for information and then be pressured by the “salesman”.

Within a week of taking the photos Nick had perused the logbooks personally so he knew the airplane inside and out.  He also had the most professional looking listings you will ever see on Trade-a-plane, Controller, Barnstormers and the popular Mooney forum.

If any of you are familiar with Zig Ziglar you will understand this.  “You will get all you want out of life if you help enough other people get what they want”.  Nick has what I believe to be a real passion for general aviation and he loves to share that passion and help others achieve the dream of owning a great airplane.  So when he is playing the part of “salesman” it certainly doesn’t come across that way because while he is trying to sell the airplane he’s listing, his real passion is in finding the objectives of the buyer and I’m willing to bet that if he thinks this is not the right plane for them then he’s going to speak up.  He is that genuine which is why I think he is so good at this.  I almost hate to use the word “broker” as it carries with it, at least for me, a “used car salesman” connotation and nothing could be further from the truth.

I was kept in the loop on what was happening through the time my airplane was listed but not drowned with information.  If there was somebody really interested then Nick would let me know.  It was the perfect balance of feeling like nothing was happening to getting every piece of correspondence.

From the time we had a solid offer to the time it left my hangar was about a week and a half.  It probably would’ve been just a matter of days but we fixed a couple things on the airplane and had to wait for parts.  Because of the constraints of my work Nick took the broker hat off and put on the ferry pilot hat and flew the Mooney to Utah.   I’m here to tell you that he is quite the contortionist.  He has bent over backwards so many times to make sure that everything was perfect for not only me but the buyer as well.  The buyer really wanted the airplane to be delivered before he went on an extended business trip but certainly wasn’t requiring it to be.  Nick never lost site of that request and got the airplane to him with a week to spare.

Folks, I just can’t possibly explain how easy the process was from start to finish.  Not only was it easy but enjoyable and I made a great friend along the way.   If you are looking to sell your airplane or buy an airplane, you would do extremely well by getting in touch with New Heights Aviation!  First class all the way and easily the best value I have seen yet in aviation.  Take the time to peruse his website as it’s very telling of his professionalism.

http://newheightsaviation.com

  • Like 1
mooneyman Community Regular

mooneyman

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the review. I'm looking to step up to an M20R in the next year or so. I was considering several different brokers for help selling my F model. Maybe I'll give Nick a call. Do they work on set fee or percentage commission?

Patrick

  • Like 1
bnicolette Veteran

bnicolette

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It's a percentage Patrick but you will not find anybody else competitive.

Flat rate for a buyers agent. Use him for both and the story gets even better. You won't be sorry. Call him and you'll understand.

  • Like 1
Hank Grand Master

Hank

Posted
Posted

Huh? What's with the avatar? Wishful thinking?

 

 

You dog! You bought the Baron! You weren't going to tell us? Like the Aspen? 

 

Personally, I think the story is there, we're just waiting on details and photos . . .

  • Like 1
Hector Veteran

Hector

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the review. I'm looking to step up to an M20R in the next year or so. I was considering several different brokers for help selling my F model. Maybe I'll give Nick a call. Do they work on set fee or percentage commission?

Patrick

When you sell your F please post it here. I have a C that has been great to me but I'm getting an itch for an F maybe next year.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

mooneyman Community Regular

mooneyman

Posted
Posted

When you sell your F please post it here. I have a C that has been great to me but I'm getting an itch for an F maybe next year.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Will do! 

  • 2 months later...
dfgreene61 Collaborator

dfgreene61

Posted
Posted

I'm the guy who purchased Brett's 201. I want to second what Brett had to say about Nick. He definitely went above and beyond on our transaction. I wouldn't hesitate to hire him in the future!

I'm missing my 201 at the moment. It's at lasar for annual right now then it's off to the paint shop. This will be a long four weeks!

Marauder Grand Master

Marauder

Posted
Posted

I'm the guy who purchased Brett's 201.

I'm missing my 201 at the moment. It's at lasar for annual right now then it's off to the paint shop. This will be a long four weeks!

After paying for a few months of fuel bills for his Baron, I'm sure Brett is missing your Mooney too!

Sent using Tapatalk

  • Like 1
bnicolette Veteran

bnicolette

Posted
  • Author
Posted

After paying for a few months of fuel bills for his Baron, I'm sure Brett is missing your Mooney too!

Sent using Tapatalk

 

True Dat.   :D

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