Resale value of newish vs oldish boats?

[S/V Alchemy]

Boats under 32 feet and over 30 years old are practically worthless in terms of resale, which is good news for you. They aren't necessarily used up, but tend to lack amenities. A clever buyer can modify and restore and use the boat as a learning platform. I did.

[valhalla360]

Drive it off the lot expect to lose 10-20% within minutes.

Then expect to lose 5-10% per year for the next 5-10yrs (more in the early years).

Then it's a slow slide until by 15-20yrs, depreciation leave the picture and the boat is worth is based on what it can do.

I would argue maintenance on the newer boat will be higher than an old boat. Stuff breaks almost as often once you get to 4-5yrs and if you don't want drastic reduction in resale value, you better keep up on everything in tip top shape on a newer boat. Where as on an older boat, if there are a few dings in the gelcoat or some system (say single sideband) is broken, it won't have much impact on sales price.

The bigger question I have is with a window of only 2 years, it's silly to buy, sell and buy again. Also, as others have said, there is no ultimate boat. As 2yrs is about right to get to know a boat (shake out all the issues and learn how to handle her), get what the boat that matches what you plan to do.

[Pendragon35]

I own and sail an Alberg 35, built in 1965. As far as I can determine from the title history, this boat has sold for about $22,000 every time it has changed hands since. I believe we are the fifth owners and bought it for $20,00. I notice that other A35's of about the same vintage and condition also sell for something in this range.

The important word here is 'condition'. Ours was repowered with a Yanmar 3gm30 a few years ago (600 hours now), ok sails (bought used but in good shape), good rigging, minimal problems with water invading the balsa core. At some time in the past, her interior was redone by an owner with great carpentry skills who added a beautiful chart table. Another previous owner rewired her.

I would guess that other boats from 1960's/1970's might have a similar experience. In good condition, kept that way, depreciation should be essentially zero.

[Olddave]

It's a dumb idea. Unless you buy something special, it could be hard to sell without taking a heavy loss. So buy something special and keep it.
Dave

[rbk]

First I woudl look at what your future plans are...heavy long keel cruiser? Fast fin? Cat? Then pick a similar, older, well outfitted on along the same lines as your future boat plans.

As suggested there are many many many used, well outfitted boats out there that will suit your introduction needs and even keep going should you chose to do so; And as long as maintenance is kept up you'll loose next to nothing on the resale. If you have $150K to spend why not spend half of it and get a really decent outfitted older cruiser on the verge of being circumnav ready or very coastal capable and save the rest for your ultimate boat.

The benefit (and some will argue the 'benefit' of this) is there will always be something to fix on an older boat which in my opinion gives you invaluable experience in the long run, as even with a brand new off the lot boat, something will eventually go wrong and it will probably be somewhere very inconvenient and some experience may get you out of a very stressful possible dangerous situation.

Remember to leave a healthy contingency for repairs and upgrades as every boat will need some in your price range. For example even with a re-powered engine professionally installed it may let you down or you may let it down due to a loose clamp, or wiring harness, maybe the oil wasn't checked etc etc. With limited experience you may also find that what you think you want isn't what you really need in the long run.

[epiic]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

The bigger question I have is with a window of only 2 years, it's silly to buy, sell and buy again. Also, as others have said, there is no ultimate boat. As 2yrs is about right to get to know a boat (shake out all the issues and learn how to handle her), get what the boat that matches what you plan to do.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Tessellate]

What I've heard is the more important factor is to buy a production boat - ie, a common model that is in high demand and has many competing sales to compare against. That kind of boat is much easier to resell in 2 years, which it sounds like is your priority.

For your situation of wanting to cruise right away and then sell the boat in 2 years, I would choose the newer boat (10-18 years), not 25-30 or more. It's easier to find a newer boat that is ready to go immediately and not do any major projects on it.

When comparing boat depreciation, make sure to compare absolute values, not percentages. After all, if a 150k boat depreciates 10k, that is still more out of your pocket than a 50k boat depreciating 5k.

But for 2 years ownership your more important factor is probably maximizing time spent sailing. "Opportunity cost" is a cost too. If you're buying a boat to go cruising, then time that old boat spends out of commission in projects is a cost too.

And if you're not sure you're going to get substantially more than 20 full days per year of sailing the boat, then you'd be better off chartering. (approximate numbers - you can of course calculate this for your local area using local charter costs vs ownership costs).

[Colin A]

Originally Posted by fursoc

Thanks Ann but I'm not really after advice on which model to buy.

Say you had $150k, and you needed a boat for 2 years for coastal cruising, after which time you will sell it and buy your ultimate boat.

Would you buy a 10, 20 or 30+ yr old boat?

I should also say that I want to get my family used to boating/cruising in this boat, so comfort comes into the equation.

I would go 15-20 years old for me as that would get some of the features I want without having to add them, but down on the resale curve. This varies alot by region thou, used sailboats are very cheap in most of the US at the moment.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Hmm... in Australia, not so sure, but around these parts, southern Cal, the Catalina 27 would be my first choice FOR WHAT you are saying. They are very common, easy to sail, sail well, relatively roomy and inexpensive to own. They are probably 25 to 30 or ... gulp... 40 years old? (am I that old?) guess so... so oldish I'd say... in good condition.

I love gulp (am I that old). It seems daily to look at something in retrospect and do the math. Scary!

[robert sailor]

I'd try to rent one considering your situation. There are enough sailboats that never leave the dock that it may not be that hard. You can pay a lot of rent before you even come close to dock fees, maintenance and insurance, something to think about.

[a64pilot]

Your exactly where I was four years ago.
My thought first and foremost was that I did NOT want a project, I wanted a turn key, ready to go boat that we could see if we liked this sailing thing and living on a boat. I didn't need to learn how to work on a boat.
So I figured a good, mass production boat, well kept and 5 or less years old. That ought to be a boat that was in good shape, needed nothing and yet would still be worth something and easy to sell in a couple of years.

Looked around for awhile and bought a beautiful, well kept BeneHuntalina that had many upgrades, was owned by an Electrical Engineer who was selling to get a new, bigger boat. He had already put money down on the new one, needed to sell the current one.
Well during survey, we found a couple of serious structural issues and I had to pass. He turned white, cause he had no idea about them, and I could see in his head he was thinking I can't afford two boats.

I only wanted to spend X number of $$ so I started looking at older better made boats and ended up with this one for our starter boat. Then after maybe six months of owning her, I asked the wife on day, whats wrong with this boat? Do we really need newer, or just fix this one up?
So our starter boat ended up being the boat.

My advice, buy an older well found boat, one that has a following, have cash to buy right now, a deal will come along if your in the position to buy right now. If you buy it right, then in a few years you may even break even on the sale if you decided to sell.
Just don't put any money into improvements, if you intend to sell, you won't get it back. Except things that are eye candy like refinishing teak and polishing / waxing the hull, that will help it sell.

[ColonelWima]

25 years would be fine. I don't know who will sail with you but when it's with partner and children buy one that feels spacious. Equipment, sails and engine should be ok but there should be maintenance available. In case you experience that you don't like it don't go for the ultimate one. Scrubbing my teak deck with dishwashing detergent gives me great satisfaction after the job is done.

[grantmc]

The OP asked some questions. Unfortunately all of the answers are terms like: would be; could be, might be, maybe, what you prefer. But anyways I’ll have a go.
Question 1

Originally Posted by fursoc

What about maintenance? Would a newer boat cost me less in maintenance over the 1-2 yrs?

Newer boats tend to have far more systems and facilities and as a result there is more to go wrong. For example the Nicholson just has an icebox (when the ice melts clean out and add more ice) and a 2 burner meth stove, and cold water only. Not much to go wrong.
Even the Bene has a cook top and oven and hot water system using LPG so much more complex and much more to go wrong.
Question 2

Originally Posted by fursoc

Why would I easily lose $25k on the $155k boat? And why will it cost more to store, haulout, etc?

When you come to sell the $155K boat and someone offers $130K would you accept the offer?
Things cost more because people see you with a flash new boat and so they'll charge more (indirectly of course). Whereas you front up in your old boat they know you’re on a beer budget.

I have an old $20K boat and so I haggle, and I plead poverty, and ask for alternatives (all in a nice way) and typically get things cheaper. Maybe there's a second hand one out the back of the shop or of the hour spent fixing my boat I get charged a half hour and the guy with big flash Bene gets charged the other half hour. That's just the world.

You can always judge the quality of the boats in a marina by the contents of the dumpsters.

Question 3

Originally Posted by fursoc

Thanks Ann but I'm not really after advice on which model to buy.
Say you had $150k, and you needed a boat for 2 years for coastal cruising, after which time you will sell it and buy your ultimate boat.
Would you buy a 10, 20 or 30+ yr old boat?
I should also say that I want to get my family used to boating/cruising in this boat, so comfort comes into the equation.

I don’t know anything about you OP so hard to be empathetic. But your questions indicate you and family have little experience with sailing. If so then why throw significant money at a venture you may all regret.
And I’ll just share this. I’ve come across many people that are going to ‘sail the world’.
But they go for a bit of a sail (a few days on a passage somewhere) and often as not find they’re:
terribly seasick, or
they don’t like standing watch out in the rain and the wave splashes at 3am, or
they freak when land disappears over the horizon and discover the world really isn’t flat and solid.
And let’s not even talk about the basic difficulties of jobs like cooking, bleeding the engine or clearing a blocked toilet whilst underway.

Some alternatives to owning a boat:
Join a boat club and crew at events (including your family) and that way you’ll find out. Especially do some deliveries. There’s always someone shifting a boat somewhere.
For example there’ll be heaps of people looking for crew to sail their boats back from the Wooden Boat Festival in Tassy. I know a guy will need to sail his boat back to Perth, that’s a good old shake down sail.

Charter some boats. You’re in one of the best cruising areas in the world. Not my first preference but chartering gives you a real idea of the difference between a 30 year old boat and a new boat.

Also someone alluded to maintenance as a choice. To a significant degree that’s very true. Some people choose to keep their boats in Bristol fashion, others not so much. And so for many people if something breaks down they don’t fix it unless it’s essential to the boat’s usage. Classic examples
1. when the inboard engine dies they’ll pop a little 10hp outboard on the transom. They’ll probably have bought it second hard for $500 and sometimes it will go and sometimes it wont. But a cheap alternative to repowering a diesel.
2. whatever breaks waits until the next bring and buy boat sale when the owner expects/hopes to pickup a replacement of whatever went wrong on the cheap (or better still find in that magical dumpster).

It’s all about choice and preference.

[robbinsfamily]

Hey we have just done the same thing. We purchased a Bav 50 cruiser 2012 for our family of 5 and will sail it from Italy to NZ over a few years. They are worth a lot more in NZ so I may get my money back or even make a little. I also have the option of chartering it. I figured not to old and not to new for maintenance and depreciation wins.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by fursoc

Hi, I have posted a few times on this forum about how to go about sailing around the world with zero experience. Anyway, we have made the decision to buy a small-ish coastal cruiser now to use for a year or so before buying the ultimate boat.

What boat would you buy knowing you were going to sell it in a year or 2? An 8-10yr old or 20-30yr old, or older boat?

Some examples:

10 yr old, 25 yr old, Older, Another

Thank you!

Buy an old well kept boat. It has flat lined as far as depreciation a newer boat will deprecate a lot more if your intention is only to keep it a year or so.
Save the money saved for your "ultimate boat". JMHO