Resale value of newish vs oldish boats?

[Djarraluda]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

There's another thread on this very issue. The first two suggestions were a Top Hat, and a Swanson 28. One Top Hat is known to have circumnavigated; another went Newcastle to Canada via Hawaii, then down through Mexico and returned along the milk run. Two adults and a toddler aboard. The Swanson 28 has a large interior for a vessel its size, I am told.

Ann

Ann

Actual boat will depend on your needs for people numbers, length of trip etc. in Aus we have some great boats from say 70's that effectively do not appear elsewhere in world
I bought a Compass 28 and in over 16 years only "lost" a few thousand $ but spent a lot on upgrades and replacements so what is devaluation?
Old boats are great learner boats and help you decide what you want next, if chosen well it could just be some updates to that boat anyway

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by epiic

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Me three.

We bought our good old boat in 2008, with plans to actively sail and refit before heading south in 2017.

I thought it was foolish to buy it so soon before our departure.

My todo list today is longer than my todo list was 9 years ago.

We live by, "Boat projects can't interfere with the sailing season".

I work on customer boats at least 5 days per week.

This means anything that has to be done, gets done on a Saturday or Sunday between April 15 and May 15, or Oct. 1 and Nov. 1.

That doesn't leave a whole lot of time.

If 25% of available days are rained out, that leaves about 12 days per year.

Knock off a day for bottom painting, another for topsides polishing, another for pre-launch prep, another for post launch prep, another for pre-haul prep, another for post haul winterizing, and that leaves 6 days per year for other stuff.

If you plan to sail away in 2 years, and this criteria sounds like you, you shoulda bought the boat you intend to sail away on, at least 5 years ago.

If you buy the "ultimate" sailboat today, unless it recently refit exactly to your taste, and is in perfect condition, it will not be ready to go 2 years from now, unless you work on it during the sailing season.

I normally recommend performing only necessary maintenance the first year of ownership. e.g. If the VHF is busted, by all means fix it. But don't make any significant modification in the first year.

This leaves you 6 days to make it what you want.

You don't have time for an "initial" boat, you don't even have time to prepare the "ultimate" boat.

Thank goodness there may be other options:

A) Work on it constantly in the last year before you depart to prepare.

B) Work on it along the way after your "Bon Voyage" party.

[thomm225]

My 2 year boat was a 1974 Bristol 27, but due to some family medical problems/expenses, it may turn into my 10-15 year cruising boat.

I paid $2,000 for it and have done very little structural maintenance over these past six years. I've painted the bottom twice and topsides once.

I did buy a new mainsail (8 oz), added solar, inverter, outboard, etc.

The rest was already there. The boat had been gone over before the 2 year cruise by the PO I have come to realize. It sat on the hard 5 years unattended before I "found" it without a for sale sign on it

It was parked right near the end of a 2 year cruise to Florida and the Bahamas by the PO.

I say near because he didn't quite make it home and never returned for the boat. It was an estate sale site unseen by the son in California

I use it for weekend warrior/vacation Coastal Cruising and daysailing.

I was actually looking for a Pearson Triton 28 and found this boat which is very similar

I had always liked the old full keel cruising boats even while I was racing high tech beach cats.

I got lots of help and ideas from the Atom Voyages website also. He warms not to do too much maintenance (as in total refit) on the boat before you start sailing it

Atom Voyages - Good Old Boats List

[WildFireAus]

[QUOTE=fursoc;2320716]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?

Hi Fursoc, great to have ideas and dreams. As I am not aware of your family dynamics and don't know if you want a mono or multihull, it's difficult to answer ur question directly. But I can state that having just sold a trimaran trailer sailer it took over 3 months to sell, in Victoria - we were one of the lucky ones. Through this process we were told that there is a smorgasbord of boats for sale in Aus from trailer sailers to cruising vessels. So anything you buy for short term may take a long term to sell and impact on you buying your "forever" boat.
Secondly I think grantmc suggestions of getting involved in your local club, chartering vessels etc over the next few years, learning to sail is a more fun and probably less costly way of finding out if this lifestyle is the one for you and your family.
Sanctuary Cove boat show is coming up shortly and at the same time there is another couple of boat shows on, all in the same area around the Gold Coast. Great few days and great way to learn more about the industry. Leave ur cheque book at home, so easy to impulse buy. Go to a place called The BoatWorks Coomera. So many boats for sale - mainly multihulls. Great opportunity to see so many vessels in one area.
I suggest the above as this is what we have done to a certain extent except my husband has considerable sailing experience. We have ended up building our own catamaran to get the vessel of choice. While it has been a great experience we probably wouldn't do again. If we had bought a vessel we would be out there living the dream, but life sends us on different journeys! Newer boats do depreciate more quickly, so guess we will be hanging on to ours for a while. Best of luck to you
Gaye

[westsail374]

One potential fly in the ointment - if you are thinking about buying a "learner" boat for a couple of years, then moving to a final boat, consider how long it takes to sell a boat and how much of a bath you might have to take to get rid of that older boat.

Haunt the used boat sites for awhile. sailboatlistings.com for example. Find a few boats that interest you, and watch how long they stay on the market, and what their sales history is.

How is selling a boat like Casablanca? Often, nice looking vessels at attractive prices wait, and wait, and wait.......

[Hoodsail]

if only keeping for 1-2 yrs would recommend renting when needed versus buying...economically the better route to go and avoid the time involved in searching for boat to buy and then searching for a someone to sell her to..If looking to buy to acquire more in depth knowledge of boat systems would definitely go the used route - as more likely more to work on...a new catalina 38 was just listed on this site for $250,000, reduced from over $300,000. While I had a 1984 catalina 27 in fair shape that sold on the USA, east coast 2 yrs ago for $5000. Granted completely different boats, but the economics are stark.
good luck in your hunt
dave

[toddster8]

I bought an old worn-out boat as my "first" big-boat. Just because I wanted to be able to break things without huge consequences while getting up to speed. The problem as everyone points out, is that all of those boats require a lot of work and parts to get them reasonably usable. Of course, it would have been more cost effective to pay twice as much for one that someone else had already restored.

Anyway, one thing leads to another, and seven years later, I still have that same boat, and am starting to think that maybe it really will be "the one."
With just a few more projects...

[KJB]

My .02. Buy the boat you want the first time. Likely, since it will obviously be a nice boat, it will hold its value as good as anything else.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by toddster8

I bought an old worn-out boat as my "first" big-boat. Just because I wanted to be able to break things without huge consequences while getting up to speed. The problem as everyone points out, is that all of those boats require a lot of work and parts to get them reasonably usable. Of course, it would have been more cost effective to pay twice as much for one that someone else had already restored.

Anyway, one thing leads to another, and seven years later, I still have that same boat, and am starting to think that maybe it really will be "the one."
With just a few more projects...

If you know boats, you can get off quite cheap with an old boat.

If you don't have boat buying experience, you could spend thousands on the boat and the repairs.

Is all about your experience

[aclmck]

Hi Fursoc,

Great question, the boat ,type you choose is your decision ,the boats are all over the place at this point in that some brands and types sell very quickly and others sit for years, the large manufactured tend to be easier to sell in Australia,some brands are loved and some hated.

i would be looking for a boat that had as close to all equipment that you feel you need or want it matters little which price set it is in as if your buying in the 150k range or the 25k range if the boats don't have the equipment it will cost the same or similar to equip, these are costs that don't normally add to the value of the boat. if your only keeping it a few years you should be able to recoup the cost of purchase fairly easily,but this depends a lot on what our currency does as well because this seems to dictate if boats are purchased overseas and bought into Australia therefore effecting prices on local markets


if the boat you choose is hard to find /buy then it will probably remain that way for a while at least, on the other hand if you have a page full of boats and they have been on the net for a year or 2 you should expect the same in a few years

i would be talking to a few brokers on this subject and get their opinions as well but after following the Aussie market for a few years myself this is what i have found

[toddster8]

Originally Posted by thomm225

If you know boats, you can get off quite cheap with an old boat.

If you don't have boat buying experience, you could spend thousands on the boat and the repairs.

Is all about your experience

It's also about the Zen of finding content on an ugly boat with no systems.

[leftbrainstuff]

There are other options. A time share or part ownership for example.

If this were a car you needed for just 2 years what would you do?

Lease - fixed cost, no maintenance if lease new. Known costs at 3nd. Zero, ballon or residual.
Or buy and hope you can sell it for the right price in 2 years.

Selling boats is something that is hard to crystal ball. One will sell quick, another may take years.

If I was in your position and knew I wasn't going to be buying my real boat for two years then I want to minimize my costs in the interim.

Options I would consider are:

1) lease
2) join sailing club and use club boats
3) offer to liveaboard and maintain a boat for someone else
4) some form of timeshare
5) buy the boat with the best resale potential. This will be the volume seller or a unicorn I got for cheap

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by toddster8

It's also about the Zen of finding content on an ugly boat with no systems.

Wow, sorry your boat was ugly and had no systems......

[Cheechako]

It's just tough. Some thoughts:
- spend too much of a popular boat with good resale and you are still going to lose money, You pay more due to popularity.
-it may take 1.5 years to sell.
-You could buy a small unpopular boat and not spend much. Trouble is, how do you discard it when done?
-Negotiate hard, anything you lack in negotiation to start, you will lose to sell.
-A popular design/name will be easier to sell, if priced attractively.
-Resale may be more about condition, but aged designs may be a detriment. Once the boat is 8+ years old things start to decay. So a 25 year old boat with upgrades and condition may be as easy to sell as a 10 year old boat not upgraded/maintained and more money. But if it's an old centerboard , shoal draft with long over hangs, a beat up mast etc and bad gel coat... damn near a give away.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

But if it's an old centerboard , shoal draft with long over hangs, a beat up mast etc and bad gel coat... damn near a give away.

Exactly!

So if you spend $2,000-$6,000 dollars on one of these type boats that is still in good condition and sail it for a few years, what difference does it make if you have to give it away?

A decent new dodger costs around these prices. My $2,000 boat came with a dodger and bimini attachment

I've been sailing this one 6 years .........................while still working and looking around for another while at the same time learning that cruising can be a bit slow and boring

You can spend $200,000 to learn this or $6,000