Boat buying dilemma !

[old pirate]

Having cruised for 10 years in the 90s then land based for the past 14 its time to head off into the blue again.
What has become a main concern to buying the next boat is that many I would consider very suitable have been on the market for 3 to 4 years. At that time I didn't consider their prices to be outlandish ! The worry is that, when it comes time for me to sell, will I too, have to wait 3 to 4 years for a buyer ?
Or should I offer half the price and be prepared to accept half when my turn comes to sell ?

[Coops]

When you want to go you buy the one that you like. When you want to sell you take the first offer that says to you, "I can live with that."

If you really want to cruise then the potential loss of investment should not come into it for me.

Coops.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Right now, it's a buyer's market, BIG TIME. So make some lowball offers on several of your candidates, based upon your pre-purchase contingencies of course, and see what happens.

I do have one Big concern however, with what you stated. If these vessels have been on the market for almost half a decade, what's the catch? AKA what's wrong with them.
And as you're sitting down with the sellers, it'd likely be wise to politely & serripticously (sneakily) inquire about this fact.

[JPA Cate]

If it's been used in the time it was for sale, that's one thing. If it's been stored for 4 years, there's a lot not going to be okay.

Ann

[robert sailor]

I don't believe a nice well looked after boat that is priced somewhere in the ballpark is going to have been on the market for 4 years. For me the toughest job was to find a nice well cared for boat. Yes there are tons of boats out there but there are also tons of dogs or marginally built entry level production boats. I find any really well cared for quality boat that is priced at market will be sold in under a year and often in 6 months. If you know your market prices and low ball a nice boat you are unlikely to ever buy it.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

I don't believe a nice well looked after boat that is priced somewhere in the ballpark is going to have been on the market for 4 years.

Exactly. The ones that sit on the market for 4 years are over-priced. It really is that simple. Any boat that is properly priced for the market should sell within a year or so. If you want it to sell quicker, you price it lower. If you're willing to wait longer, maybe you can hold out for more. Of course, if you're paying $500/month for dock space, it doesn't make much sense to hold out for an extra year, just to get an extra $2,000 for the boat.

I happen to know a guy who is trying to sell his boat. His favorite phrase seems to be "Well, I'm not going to give it away!" So he has turned down a number of very reasonable offers. Meanwhile, he continues to pay dockage and insurance, and has recently lowered the asking price to less than an offer that he turned down almost 5 years ago. How many tens of thousands of dollars ahead would he be if he had not spent all these years being completely delusional about the value of his boat? Quite a few.

[Island Time O25]

Having been there twice I can tell from personal experience that often it is not even a matter of "pricing it right" (or wrong) but just luck and knowing where your potential buyers are. When I was selling my first boat I did not have any issues with running costs as she was on her own mooring and all the fees were paid in the beginning of the year so there was no difference if she sold early in the season or even next year as those fees were minimal, especially compared to your typical dockage fees etc. So I priced it with a cushion for haggling and to get back some of the costs of the imporvements made by me and not much else. After a lot of inquiries from dreamers and tire kickers (what is the proper name for those people in boat sales?) one of our mooring field launch drivers connected me to a guy needing a cheap liveaboard for a few months. I sold the boat to him for 1/2 of my original asking price and felt good about it since the guy was down on his luck and really needed the boat to live on.

BTW, he moved up to a bigger boat next season and gifted my boat to a friend. Although that may have been his storyline to avoid paying the town and harbormaster their annual fees and taxes. He left her on his old mooring (which incidentally was 150ft from mine) for about 3 seasons and she was happy as a clam even in her abandonment - no issues were noticeable in those 3 years except of course the beard. Last month I woke up one morning to clanging and other noise. The harbormaster pissed at 3years lack of fees and taxes ordered her scrapped. Too bad as she was built proverbial sh*thouse strong and in right and loving hands had another 30 years left.

[19 and counting]

WELL, you can sell your boat easily if you are willing to finance part of it, like no more than 50%, and short term, like no more than 3 years. We have done this selling several boats that were beyond the easy to finance 10 year old boat category with great results. Nice little monthly income. Checked the credit scores and talked to the new owners as we were the brokers and with Coast Guard Docs showing that a loan is on the boat and who is involved in it protects you in the states anyway. One late payment and you can take it back but we have chosen in a few circumstances to work with the buyer and give them some slack a couple of times. Make sure they have an insurance policy showing you as part owner. It was really a good way to go for us. Haven't been burned yet. Good luck!

[ssanzone]

I am not really sure what you question is...

A good boat at the right price will sell in less than a year based on season and how saturated the market is.

If you neglect your boat for the next few years and try to sell it, you will be waiting multiple years to find a buyer.

Personally, I have never been happy or successful while I am shopping for a boat and already thinking about selling it.

Buy the boat you want and will love because you, most likely, will never get your money back.

-steve

[19 and counting]

good thoughts all, we just seem to really enjoy working on different boats, you know, the old messin' about in boats syndrome, and have a blast doing and redoing different kinds of boats and cruising them for months at a time when we can. We don't go into it planning on selling it, but we have always made our financial decisions looking at worst case scenario because we have never been wealthy enough to eat it on a boat. And we never have. We just love boats and have just gotten another one to love for a while.

[Andy73]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

After a lot of inquiries from dreamers and tire kickers (what is the proper name for those people in boat sales?)

I would go with "Sail Blowers"...

[onestepcsy37]

Originally Posted by Coops

When you want to go you buy the one that you like. When you want to sell you take the first offer that says to you, "I can live with that."

If you really want to cruise then the potential loss of investment should not come into it for me.

Coops.

What Coops said. And may I add...

Money isn't the only thing you get to spend in your life.
You also get to spend......your Life.
And the difference between the two, is,
You can always look in your bankbook,
And see how much money you've got left.

Wish i'd said that, but I didn't. It was sailor/writer Herb Payson.
And his message was simple. There's no place you can look to
see how much life you have left, or in what health you will be in.
It was his motive for going NOW, rather than waiting until he had
the right boat and enough money.

[Greggegner]

B v bv



Greg S/V Sweet Dreams
Pearson P385 out of Racine Wisconsin

[old pirate]

Greggegner
B v bv ???

[19 and counting]

It is really not a buyers market here in CA. We had been boat shopping for two years to find number 19, and it was because we did not subscribe to the owner's tallying up everything he'd spent on the boat and then trying to get reimbursed. You can watch a candidate that's priced too high start heading south on the price until you think you might actually talk the owner into a real cash offer. Cash talks, esp. after the disappointment many sellers experience when the boat's first buyer offer falls apart cause of the survey. A good buy sells really fast and you have to be ready to jump on it. You need to go into a situation like this with some confidence in your experience with actual boats. You learn what you can accept and what you can't, what's going to cost a mint to fix and what you get that is really well done. Boats are all about compromise, passion and keeping within your budget. Best deals come from those who are selling because they married and the wife thinks the boat life sucks, or kids or a new house are on the horizon. Health issues, estate sales. Even better if someone has finally realized that the fun of loading up the boat with goodies is what they are giving away and they are over it and want the boat gone. There are a lot of old hands looking for boats in these circumstances. If an owner does the I'll pay for the slip until this boat sells for what I think it's worth are losing money over the long haul, sometimes more than they'd lose if they just took the first reasonable offer. Seems like a no brainer but so many people are of that mind set.