Second Boat, What should I do?

[tyqchur]

Purchased a, new to me, boat last year and my first boat is still sitting with the broker. It's a 1980 Hunter 27, recently repowered, new sail, new traveler, furled, winches, etc. The broker has it listed for $9,000.00 and I only want $4,000.00, if I can get it. The boat is sitting accumulating storage costs and hasn't moved. I'm at a loss as to what to do and would like the opinion of the folks on the board who might have been through this.
Should I:
1. Leave the boat listed with the broker and wait another year.
2.End my brokerage contract and place the boat on e-bay.
3.Donate the boat to a charity.
4.Cut the old girl up an part her out.
5.Find a salvage company to her off my hands.
Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

[Teknav]

Option 2; eBay's exposure would be your best option. Mauritz

[Cheechako]

I see alot of this lately. #1 End the listing and try craigs list/ebay. heck, Someone may buy it for the engine.... assuming it's an inboard...? 27 footers are going for about nothing it seems. Justified or not people look with disdain at the Hunter name for some reason. But even Catalina 27's are $3-7K
#2, if you need the tax deduction donate it.
#3 if you have the time, sell the engine, sails, mast etc.
In that order I guess. Some one out there should buy your boat at $4k though. It's the right time of year, get aggresive and sell it!
I turned down an Islander 30 with new sails, rigging, furling and brand new 3 cyl yanmar for $5k last year. (had a bad case of blisters) The boat ended up being donated and was offerred for $5k for one week prior.

[letsgetsailing3]

End the listing, and either craigslist it or ebay it.

Or have the broker buy it with his commission - he'll still come out ahead. (Just kidding.)

[JPA Cate]

We once had a broker do that to us: that is, ask more for the boat than we thought it was worth on the existing market. It didn't move. Eventually he told us we were asking too much for it! Go figure. Finally, after 18 months, it did sell. I'm with the other guys, if you think $4 K is a fair price for the boat, take it away from the broker and try selling it elsewhere. Although being a fleet owner worked for Aristotle Onassis, it doesn't work well if you want to go play with your new toy!

[denverd0n]

Have you told the broker that you want it to sell soon and you don't need to get $9k out of it? I can't imagine that the broker just refuses to lower the price.

You can try selling it on ebay, but these days that's pretty much an invitation to have to filter through a hundred scammers in order to find one serious buyer. Or craigslist, which might work better.

But really, I'd start by telling the broker that I want to lower the price, and that if he doesn't want to do that then he is going to lose the listing. Then, if he wants you to sign another listing contract, I would tell him no more than 3 months, because you want it priced so it will sell in that time frame.

Good luck.

[witzgall]

eBay is a good marketing tool, you may not sell the boat there, but it lets you get the word out to many people looking for boats. We found our last two boats there. Neither was purchased on eBay, but only after an offer, negotiations, survey etc...

Chris

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Have you told the broker that you want it to sell soon and you don't need to get $9k out of it? I can't imagine that the broker just refuses to lower the price.

You can try selling it on ebay, but these days that's pretty much an invitation to have to filter through a hundred scammers in order to find one serious buyer. Or craigslist, which might work better.

But really, I'd start by telling the broker that I want to lower the price, and that if he doesn't want to do that then he is going to lose the listing. Then, if he wants you to sign another listing contract, I would tell him no more than 3 months, because you want it priced so it will sell in that time frame.

Good luck.

I think the key point you're missing is that the broker needs to get a commission.

$4,000 doesn't really allow for that, unless the broker adds a pretty significant figure.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

I think the key point you're missing is that the broker needs to get a commission. $4,000 doesn't really allow for that...

I think the key point that YOU are missing is that the listing is coming to an end, and the broker isn't going to get ANYTHING if the boat doesn't sell. It certainly can't hurt to tell the broker that you want to lower the price and sell the boat NOW!

[skipmac]

You can offer to give the broker an non-exclusive listing that allows him/her to keep the boat for sale but also allows you to sell it independently.

Some brokers don't like to accept this type of listing but they are available.

Then go on craigslist and ebay.

[Liam Wald]

Originally Posted by tyqchur

Purchased a, new to me, boat last year and my first boat is still sitting with the broker. It's a 1980 Hunter 27, recently repowered, new sail, new traveler, furled, winches, etc. The broker has it listed for $9,000.00 and I only want $4,000.00, if I can get it. The boat is sitting accumulating storage costs and hasn't moved. I'm at a loss as to what to do and would like the opinion of the folks on the board who might have been through this.
Should I:
1. Leave the boat listed with the broker and wait another year.
2.End my brokerage contract and place the boat on e-bay.
3.Donate the boat to a charity.
4.Cut the old girl up an part her out.
5.Find a salvage company to her off my hands.
Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

Tell the broker to drop the asking price to $5k if you only want $4k.
He will get his commission and you will have some wiggle room.
Sounds like the broker is fishing for a higher commission and doesn't care how many months of slip and insurance you pay.
Drop the price and blow it out.
---OR---
How much money do you make a year? Could you use another write-off?
Donate it to the Sea Scouts and value it a a Blue Sky price of... let's see,
$12.5k-$15k. That should get you close.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

I think the key point that YOU are missing is that the listing is coming to an end, and the broker isn't going to get ANYTHING if the boat doesn't sell. It certainly can't hurt to tell the broker that you want to lower the price and sell the boat NOW!

The the part YOU'RE missing is that even cut rate brokers don't work for free. Most have a minimum.

If the broker thinks the boat is worth 9K, maybe he'll just buy it directly for 4K.

In this day of the internet, for boats under a certain price, having a broker makes no sense.

[Group9]

Go wit e-bay or Craigslist. A boat is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, no matter how much the owner thinks it is worth.

A broker I know said that for the last couple of years, most of the boats he has actually sold, have been going for about half of what is being asked for the ones you see for sale for years without moving.

I bought my last boat in 2010. Many of the boats I looked at, who wouldn't come down on their price, are still being listed with brokers. That's fine, if you can afford to carry the expense of a boat for three years just sitting at a dock.

Otherwise, price it to sell and move it.

[tyqchur]

Thanks everyone for your insights and suggestions. If I donate the boat and blue sky the value as Liam Wald suggested my breakeven number is about $3,000. So if the sale price minus the brokers commission is less than $3,000 I'll be better off donating the Hunter. The broker wants $3,000 the sell the boat so to make my number the sale price would have to be north of $6,000 and I'm not sure if that number is going to generate a quick sale here in New Jersey. So it looks like I'm back to the broker to see if he'll lower his commission and if not, I'll put it on eBay/Craig's list with a $3,000 reserve. Failing that it's off to the Sea Scouts. Everyone, thanks again for your help, it's been quite illuminating!

[boatman61]

Surprised you've had no 'lurkers' or members get in touch.. been a coupla 27ft wanna be owners recently.. and its sounds okay to me at that price (4K) with the work done.. for a launch and sail away..