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Old 08-07-2013, 08:11   #1
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Moving to a liveaboard boat with a 6 year old

My husband and I have graduated two of our girls, and now have the 6 year old only at home, we are looking to significantly down size. We have found a definite boat that is a super price and has actual decent livable space for her to be comfortable. Looking for other parents whom have done this with their children and their likes and dislikes on it. Also what's the easiest way to finance a boat, we currently rent our home and we put out about 5k a month covering bills. We want to down size and eliminate about 3k by making this move. Looking to finance 15,000 for boat.
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Old 08-07-2013, 08:41   #2
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Re: Moving to a liveaboard boat with a 6 year old

Where are you located? The area and climate are big factors when being a live aboard, the size, easy o getting on/off the boat and the creature comforts of the boat. Also the slip location and the marina facilities/location are equally important. Financing a boat is usually harder than financing a house, and most of the time more expensive over all.
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Old 08-07-2013, 09:01   #3
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Re: Moving to a liveaboard boat with a 6 year old

Second the comments from rw58ph. Where you're located can make a huge difference in boat costs. Also the size of the boat.

On a 40' boat you could pay $2000-$3000 per month for slip rental or less than $400/month.

Yes financing a boat is much harder than financing a house. Bottom line, if you don't need the money the bank will loan it to you.

One question. It wasn't clear to me that you only needed to finance $15,000 of the purchase price or that would be the entire cost of the boat (pretty cheap price for a boat so I assume the former). If you are paying a significant cash deposit and only financing a very small portion of the overall purchase price you should be able to get the financing (unless of course you have terrible credit score )
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Old 08-07-2013, 09:28   #4
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I can speak up. We liveaboard with our 3 year old son as our two older girls are moved on or going through the university. Speaking about our son

He is having a good time being with us - no more daycare.
He has only mentioned our old land home once in nearly six months.
He is the only child in the marina but we have a children's museum near and he loves that
He loves ocean animals that visit us in the evenings and mornings
He is home schooled
Its been a great experience for him and us we are enjoying it!
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Old 08-07-2013, 09:59   #5
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Re: Moving to a liveaboard boat with a 6 year old

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg and Amber View Post
My husband and I have graduated two of our girls, and now have the 6 year old only at home, we are looking to significantly down size. We have found a definite boat that is a super price and has actual decent livable space for her to be comfortable. Looking for other parents whom have done this with their children and their likes and dislikes on it. Also what's the easiest way to finance a boat, we currently rent our home and we put out about 5k a month covering bills. We want to down size and eliminate about 3k by making this move. Looking to finance 15,000 for boat.
Boats over twenty years old are almost impossible to finance.

Most boat loan companies will not be interested in a 15K loan.

Most boat loan companies will not finance a liveaboard.

There are always some exceptions. You really haven’t provided enough information.
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Old 08-07-2013, 10:22   #6
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Re: Moving to a liveaboard boat with a 6 year old

Ok, the boat is already in a marina slip, which we like and know people at already. The boat is an older vessel and needs some TLC for sure, but has huge potential. Most of the work is cosmetic inside, and my husband can do the actual work as he is very experienced in it already. Location is Kemah, TX and several people live in the marina's around here, it seems to be pretty common. Boat slip is only 300.00/ month not counting live aboard fee. I personally think is an awesome price myself.
I'm going to keep my daughter in public school as it is her 1st grade year and she loves that. We have an excellent school district here. I'm more looking for people who have actually had a child aboard and how easy/difficult it was for them.
I will look into financing through a bank, I was just thinking that their were actual companies that dealt with just boats. Google here I come..lol
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Old 08-07-2013, 10:28   #7
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Re: Moving to a liveaboard boat with a 6 year old

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Originally Posted by Greg and Amber View Post
Ok, the boat is already in a marina slip, which we like and know people at already. The boat is an older vessel and needs some TLC for sure, but has huge potential. Most of the work is cosmetic inside, and my husband can do the actual work as he is very experienced in it already. Location is Kemah, TX and several people live in the marina's around here, it seems to be pretty common. Boat slip is only 300.00/ month not counting live aboard fee. I personally think is an awesome price myself.
I'm going to keep my daughter in public school as it is her 1st grade year and she loves that. We have an excellent school district here. I'm more looking for people who have actually had a child aboard and how easy/difficult it was for them.
I will look into financing through a bank, I was just thinking that their were actual companies that dealt with just boats. Google here I come..lol
Yes, there are companies that deal with just boats. They are the boat loan companies that I mentioned. Adding a "fixer-upper" to the equation is really going to knock them out.

Sounds like your best bet might be a credit union.

I have been to Kemah several times. Some nice liveaboard options there. $300/month sound like a good deal depending on the size of the boat.
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Old 08-07-2013, 19:18   #8
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We financed a 1989 PSC 34 last year with help from Newcoast Financial Services. The process was easy and the loan was inexpensive. It was a 15 year loan but we paid it off in 6 months. No tricks or gimmicks.

They did not care whether we intended to live aboard or not, they only cared about our ability to pay off the loan and whether we could get insurance on the boat for at least the amount financed. In order to meet this requirement we needed to pay for a survey and promise to make the repairs recommended in the survey.
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Old 08-07-2013, 19:42   #9
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Re: Moving to a liveaboard boat with a 6 year old

shanedennis thank you so much for the information, I will check into that as soon as I'm able. My husband had already intended on having the survey done.
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Old 08-07-2013, 19:46   #10
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Re: Moving to a liveaboard boat with a 6 year old

Don't ever finance a boat you are going to need every penny to keep the darn thing afloat, trust me. DON'T DO IT!!!
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Old 08-07-2013, 20:19   #11
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Re: Moving to a liveaboard boat with a 6 year old

I have some comments although I have always lothed the idea of living on either of the two boats I have owned. The first was a 30' Huner sailboat; my current boat is a 40' aftcabin Silverton with two heads, two showers, a davit crane to lift our dinghy into and out of...., plus many other ammenities such as almost 600 watts of solar.

My take on boating is a boat is a toy, not my home. As large as my 40 is, it is too damned small for my wife and I to live on.

Getting back to what you are now facing. Have you ever owned a boat of any kind? Have you enrolled in any boating safety and navigation classes? Have you considered where you plan to store all your belongings you now enjoy that will not fit on a boat? Have you thought of renting a boat for a vacation to gain experience?

My 40 has a lot of space and for the most part, a powerboat will offer greater space than one will find on a sailboat of equal length. But put that aside and assume the boat you plan to live aboard is rectangular and is 40' in length with a constant beam of 14 feet WHICH IT WILL NOT HAVE!

The above assumptions have a total living space of only 560 square feet!!!! How large is your current bathroom plus a closet??? And remember if its a sailboat, you have a cockpit that can hardly be assumed to be a living quarters.

Now I predict many of those who now live on a boat will take umbrage with this post. Sure, you and your family can do it but the transition could take a toll. I could go on but my basic message is to make the transistion in small steps to be sure this is what you want. JMHO
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Old 09-07-2013, 06:20   #12
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Two more comments regarding financing.
1. You might check to see if the insurer agrees with the surveyor on the value of the boat before applying for financing. If they do not agree then you might have a problem with financing.
2. The surveyor is going to recommend repairs. These need to be done to maintain insurance. Budget realistically for them.

We successfully downsized from a four bedroom, two bathroom house to a 34' boat with a three year old boy on May 11th. We have two older girls. No problem so far. We love it. The trick is to have realistic expectations and ensure both husband and wife are excited by the idea of a minimalist, low impact, hard work lifestyle.
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Old 09-07-2013, 10:58   #13
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Try Essex Credit in Kemah. I believe they finance boats that go back to 1920..
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Old 09-07-2013, 12:22   #14
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Re: Moving to a liveaboard boat with a 6 year old

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Originally Posted by gah964 View Post
Don't ever finance a boat you are going to need every penny to keep the darn thing afloat, trust me. DON'T DO IT!!!
I wouldn't touch a boat that I need to keep afloat lol. It needs to inherently keep itself afloat. The rest we need to budget for.
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Old 09-07-2013, 17:46   #15
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Re: Moving to a liveaboard boat with a 6 year old

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Try Essex Credit in Kemah. I believe they finance boats that go back to 1920..
Thank you for the information, looking to get surveyor this week.
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