Buying a Yacht as an Investment???

[Ran645]

I have been looking at some of the plans and projections some of the Charter/Sailing school companies have listed. If you buy a yacht and add it to their fleet you can, apparently, not only supplement your loan payments, but even make a few dollars! Makes me wonder if a guy had some GIC's that were only getting 1.5 to 2 percent, should you pull them out, buy a boat and sit back waiting for your investment to pay you 6 to 15 percent instead. An added bonus would be, you would still have the boat after the charter agreement ran out.
Is anybody doing this sort of thing?
Thanks for any input.
Randy

[Kache Walk]

I saw the topic title....

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha that's a good one!

[David M]

Amongst everything else, check your depreciation costs. New boats depreciate quite a bit in the first few years and charter companies only hold on to boats for so long. If your revenues are not more than all of your expenses then it is a business that loses money...that's if you are going to see it as an investment. If charter companies could figure out a way of making money off of owning their boats then they would. I don't think they can primarily because of the depreciation expense.

There are other investments in this world with a greater certainty of making money than owning a boat.

[maxingout]

There are lots of reasons to purchase a yacht, but doing it for an investment is not one of them.

The charter companies would be happy to take you on a trip to fantasy land and convince you that buying a boat is a great investment. If it was so awesome, they would be "investing" their own money in purchasing yachts.

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by Ran645

I have been looking at some of the plans and projections some of the Charter/Sailing school companies have listed. If you buy a yacht and add it to their fleet you can, apparently, not only supplement your loan payments, but even make a few dollars! Makes me wonder if a guy had some GIC's that were only getting 1.5 to 2 percent, should you pull them out, buy a boat and sit back waiting for your investment to pay you 6 to 15 percent instead. An added bonus would be, you would still have the boat after the charter agreement ran out.
Is anybody doing this sort of thing?
Thanks for any input.
Randy

Lots doing it.
The charter marketing makes you think that the boat will be worth 1/2 at the end of the charter.
In reality its worth less and you end up with the loss.
You will be excited the first year or two, then the pucker factor kicks in and when it comes out of charter and it’s not selling then it’s Preparation H time instead of cocktails every night for a year or two.

Sometimes throwing your extra money in a bond fire will give you more pleasure and warmth.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by maxingout

There are lots of reasons to purchase a yacht, but doing it for an investment is not one of them.

The charter companies would be happy to take you on a trip to fantasy land and convince you that buying a boat is a great investment. If it was so awesome, they would be "investing" their own money in purchasing yachts.

Dave! I see this was your 2,000th post. A shame they won't give you another star.

Of course, you're right as usual. Thanks for all you contribute to our conversations.

[SmartMove]

We bought our boat out of charter service (sunsail) just before the bank was about to take it over -- that should tell you something. We love the boat and got it for a real bargain, I do not think it worked out so well for the original owner. We put it in a second tier charter after buying it that promised a profit of $10,000-15,000 profit per year. Our boat was one of their better charters because of the cabin layout -- miraculously we never made a dime, on the other hand we never had to pay anything either. Well ... at least until we told them we were taking our boat out of charter service!

Do not look at this as an investment, it is not!

[bobconnie]

You would probly have more money left at the end if ya bury you bucks in the ground! at least you WILL have something left !! If these deals were that great they would never have to advertize It !!! just sayin ya never get something for nothing !!

[Richard_W]

I have a timeshare in Acapulco, and Brooklyn Bridge ... want to buy?
The worst investment idea I've heard in a long time ... sorry!

[rubberfish]

Ran.
I'm going to guess this will work out the same
as buying an rv to put on with a rental company.
I've had two friends try that out and they both lost.

[sailful]

I bought a sailboat and it has been a great investment! I'm constantly investing in Volvo Penta, West Marine, the insurance company, the fuel company, the marina, etc. EVERYBODY is getting rich. (Except me). There should be a tax credit for buying a boat.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Kache Walk

I saw the topic title....

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha that's a good one!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha that is a good one!

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by sailful

I bought a sailboat and it has been a great investment! I'm constantly investing in Volvo Penta, West Marine, the insurance company, the fuel company, the marina, etc. EVERYBODY is getting rich. (Except me). There should be a tax credit for buying a boat.

Thus cometh wisdom to us all!

Thanks for the chuckle

Ann Cate, s/v Insatiable II

[skipmac]

Well, since no one else has said it yet, I'll volunteer.


The best way to make a small fortune in the boat business..............
is to start with a large fortune.

[senormechanico]

2001 BUY GOLD.
Did I? No.

2008 buy silver.
Did I? No.

Am I late to the game?
Yes, but not as late as most.

The next few years will tell.