Government Boat Auction - Miami

[Vasco]

Here you go. Lots of bargains here.
U.S. Treasury - Auctions - Boats

[imagine2frolic]

Looks like most were meant for speed....GEE I WONDER WHY???????????????

[Mermaid]

Thanks for the info. There has to be tons of sailboats out there that have been taken by the banks due to the economy; other than auctions, do you know were to find the info for those? They have foreclosures lists for homes, there must be one for boats but so far I haven't had much luck finding it online for Southern California. Any info would be appreciated.

[Pblais]

There needs to be great caution on these boats. If they were foreclosed then they were not keeping up the payments and the maintenance. A boat sitting dormant for more than a year is probably filled with adventures not of the fun variety.

You buy these boats as is with limited ability to check them out let alone survey and sea trail. This isn't for the inexperienced boater.

[Mermaid]

Pblais: Very good points. Thanks for the insight!

[GordMay]

National Liquidators weekly public auction sells bank repossessions, foreclosures, government seized vessels and brokerage boats:

Goto: Repo Boats & Luxury Yachts For Sale - Boat Liquidators - Yacht Financing

Locations*: National Liquidators Boat and Yacht Auctions :: Contact Information

*Includes West Coast office @ 25802 Victoria Blvd, Capistrano Beach, CA
Tel: 949-631-6715
Fax: 949-631-8364
Yacht Financing and Luxury Yachts and Repo Boats For Sale

[ssullivan]

I've looked at a lot of boats like these.

If you shop at WalMart, you usually get WalMart type products. (as Paul said, using different wording)

First, finding a good cruising boat in the listings is a rare find.

Second, they are usually trashed beyond belief to the point where if you just bought something on the standard boat market, you would be *saving* money.

I got my Catalac for a reasonable price and guess what?

I had to put in:

Battery bank
Windlass
Bottom paint and zincs
Tune the rigging
Remove some prop cages that were slowing her down
Mess around with some incorrect wiring


and... that's it!!

The boat itself was in amazing condition and had no "boat list" at all. Just those items above, a couple of which (batteries and windlass) were paid for by the seller!

So... I got basically a perfect boat for a nice, fair price.

Try and shortcut things and you may end up with a project boat that will cause you severe frustration, and may end up costing more than one in good shape would cost.

And... don't forget to factor in your personal time in re-fitting. It can be a big money loser missing work to refit a boat.

[jzk]

We almost bought a Uniesse 46 fly from National Liquidators. They were good people to work with. We put a deposit down, then they took us out in the boat, and then we declined. Returned the deposit no questions asked. No pressure, and they were slowly working on the boat to bring it up to speed.

[scallywag]

Some of the boats were confiscated when the drug runners were caught. Seeing some film on the methods the enforcement agency used were out right scarey. A marksman in a helicopter would shoot out the out board engines to slow the vessel down. The pursueing boat would then catch up with the speed boat and unload the crew and cargo. It would then unload the oil and fuel. Once the boat was unloaded, the boat was sunk. Seems it costs too much money to bring it back to port. That is was one of the officials told a men's group. If a slow moving vessel was boarded, the boat was searched for drugs. Known drug runners were excorted back to port and a drug sniffing dog would be let loose. Where ever the dog pointed was then dissassembled. The boats were left in that condition and put up for action. Generally, the boats were trashed.
John

[jzk]

National Liquidators has a Islander 54 that is in poor shape, but I think would be a nice boat after a refit. I bet they would let you tow it away for 10k or less. Maybe put 30-40 into it and have a pretty sharp ride. Delusional thinking? Perhaps. But also a legitimate route to a 54 foot vessel that some may not be able to afford any other way.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Locations*: National Liquidators Boat and Yacht Auctions :: Contact Information

As far as I can tell their minimum bids are too high.

[Chief Engineer]

Most of these boats are being bought by Europeans with deep pockets.

You aren't going to get any bargains like the old ads for:

Jeeps: $100.00 that you saw in all the Mechanix Illustrated, Popular Mechanics Mags

[jzk]

Originally Posted by Therapy

As far as I can tell their minimum bids are too high.

They are negotiable. Very much so. This is no more than a "listing price."

[Pblais]

They are negotiable. Very much so. This is no more than a "listing price."

The auctions run Monday to Monday. If they don't get the minimum bid they may reset the price the next week or stand on the minimum for another week. They don't accept low ball bids because the auctions only run for one week. They don't negotiate so you just have to wait until the owner hurts enough. The owner sets the low end bid not the auction house.

They don't care what things sell for. You bid and you take delivery in 24 hours or forfeit the deposit or accrue storage charges. There is nothing to negotiate what so ever. You look at the boat before you bid.

They are an auction not a brokerage. They only close deals they do not make them.

[oldsalt_1942]

National Liquidators does NOT hold real auctions as most people know them. The majority of the boats they have are bank reposessions and the banks set the prices that will result in a winning "bid". Naturally they want to get the most they can. Week after week the "bids" are ALL rejected. That's not to say that you can't occasionally get a bargain, but it's about as likely as getting an honest response from a politician.

Now, how do I know the above to be true? I spent several years doing service work for National Liquidators and know how their system works. Don't get me wrong, these are NOT dishonest people at all, it's just that the system is rigged against you getting a real bargain on most of their inventory.