When Do You Walk Away ?

[Johnathon123]

How far above fair market value do you walk away from a boat.

I am $2500 away from a deal but that is $7500 above any view of the market (including vendors broker)

The boat has plenty of appeal but is not "perfect"

So when do you walk away?

[markpierce]

When you want to kick your buttocks if you hadn't.

[Dockhead]

Only you can answer that. How much ptemium is it worth to pay for that perfect boat which you love and won't find again? Or maybe it's not so perfect or unique on second thought?

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Johnathon123

How far above fair market value do you walk away from a boat.

I am $2500 away from a deal but that is $7500 above any view of the market (including vendors broker)

The boat has plenty of appeal but is not "perfect"

So when do you walk away?

Not perfect boat, $7,500 above what you think is reasonable.

I'd say walk now, unless...

The $7500 is such a small percentage of the price. $7500 above on an $80k boat is different that $7500 above on a $250k boat.

It's also hard to say what market is because if there are only 2 for sale near you then whatever he is asking is probably market.

Other factors include how long the boat has been on the market and if the seller is in any kind of distress.

My basic philosophy is to offer what I am happy to pay. If I don't get the boat, move on.

[rusky]

I always thought market value was what you were prepared to pay !

[Johnathon123]

Thanks my thoughts are similar

We are talking circa $60000.00 price so I guess as Dan said, it's all relative

[MarkJ]

Walk away 3 times!

We learned a trick in Asia when bargaining for anything from a potato to ... well, anything!

And the last walk-away needs to be out of their shop.

The vendor will run down the street after you. In some countries thats the only time negotaiting starts to get serious!

So if its a carpet in Egypt or a boat in you marina walk away 3 times.

When you finally get it you will still have paid above market rate, but you wont have been ripped off.


Market rate on most stuff is what it will be sold in a open auction.




Mark

[David_Old_Jersey]

it helps to genuinely not be bothered either way. easier said than done with boats.

my starting point is what price would I feel a fair chance of acheiving if I put up for sale the day after buying. then I add the opportunity / I want it now premium - for which all manner of self-delusions can go on but at least I know / have a good idea of where I am.........

of course both vendor and purchaser can be right on the market value - just with different figures and the fact that a purchaser doesn't have that much money is his bad luck - doesn't affect my price. although with boats the delusions on price works both ways.

but a good boat (design / build / condiition / suitability for purpose) is worth a premium. In this case I would take a long hard look at the figures to make spot on for you - miight be surprised to find that still good value (even if not a bargain). or you might be horrified

[sigmasailor]

Originally Posted by Johnathon123

Thanks my thoughts are similar

We are talking circa $60000.00 price so I guess as Dan said, it's all relative

So we are talking about a 15% difference; that's absolutely significant. I would walk away (first time...).

Eric

[ShipShape]

Ooh! It is still a buyers market. Walk away now!! Tell the broker/owner the price is too high and you are going to go look at other boats - say you are going to look at boats in the US where there there is a better selection. Then in a month go back and make an even lower offer. Do it again if you need/want to. In the meantime the owner is still paying insurance, slip fees ...

Over a nine month period my last boss made subsequently lower and lower offers on a Tayana 37 - a great cruising boat. The owner had it listed for $90k - 10 hours on the engine, new RIB with an outboard ... easily a $65k boat - about the only real flaw with it was that it needed to be rewired. Finally after lowering the price several times the owner decided the boat was bad luck or something and my boss got it for $35k.

[zopi]

What Shipshape said...I was surfing boat porn on YW the other night..not something I do much, but had just looked at a big pearson and wanted to know what they were going for...It is amazing how many decent boats there are out there available for a good price..Don't ever be afraid to walk..Like most things in life, there are other fish in the sea..

[daddle]

Walk away. The boat will still be for sale a month from now....

[Vasco]

If you want it buy it. Buying a boat is, in large part, emotional. Very different from buying a car or haggling over vegetables in an Asian market. In buying veggies from a stall, there's always another stall and in buying a car there's always another dealer with a similar inventory. Used boats are usually unique. It is difficult to find another similar model in similar condition, much less the identical model in identical condition. So, unless there's two or three more of these boats in the same area, in the same condition, at the same asking price, go for it. Buy the damn thing and be happy!

[rourkeh]

I don't know about the market in Austrailia but the used boat market in North America is a buyers market, you can't give a boat away right now, and when recently buying a boat I was looking at how much BELOW market value we were willing to pay. Do not get emotionally involved or you will pay too much and spend the next 10 years trying to justify it to yourself. Good luck

[sandy daugherty]

A buyers market ends when the sellers decide. That happened when the first positive indicators of turnaround appeared. Recognize that, and accept that the bottom of the market is history. There are far more buyers than sellers here, and they are all whistling in the dark, more than a little nervous that their chance to own a boat is slipping away.

I'm quite curious that a broker would tell a buyer a boat is worth less than the asking price. I suspect there's more to that story than the OP has said.

And, as said above, no one person decides what the market value of a boat is. It takes a buyer and seller agreeing on a price to set that. period.

A surveyor will look at the condition, equipment and appearance of the boat, cehck on previous sales of similar models, and propose a "Fair Market Value" but he will be the first to tell you it means very little until the buyer and seller get together. 15% is nothing. Negotiate, or go away.

BUT: if it isn't everything you want in a boat, and there ARE others that meet your needs, go buy one of them. Remember that the purchase price is just the beginning; you've got a lot of other expenses before you sail away; taxes, slip fees, insurance, big projects, little projects, fuel, provisions, curtains and life jackets, ad infinitum. You will spend at a minimum 10% OF THE PURCHASE PRICE EVERY YEAR ON THIS VESSEL. Don't buy one you can't afford.