Want To Buy: Sell Me Your Boat, Maybe

[Tom1340]

I’ve spent last two years gearing up to buy a cruising monohull. Last Nov, I found one in BVI that seemed a good fit, an ’06 Bene 393, and my offer was accepted. Unfortunately, the survey found her to be 6’3” draft, instead of shoal draft as shown in listing. I passed, because I intend to cruise the Bahamas and Keys. Last week, I submitted formal offer on a 39 footer in FL that has been on market for more than 2 years. The seller was apparently offended that my offer was 17% below asking price and let the offer expire without comment. I am in Oklahoma and continuing to look for a boat, but it is a slow process and my goal of being on the water before hurricane season is slipping away. If you are selling a boat that might be a good fit, please consider sending me a pm.

My preferences are:
37 to 41 ft sloop or cutter in good condition (no project boats),
Location: S.E. US or in the Caribbean
Two sleeping cabins,
Vinyl ester or comparable below waterline,
No dark color hulls,
Coastal or blue water cruiser (not interested in Hunter, Catalina, or Bavaria…yes I know, my biases are foolish),
Draft up to 5’9”, but 5’ would be better,
Prefer fin keel but full keel will be okay if boat goes to windward.
Price range $95 to $150k

I am prepared to pay market price. To me, that is the price at which a boat is likely to sell in 3 to 4 months. If the boat is a production model with high sales volume, than the last 4 to 6 months of soldboat data will be a guide to market value. Otherwise, I feel NADA is as good or better than BUC as an indicator of current market.
Thanks, Tom

[sailorboy1]

Not a Hunter, Catalina or Bavaria, but apparnetly Bene is OK

But realy now given your price range you can not fnd an acceptabe listing on Yatchworld?

[Tom1340]

Don, I do not intend to run down Hunter or the other boats. My biases in this matter are based on lack of familiarity with them. I have confidence in Beneteau because a famous Australian circumnavigator has convincingly promoted the Bene 393. Also, I recently crewed on a European boat from Bermuda to Azores. For 13 days, the crew brainwashed me with stories about the seaworthiness of Benes. When we arrived in Horta, we found many Benes on transatlantic passage and one on a circumnavigation. I don't believe there were any of the other US made "coastal cruisers" present. I know my analysis is woefully incomplete.

Yes, there are many boats on YW that appeal to me. Unfortunately, many have been there a long time, sometimes more than two years. To me, that means the boat is overpriced. I can offer the seller what I think is a fair price, but first I have to see the boat. From where I live, the travel costs about $2000. So I'm hoping some one here can offer a good lead before I jump on a plane again.
Tom

[sailorboy1]

Hey I don't care what boat you like or don't like (could point to to threads here good/bad about almost any of them)! And your bias already shows why it is a waste of time of other people other than you to research boats for you.

Hope you find one you like because that is all that matters so listen only to yourself!

[roverhi]

The deals are in the boats that have been on the market awhile. If the owners are motivated to sell, they'll look at offers and they are either totally unrealistic or know they are above the market price. If I was you, I'd be shooting out offers that you can live with on any boat that is listed irregardless of the asking price and/or length of time on market. Don't worry about how low your offer is, if the owner wants to get rid of the boat, they'll counter. If you can't live with the counter offer, make a counter to the counter or move on and make an offer on the next boat.

In my former life as a Realtor, had a number of buyers who wouldn't make market offers. Often so far below I was embarassed to present them. When times were slow, we almost always got a counter offer and every once in a while the offer was accepted. Had one seller accept an offer that I felt was half the market value and told him not to accept it, but to counter a lot higher. They wanted out for personal, not monetary, reasons and took the offer. The buyer did some minor repairs, a little paint and clean up and sold it 6 months later for double the price.

[Kim Petersen]

Hi Tom:

You may want to take a look at my boat. I've had a deal fall through recently and she's back on the market. Here's her listing on Cruiser's Forum:

LINK: Hinckley Bermuda 40 Custom Aft-Cabin Yawl

Pathfinder is perhaps the finest example of a Bermuda 40 anywhere, and Hinckley is arguably the finest yacht builder in the US. She's in Vero Beach, Florida and is ready to sail around the world. Pathfinder draws only 4'6" with the centerboard up and 8'7" with the board down, allowing her to sail to windward quite nicely and yet easily gunkhole around the Bahamas and Keys.



Don't let the yawl rig dissuade you; there can be great advantages to sailing with just the jib and mizzen, and at anchor the mizzen keeps her pointed into the wind for a comfortable nights sleep.

Kim

[REVERIE]

just came across your thread. we are selling our cabo rico 38. she is a cutter /sloop, full keel, go anywhere boat.you can see pics & specs on our website at: caboricoforsale.webnode.com
we are cruising in panama at present. our plan is to retire here & either buy a house, or get a condo boat for permanently live aboard. we are no longer passagemaking.

[Rocketman]

Take the advise that roverhi gave you, don't be discouraged by 2 boats in 2 years that you made offers on. I recently bought a boat for half market value. I was also a realtor and what he says is true. Everyone that is trying to sell a boat or a house has different reasons for selling. You just need to find the one that realy needs to sell. Make many offers on many boats, make the offers on what you think the boat is worth not some book. There are screaming deals out there, it takes a little work but hey it can be lot of fun it you let it be.

[Tom1340]

Reverie and Kim, thank you for suggesting your boats. They are good looking and quite tempting. I have also received PMs for 6 other boats, some of which are very nice. They are all 1985 vintage or older. I may change my criteria before this is over, but for the time being, I am hoping for a newer model, for its vinyl ester hull and its 'newer' ship's systems.

Roverhi, Rocketman, I think you are right. I just need to get moving and make more offers. Still, I'm hoping there is someone out there with the right boat that reads this and thinks, "I need to sell my boat, I think I'll give this guy a try."
Tom

[girouxkj]

If you have never tried a quality catamaran you might want to check out my ad in Boats.com. Seawind 1000s are built tough inAustralia and mine would sell for over $200k there. Mine is listed for $143,000 with no brokers

1999 Seawind 1000 - Boats.com

[Rocketman]

Tom1340 it sounds like you have a list of must haves for your dream boat, it also sounds like you have a budget that you would like to stay within. It also sounds like you like Beneteau's. I don't blame you I do too. Now look at the market, there are probably at least 500 to 1000 boats out there on the market that would meet your needs but the price is probably a little more then you would like. Don't be discuraged by the asking price. Call on all of the boats you think might work, talk to the broker, let him/her know that your interested but you have a budget. Tell them that you are ready right now to buy, and before you make a commitment to travel to see the boat, you need to know if your budget will work for that boat. Don't be offended when they say no. Just go on to the next boat. When I called the broker of the boat that I bought he told me to take a look at it and the seller would entertain all offers. After I looked at it, I told the broker that I was not inerested, he incouraged me to make an offer, any offer that I could live with, assuming that I had any interest in the boat. So I made, what I thought was, a rediculously low offer, and the seller took it. So when I bought that boat I still had my old boat, the cost of dock fees and mantance on 2 boats was more then I could stand so, I marketed my old boat for way less than market value to get rid of it, and took less then that because I got a good deal on my curent boat. So understand, boats are holes in the water that you throw money into expecellly if you are not using them. Many people, me included, will elect to almost give it away to get rid of the on going expence of a boat that they are not using anymore. It sometimes takes a seller a while to understand that the longer the boat sits on the market the less it is worth and the more it is going to cost to keep it in good condition. Hope this helps, good luck, and have fun.