Financing first boat purchase

[Goodxcharly]

Yes you can finance a older boat though with fewer choices.
My neighbors here at the dock just went through what your going through with financing. They finally found a credit Union that would loan them the money.

Before purchase check on,

- Financing.

-Moorage/livaboard. Some what hard to find.

-Insurance.

🍀Good luck.

[Hoodsail]

You dont note what type of boat other than your 1st live-aboard, so have you checked into the house boats docked in sausalito? Admittedly, one of the most expensive areas in the SF bay but, find one that is a fixer-upper? Otherwise, unless the economics of living on your boat are equal to renting in SF I would wait and pay off your student loans before incurring another payment. I have an old boat and paid cash as I didnt want to borrow & also have minimal insurance, but I am considerably older than you. As suggested earlier, for an older boat would go with a personal loan and become a member of a local credit union as they may be more lenient re; borrowing requirements. thnks

[SailingHarmonie]

There are two things that make it very hard to get a loan using a live aboard boat as collateral.

First, if you stop paying on the loan the asset is MUCH more difficult and expensive to repossess and sell than an automobile.

Second, since you are living on the boat, in many jurisdictions you will have all the protections against eviction that you would have in a land based home. That makes the boat's value as collateral to the lender nearly zero.

[Nicholson58]

We borrowed from our brokerage account and paid it back including interest to ourselves. Nobody would lend on a large old boat.

[Sailshabby]

These days, verify insurance before buying. They’ve really gotten picky.

[zachduckworth]

Not a great idea.
I recommend buying a fixer-upper and learning the skills you will need for the bigger boat you will one day purchase. Do you own tools? If not you need to budget at least $1000 for tools. You’ll need at least one drill, a hammer, a full set of standard and metric sockets, same with hex keys, probably an orbital sander, a jig saw, a hack saw, a carpentry saw, multiple screw drivers, heat gun, soldering iron, wire crimpers, wire strippers, multi-meter… etc. I probably bought $1500 of tools the first six months.

Plus expendables: some butyl tape, epoxy resin with at least four different additives for different applications, various kinds of tape, cable terminals, brushes, paint, Semco or varnish , chemical stuff for the head so it doesn’t stink…etc…

Buying a first boat has a ton of upfront costs beyond the boat itself, trust me. And once you buy the boat things will immediately start going wrong. Just the nature of the sea beast. BUT once you have the tools and more importantly the skills that you’ll learn you’ll have them permanently. That will allow you to figure out what a good deal is on your next boat later on. I know that for my next boat I’ll be looking at things in a completely different way from when I bought my first one.

[captchetco]

My 2c:
First let me second everything sll else have said about getting hull insurance or financing an old boat. I boaught a boat I could not afford in 1982, and still have her. Living aboard in a marina in Oregon and doing all my own doable stuff, I was able to pay it off in 10 years, and sailed it up and down the Pacific coast from Vancouver Isle to Columbia South America from 1996 until 2022. Used it a lot prior btwn '82 and '96 also. I did everything other than making sails, rebulding the engine and trans, which I hired out. If you are handy, and willing to spend time to 'do it right. or do it over", it is cheaper to by a low priced boat that needs some work, the kind of work you can do than to by a cruising ready boat, which will inevitably need some work anyway.

[BuoyCall]

If you can afford to make payments do it. Seen too many people die waiting for something that never came. You can’t buy time....do it before you can’t. Good luck! What’s a few or several more grand spent on a dream if you can’t enjoy it. My two cents.

[Lou-In-NJ]

First of all, congratulations on biting the bullet and getting serious about your first boat. I must have been in a different economics course because I never heard of the axiom that you never finance a depressing asset...people finance depreciating assets all the time, cars, equipment, and yes, sometimes your home can be depreciating. I think the fact that you're going to be a live-aboard makes a big difference in you calculation, obviously you won't have thousands of dollars going to rent or a mortgage annually. But with all that said, with a used boat, even in excellent condition, you're in personal loan territory, so your credit, income and current obligations are going to determine how much you can get, and you'll want to keep in mind the security of your job and the prospect of your loan interest going up in the future. I would scour the boat yards and the listing sites including eBay and Craigslist because someone is always desperate to get rid of a boat because of their health, finances, or other personal circumstances, and with effort and patience, you'll likely get a lot more boat for less than you expected.

[candoit]

I got a personal loan for $20K for a 1997 boat. I have excellent credit. Depending on your income and credit you probably can get up to $50K with a personal loan. Progressive insured my boat with the required $300K liability needed for marina slip/storage.