How Long Did It Take to Sell Your Boat?

[Xthewater]

1985 Newport 28 mk ll
Sold in week & half, couple months ago. No survey or sea trial needed by buyer. Asked NADA price but negotiated with buyer.
Took good photos and put in Craigslist with a link to blog created about the boat with more details and photos. Boat was as represented in photos, not as too many are not. 2nd couple to see her bought it.
Luck with your sail! (pun)

[a64pilot]

Thing that astonished me about 90% of the boats we looked at to buy, was they were filthy and full of junk, a few looked like homeless people had just moved out, and most you could tell the owner had a drinking problem with all the liquor bottles laying around.

But I also knew that most were absentee owners that lived up North and now were trying to sell the boat and left the boat in the condition that it was last used, dirty stoves, grill, the whole works.

The ones I saw that sold fast, were dolled up, immaculately cleaned and staged like in a magazine photo shoot, you know the table cloth with the flower in a vase and the two wine glasses and you could smell the air freshener, AC was on and it was comfortable and dry down below, not a hot, humid sweat box that stank of Diesel fuel.
And they were in a "Posh" upscale Marina

Not many buyers actually look at the "Bones" of a boat, most buy into the "dream" the boats that sold fast and brought a premium, sold the dream, not the boat.

[Rough Magic]

All this advise is good.

It took me 1.5 years to sell my 37 foot twin diesel power boat last year, 20% off asking. The boat market has changed dramatically since 2009 after the 'great ression'. Here in So. Cal., before the bank failure, boats where selling well, there just were no slips available. Now, Boat sales are slow, with a 20% vacancy rate in the local marinas. A friend who is a builder of a major brand, says he thinks the boat market won't recover in the foreseeable future.

So your sales price should reflect the current market. Big expensive boats are selling, smaller 'pocket cruisers are selling, while the middle ground is really slow. I'm now looking at a pocket cruiser for myself.

I look at it as 'discretionary income spending, and a hobby. Very few of my friends ever made money owning a boat . Good luck ).

[Tetepare]

We wanted to sell our 1990 Catalina 30 TR (owned since '94) and buy a Beneteau 430 we found.

The Catalina was "sold" for what I wanted within weeks...contingent on buying the B430 (I'm not going without a boat or be pressured to buy what I don't want in order to enjoy summer).

The B430 price may have been reasonable or not, I couldn't tell. We wanted a second look at the boat, but the broker denied that, demanding a 10% deposit first. So we had to walk away.

As a result, we still have the C30TR. I have no doubt it will sell quickly when the time comes.

The B430, on the other hand, has been on the market for years. It has been abused, not maintained, and shows it. The broker took it off the market for winter, hoping to put it back on the market in Spring as a "new listing".

The people that were going to buy our C30TR bought a sister-ship in almost as good condition, that had been on the market for six months or so.

A friend sold his 1985 Catalina at a very good price via Craigslist, but that took four months. The C34 he bought to replace it was on the market (on/off/sort of) for five years while it sat on the hard. Finally the owner sold it for a song- really about 20% of what it was worth, but that's because it sat and nobody knew if it was restorable or junk.

[tikirawker]

Just bought a boat.
The condition of some of the boats I saw was frightening!
I can'r believe somebody expected me to believe the boat was well kept if it was a filthy mess with a plethora of random scrapes and dings...

The difference between a house or car is a boat is a luxury or hobby (for most).
I need my house to live in and a car to drive to work.
Unless you live in nyc or a city with a great subway system then a car is a necessity.
I told the broker and owner one simple fact - I don't NEED to BUY but you need to sell... If I waited another month or two to find the perfect deal I could afford to wait. meanwhile as an owner - marina and maintenance adds up while you wait for another offer.
If you own a house on the water or have a free place to tie up then you could probably wait for a better offer - for the most part its a buyers market.

[OS2Dude]

6 Months. 1984 O'Day 23 on a trailer. Sold through local broker who advertised nationally. (Buyer was from out-of-state). Sold for roughly what I had in it. (Slightly above market) Well maintained, the most geeked-out 23 footer you'll ever see!

Markets for boats are like houses and cars. Sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes the nail...

[wunderluster]

As a broker I do research on the selling prices and condition of comparable boats before listing. Unless a boat is really unique it will sell if priced according to condition. The problem I find is when a seller thinks his or her boat is the best one on the market. I have listed boats that closed in less than a week and others have been on the market for more than a year. Most sellers want to try to get the highest price for a while then drop the price when the boat hasn't sold. This isn't a good strategy, especially if they are paying mooring or slip costs. If want it sold then price it so it will sell and keep her looking and smelling clean. The same strategies apply whether or not you're using a broker.

[Ahneema]

What is the best way to figure out the true value. Is there an Edmonds used car/boat site or other types of calculators. Thanks

[JFN]

Originally Posted by Duke95

Firstly, apologies if there is an existing thread about this...if so my attempts at finding it failed!

As I slowly move closer to ownership someday, I become far more concerned about selling than buying. How long did it take you to sell your boat? What kind of boat was it, where was it berthed, how old was it, (honestly now) what was its condition, and (honestly now), were you trying to it sell at, above or below market value (best guess)? All of these factors surely correlate with time sold.

I feel like boats are probably like cars, in that, if you buy new and do upkeep, selling in 5 years is not a problem. If you buy a 5 year old boat and do upkeep, selling in 5 years should not be too much of a problem, but could be. But if you buy 10 years old and sell in 5, probably much tougher. And so on. And, all of these scenarios are probably tougher if the boat is owned for 10 years or even more. Of course all the factors I mention above come into play, for example a 15 year old mass production boat is probably a harder sell then a 15 year old high-end custom/semi-custom brand.

Anyway, I would love to hear everyone's thoughts!

I've been trying to sell a 50+ year old Pearson Triton for about a year. Wonderful boat and I love the classic Alberg folk boat design. She is in great shape with good electronics and fun to sail but I'm only going to be able to sell her to someone who shares my love of the design. The boat is priced right based on numerous market comparisons but I have a much smaller potential audience than someone selling a newer boat. Just the price you pay if the design makes your heart beat fast.

[Duke95]

Well, these stories are actually encouraging. Though, certainly it seems like there are more than enough "took 1.5 years, sold 25% under asking" stories, but of course it is always tough to assess how much of such instances were the owner asking too much from the get go versus the market being depressed, or at least that particular boat and boat age being sold has a lot moreoptions out there than the average boat.

But at least it sounds like many of you have done OK...and like the 4 houses I have sold myself over the years, my wife and I always make them bristol before putting them on the market...and I have never needed more than 2 weeks and have always gotten asking.

[robert sailor]

When selling something, anything, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. People buy with their hearts and cement the sale with their brains. Buying is an emotional experience, sight, sounds, smell all play a role.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Duke95

my wife and I always make them bristol before putting them on the market...and I have never needed more than 2 weeks and have always gotten asking.

That is what people want to see...bristol, super clean, everything works. That sells.

I've viewed many many boats, and MOST have been filthy, in disrepair, and other terrible flaws. I make lowball offers on these, like the one I bought for $100. The clean boats, at a good price, sell in no time.

[robert sailor]

Facts are that there are very few really clean used boats in excellent condition and well maintained so if priced at market they rarely sit for very long assuming they have some sort of following. It's a real task to find one of these boats.

[barnakiel]

I parted with my first boat in less than a week.

The one we have now may sell in less than half a year if we place it on the right market.

Good boats are as easy to sell as anything - right market, right price, sold.

b.

[Cthoops]

We sold our Bristol 24 in August in less than a week. Probably would have been a day if we could have made it down to the marina the day we put the listing up. The first person that saw her bought her, and we had two other people who were ready to buy it sight unseen if the first one fell through.


We advertised in sailboatlistings.com and Craig's List, and while we priced it to sell (because we had already bought our Bristol 29.9) we didn't give it away. We probably could have sold her for an extra $500, but we really didn't want to own two boats.