Market trends on sales in West.

[Bajabuzz]

The wife and I have started our search for our next boat. Prices seem all over the place for the same boat. Brokers have mentioned that the west and PNW in particular are some of the more expensive areas for purchasing.
We are looking at boats in 50-60' 2000 and newer up to 500k.
Our end game is to take this boat to Alaska and cruise the PNW.

So some of my questions about pricing are:

Is the market slowing?

is there a place to see what particular vessels have sold for?

How much of the price should be considered if the vessel has low hours? Say 500 on a 10 year old boat vs 3000 hrs.

How much value is in an engine brand? Say Cummings, MAN, Volvo, Cat and DD?

Is it worth considering boats in the East, Great Lakes or Gulf States? Can a boat this size be shipped overland?

Thanks in advance!

 

[dhays]

The wife and I have started our search for our next boat. Prices seem all over the place for the same boat. Brokers have mentioned that the west and PNW in particular are some of the more expensive areas for purchasing.

We are looking at boats in 50-60' 2000 and newer up to 500k.

Our end game is to take this boat to Alaska and cruise the PNW.



So some of my questions about pricing are:



Is the market slowing?



is there a place to see what particular vessels have sold for?



How much of the price should be considered if the vessel has low hours? Say 500 on a 10 year old boat vs 3000 hrs.



How much value is in an engine brand? Say Cummings, MAN, Volvo, Cat and DD?



Is it worth considering boats in the East, Great Lakes or Gulf States? Can a boat this size be shipped overland?

Lots of tough questions.

A buyers broker will find sold boat data for you that can give information about boat sales over the past few years. A broker can also give you their guess as to what the market is doing. I do think that good used boats are selling for more now than they were after the recession, but that is just a guess. If we hit another recession, then the market will take another hit. Trying to time the market however, seems like a fools game. Buy the boat when you are ready to use it.

Engine hours is a factor, but more important is maintenance history and condition. 500 hours on a boat that hasn’t been used in 10 years is likely much worse than 3000 hours on a boat that has been used and properly maintained. In my mind, it would be very hard to make a generalization based just on house.

There are plenty here who have deep and intransigent hostility to different brands and types of engines. I don’t know anything about engines so I would simply buy the boat that has what I want and take the engine that the builder put in it.

If I had the time and money, I would have considered buying an East coast boat and bringing it to the PNW on its own bottom. I didn’t have either. I did truck a 40’ sailboat up from SoCal, but that is relatively easy and cheap compared to a 50-60’ boat. If you don’t have the time, money, or inclination to sail it here yourself, I think your best option would be to have it put on a ship and transported to Vancouver or Seattle. Heck, with the right boat and climate change, I’d consider the Northern route.

Even so, it would have to be a very special boat and probably $100k cheaper to consider having a large boat transported from the East to the West. Many boats that are built for one coast, aren’t necessarily idea for the PNW and Alaska. That might mean some upgrades or modifications to make it appropriate for our climate and cruising grounds.

 

[tiltrider1]

The economy is very strong here on the west coast. Boat prices are up. Six to four years ago you could find bargains if you looked for them. Now you won’t find any bargains. Two years ago just about every marina had an empty 60’slip. Today there are waiting lists at most marina’s for 60’ slips. Not saying you can’t find moorage for 60’ just that it takes some effort now. From 2008 to 2014 there were very few new boats sold in that size due to the economy.

The easiest thing to sell in the PNW is a nice boat, lots of demand and little supply at the moment.

 

[Moonfish]

Lots of tough questions.

A buyers broker will find sold boat data for you that can give information about boat sales over the past few years. A broker can also give you their guess as to what the market is doing. I do think that good used boats are selling for more now than they were after the recession, but that is just a guess. If we hit another recession, then the market will take another hit. Trying to time the market however, seems like a fools game. Buy the boat when you are ready to use it.

Engine hours is a factor, but more important is maintenance history and condition. 500 hours on a boat that hasn’t been used in 10 years is likely much worse than 3000 hours on a boat that has been used and properly maintained. In my mind, it would be very hard to make a generalization based just on house.

There are plenty here who have deep and intransigent hostility to different brands and types of engines. I don’t know anything about engines so I would simply buy the boat that has what I want and take the engine that the builder put in it.

If I had the time and money, I would have considered buying an East coast boat and bringing it to the PNW on its own bottom. I didn’t have either. I did truck a 40’ sailboat up from SoCal, but that is relatively easy and cheap compared to a 50-60’ boat. If you don’t have the time, money, or inclination to sail it here yourself, I think your best option would be to have it put on a ship and transported to Vancouver or Seattle. Heck, with the right boat and climate change, I’d consider the Northern route.

Even so, it would have to be a very special boat and probably $100k cheaper to consider having a large boat transported from the East to the West. Many boats that are built for one coast, aren’t necessarily idea for the PNW and Alaska. That might mean some upgrades or modifications to make it appropriate for our climate and cruising grounds.

That was one of the best responses to broad questions I've seen here in a while!

Bajabuzz, I'll second everything Dave said.

 

[JustBob]

The biggest baby boom year was 1957, meaning right now that group is turning 61. Funny, I just happen to be in that group! There are a lot of people retiring and not waiting to get out there and have fun.

One of my friends is a super cheapskate. He wanted to buy a Class A motorhome. Wanted to buy used so the bugs were worked out. He could never get there fast enough on a nice one. As he boarded one and said "mind of I take a look" a woman shot him a dirty look and said "we are taking it!" He ended up reluctantly buying new.

So it is with nice used boats. There is a strong group of motivated and financially ready buyers. The guy I bought my tender from said his business has doubled this year.

There are lots of boats for sale in Florida, and shipping a boat like you are talking about isn't that big of a deal. But like Dave said, you would most likely have to put a lot into it to make it NW suitable.

At this point in time you'll have to pay top dollar for something worth buying.

 

[Russell Clifton]

Most boats in that size range are shipped on those big boat transport ships that move big yachts all over the world.