new here. about me, and a question.

One approach to whether you are making a good decision is to estimate the expense of keeping a boat in your location of choice and then compare it to fairly inexpensive housing in the same area.

In any area the number of marinas that permit full time liveaboards is limited. Find one in your location and determine the cost per year. if you plan on cruising your marina expenses as a transient will increase. If you plan on living aboard at anchor then your boat requirements will take a step up in initial cost as your will need to generate electricity somehow. A dinghy and outboard now are called for.

Many marinas will require boat insurance, figure in this cost. Electricity and water costs charged by marinas need to be estimated.

Here in the Midwest inexpensive housing can be rented quite cheaply. Whether you can live aboard with a family for the same amount or slightly more than a rental in your location of choice is a question for you to determine before you buy the boat. Boats require maintenance to operate and keep afloat. Used boat pricing is such that you may not recover your "investment" in a fixer-upper when you resell.

Give this some detailed thought as to what you are planning to do and why. The boating lifestyle is great but it is no bargain.

Marty

>A boat of that size for that price has something seriously wrong with it.<

Wrong could be the wrong location , or wrong engines or simply old.

There may be zero structurally wrong with the boat , just a lack of maint or dated parts..

>Used boat pricing is such that you may not recover your "investment" in a fixer-upper when you resell.<

Depends on the upgrades. If most of the work is simply removing 3 or 4 decades of owner done crap wiring , and installing a modern 240V house wiring TIME will be the big investment .

Dream about paying yourself a yard rate of $100 an hour and you will loose,

but plan on recovering the material cost of 1000 ft of good marine wire properly done and you will win.

Most folks today will Only be looking at older GRP boats , so hull safety is less a concern than some old woodie.

EG, Older boats frequently had genuine marine sea cocks that can be rebuilt with $3.00 of valve grinding compound and a wire brush, rather than a thru hull with a ball valve stuck on.Far safer!

Sweat equity is required (and the knowledge of what and how to do it) is the largest investment in an old boat.

There are many books that cover all aspects of marine maint , for the DIY folks.