Yikes! My marina is for sale.

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Be careful....more than one marina had a for sale sign up one day and padlocked with a sheriff"s note on it the next..... with the boats held inside for many months till things were straightened out.
 
Scott,
You really know how to scare the hell out of a guy and I'm assuming that is not a joke. At my age things tend to pass over my head.
 
I have seen things like this in which the builder buy the marina for the condo residents......just say'in. Then again you could go by the marina....
 
Wow

I would like to see the financials on that seems mighty cheap
 
When I lived aboard in Annapolis, I got friendly with the marina owner.

Not sure what was true or not, but he led me to believe that Maryland was one of the first states that passed legislation concerning marinas and their subsequent sales as to use.

I thought it was almost impossible to convert to anything but marina like activity...and seeing the travel lift, it may even have to stay a working marina versus converting to a condo marina without facilities.

Hopefully someone up there might have the total scoop.
 
psneeld said:
When I lived aboard in Annapolis, I got friendly with the marina owner.

Not sure what was true or not, but he led me to believe that Maryland was one of the first states that passed legislation concerning marinas and their subsequent sales as to use.

I thought it was almost impossible to convert to anything but marina like activity...and seeing the travel lift, it may even have to stay a working marina versus converting to a condo marina without facilities.

Hopefully someone up there might have the t

I own a few mobile home parks and in most states the laws are similar
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Alaskan Sea-Duction said:
I have seen things like this in which the builder buy the marina for the condo residents......just say'in. Then again you could go by the marina....
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The Florida approach is for the developer to buy the marina, kick out the boaters, build condos and then sell off pricey boat slips. I laughed my rear off when a bunch of them went belly up during the Great Recession but certainly they will be back in force. Enjoy your Florida marina while you can!
 
psneeld said:
When I lived aboard in Annapolis, I got friendly with the marina owner.

Not sure what was true or not, but he led me to believe that Maryland was one of the first states that passed legislation concerning marinas and their subsequent sales as to use.

I thought it was almost impossible to convert to anything but marina like activity...and seeing the travel lift, it may even have to stay a working marina versus converting to a condo marina without facilities.

Hopefully someone up there might have the total scoop.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty tight with the marina / boatyard owners where my trawler is being refitted. Maryland isn't big on boatyards (this may change with a Republican governor). The environmental regulations they are pushing on boatyards will make it extremely costly to do business. This isn't to say that they don't like marinas and the tax revenue they generate. It's just that the state would rather have boat repair done somewhere else. Many marinas in MD need the revenues and profits that the yards generate to stay in business. If your marina survives on the profits of the yard as opposed to the revenues from the marina, they may be responding to the regulation righting on the wall.

Ted
 
Wow, $2.5 Million, that's almost as much as a normal house in Vancouver on a 50 x 120 lot.
Why not get the financial statements from the broker, and if the numbers are good and the thing pays for itself ... buy it yourself or with a friend or two.
 
I thought it was for sale for awhile now. I seem to remember seeing an ad for it in the early spring of last year...but maybe i am confused. that does happen.

As for locking up the boats in a marina...i am not sure of the logistics of that. I have a dink and a kayak, legal or not my boat would be coming out.
 
eseyoung said:
I thought it was for sale for awhile now. I seem to remember seeing an ad for it in the early spring of last year...but maybe i am confused. that does happen.

As for locking up the boats in a marina...i am not sure of the logistics of that. I have a dink and a kayak, legal or not my boat would be coming out.
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:thumb::thumb::thumb:
 
With annual revenues of $650,000, that marina property could make a good investment. Plus moorage for your boat.
 
The idea of looking for financing and buying the marina myself has crossed my mind. The "55" wet slips is a bit of a stretch, 40 is more like it. Even so, the revenues from those slips would cover much, if not all, of the mortgage. Pasadena and Rock Creek aren't Annapolis, so the slip fees have to stay reasonable.

Nice looking house from the outside. But, the previous owner, Mr. Lou, was very old when he died a few years ago after living alone for years. His kids own the property now. I expect the house will need some serious renovation on the interior. Which had me thinking that instead of renovation, a conversation to a restaurant/bar would be a potential money making idea.

The grandfather of one of my best friends sold the land where the marina sits to the family of the current owners a long, long time ago. Back when waterfront property around here was owned almost exclusively by middle-class blue collar workers. A lot of them working out of Sparrows Point. I bet grandpa would be astounded by the value of that property today.
 
First, every marina is for sale. Some advertised, some secretly, some only when approached with an offer. In the last two years, I'm aware of at least 7 for sale in Fort Lauderdale. Some remain for sale.

As to this property, first thing is location, location, location and this doesn't have it. It's close but it's not like it would be a few miles south. It's also surrounded by other similar marinas.

It's that oddity that is too small to be a thriving marina and yet apparently not doing enough shipyard work. If I was looking at it, I'd be pursuing the possibility of dry storage or more slips, which could be very difficult to get approved. But compare it to Oak Harbor which is right across from it. Even the house, being right in the middle of a boat yard has reduced value.

I think the attempt to sell at that price is a dream. I would personally place it's value at about half that and even then not sure how profitable it can be.
 
We have a friend with a marina in Fall River, MA. His favorite line is, "How how do you make a $1,000,000? Buy one for $2,000,000". It's a tough business dealing with the environmental regulations, retail customers and adjacent landowners. :)
 
Assuming 40 slips, the asking price is $62,500 per slip.

That would be a fair price for a 40-50' slip in our area. Not sure about there.

Our marina is organized as a "boat club". I don't own a slip, I own a "membership" which entitles me to the use of a particular slip.

There are tax and insurance advantages to doing it this way. Our annual dues (think condo fees) are offset by a thriving business in off-season upland storage and general yard services. This facility seems like it could do the same. Another potential, as mentioned above, is turning the building into some sort of money-making business. A restaurant or function hall might work, or some marine-related shop.

All real estate is local, so some research would be in order. I assume there's room for negotiation on the price. But it seems like getting existing renters to pool their resources and buy it might just work.

Edit: I just noticed the barge and pile driver photo. If it comes with the place, that's a huge plus. Replacing piles is one of our biggest expenses.
 
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Larry M said:
We have a friend with a marina in Fall River, MA. His favorite line is, "How how do you make a $1,000,000?
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Funny :) They say the same thing about racing. "How do you make a million dollars racing cars? Start with ten million dollars." :thumb:
 
My Father in law a cotton and peanut farmer in Georgia used to say

"Son if you want to make a small fortune in farming start out with a large fortune"
 
CaptTom said:
Assuming 40 slips, the asking price is $62,500 per slip.
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Key word, Asking Price. Two things. First you don't invest in a marina at the individual slip price. Assuming someone wanted to sell the slips and $62,500 was reasonable. Then for the marina, half of that would be reasonable. By the time you held slips, did all the legal work necessary to sell membership interests, and marketed then you could have a decent profit. Selling the slips limits you to a one time profit.

Second, I don't believe slips in that area would sell for that. Too many marinas with slips available and still not the prime Annapolis area. This isn't the only marina in that area to be on the market in the past couple of years.

I don't know if Pleasure Cove is still for sale or not. But looking at asking prices of some other Maryland marinas with comparable locations, here are some examples. 24 slips, $720,000. 136 slips, $1.7 million. 84 slips, $3.5 million. 70 slips, $2.9 million, 21 slips, $825,000. 64 slips, $2.7 million. 106 slips, $2.5 million. 59 slips, $350,000 (ok, bad shape). 74 slips, $2.3 million. 180 slips (+100 dry rack) $7.2 million, 200 slips, $7 million.
 
Marina rates have gone up here in Florida of late. Here at a Loggerhead in North Palm they say they have never been busier and are full up, the same at Old Port Cove when a friend tried to get a slip the other week, and that's a marina we paid about $2500 a month for a 50' boat last April. A very nice marina but those rates dig into the pocket book pretty quick
 
Tom.B said:
Funny :) They say the same thing about racing. "How do you make a million dollars racing cars? Start with ten million dollars." :thumb:
Click to expand...
Sounds like the farmer who won a lottery. Asked what he would do with the 2M, he said " Just keep farming until it`s all gone"
 
How to make a small fortune in real estate development? Start with a large one. After all, among other things a marina is an investment it real estate.

Think long and hard before converting the house to a restaurant. The failure rate is high.
 
One thing you see a lot of in real estate today is what I call fantasy listings. They're listings at prices well above market but prices that if someone walked by and offered to pay, they would sell. I know of people with their house listed who have no thoughts it will really sell, but if it does at a huge profit, they'll build another.

I looked a couple of years ago at all marinas in the Eastern US for sale. Up and down the coast, every river, every lake. There were hundreds, actually into 4 figures. Average time on market was over 2 years. And for each one listed, there was probably another one that was quietly known to be for sale but didn't want their customers to know so didn't list.
 
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