I’m depressed about my survey.

[Owen Christensen]

I was so excited to buy a beautiful trawler. First survey came back less than average condition. Ok, I can’t get a boat loan with that. The owner fixed some things and I couldn’t get the same surveyor back, so I hired another, same thing. Although there is a chance he will give it a average condition after some more work, I’m starting to think I should give up on a trawler. Sure there must be a few newer ones in the $250,000 to $300,000 range , but by the looks of it I’d loose a couple hundred thousand in 10 or fifteen years. I thought I could have an old classic and enjoy it for ten or so, by putting a little love into it.
I’m bummed.
Owen

 

[Gabe n Em]

Sorry to hear of your woes, Owen.

Just walk away. I'm sorry if that's blunt, but boats grow on trees. There's plenty out there to choose from. If this one ain't it, keep looking. We've bought a bunch of boats over the years and we seriously considered 10+ for each one we bought. We probably average 2-3 offers per purchase. Things fall through, the survey comes back bad, etc.

Conversely, boats are terrible investments. Anyone that tells you otherwise is lying. Period. Slips, maintenance, operating costs, are all obscene. Be ready to "shovel money into a hole in the water." As the saying goes. That being said, a couple hundred boat bucks over a decade seems on the high end.... What were you looking at?


A fun one is to try to find the little guy, all the marinas nearby, Craigslist, the local brokers, and then keep checking in. Especially as the spring approaches. Fall is better, but the new to market options are what you want and you need to be first in line.

Keep at it, keep your eyes peeled. Your dream will materialize.

 

[C lectric]

Gabe N Em said it well.

There are other boats out there that will better fit your needs. You have learned something and that itself is worthwhile.
Pay serious attention to the whats and whys of the surveyors, both.
Ask some questions of the surveyors AND here if there are things you don't understand.

But be prepared to keep looking.

Good luck and happy hunting

 

[Birdman]

I’ve been searching for a new boat seriously, for about 3 full years +. I sold my last boat this past fall, so now I’m running scared as I haven’t been boat less in 45 years! ;-)

But I’ll give you a piece of advice I give people all the time, regarding buying ANY significant item (house, car, truck, boat....): DO NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH ANY OF THEM, until you are the owner of it! I here all the time people buying a new car or truck, “dang, I missed that red one, I wanted that so bad and they sold the last one...”. LOL! Ford pops a red truck out of the factory every 25 seconds. In between, there is a Blue, a White and a Black one coming out the same factory bay. There are guys literally RUNNING from a golf cart to the new truck that just popped out to go and park it about 2 miles away in the lot that goes loaded with bread new vehicles as far as the eye can see! The point is, there will not only be another RED truck, EXACTLY like that one you fell in love with, but there will be 1000’s of them!

Your little red truck, or boat, will show up, don’t worry!

My problem is, I don’t know what kind of “truck” (in this case boat!) I want/need! And that is what is making my search difficult. I’m all over the map!

 

[wkearney99]

I was so excited to buy a beautiful trawler. First survey came back less than average condition. Ok, I can’t get a boat loan with that. The owner fixed some things and I couldn’t get the same surveyor back, so I hired another, same thing. Although there is a chance he will give it a average condition after some more work, I’m starting to think I should give up on a trawler. Sure there must be a few newer ones in the $250,000 to $300,000 range , but by the looks of it I’d loose a couple hundred thousand in 10 or fifteen years. I thought I could have an old classic and enjoy it for ten or so, by putting a little love into it.
I’m bummed.
Owen

If you're not aware of it already, well, boats are not generally appreciating assets. You WILL "lose" money on it. They're not like houses.

Old classics are money pits. Oh, they can be enjoyable, but unless you're VERY handy and operate the boat in areas with a lot of marine service business, you're going to be pay a LOT to maintain it.

It might be helpful if you better described what work was involved.

 

[Choices]

Consider it learning experience. Your surveyors are there to protect you. Spending a grand to find a $250k boat is nothing. You don't want a money pit. Keep looking.

 

[BruceK]

Took us about 2 years to find something which passed self survey and Surveyor survey. Older boats are more likely to have issues but not all of them. Go as recent as budget permits. More $ spent now may get a better boat more likely to hold value less likely to be a moneypit, but, each boat is individual, you can`t generalize. Once you buy it, regard it as having no real monetary value, it`s a boat, a toy, a pastime, a way of life. It`s not an investment.

 

[SteveK]

DO NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH ANY OF THEM, until you are the owner of it!
Seriously? I have not bought anything without first wanting it, in your words falling in love. If it does not appeal it gets a pass. First do the window shopping online comparison, then look at what I want, end up buying it due to knowing the value in advance.

As for Owen, Overpriced comes to mind.
But these vague threads lately, why not show us the listing, pictures and price of the under surveyed boat.
Everyone here has bought a boat and would have a solid opinion on the one that got away.

 

[GFC]

SV, I think Birdman nailed it with that line. I used to be a manager in the RV business. The easiest people to sell were those who came in and fell in love with a certain RV. We called it "being in the ether", and when they were in the ether they would sign anything to be the owner of THAT RV.

There's a diff between being in love with it and finding one that fits your needs that you LIKE. But when you get emotionally involved with your "new" boat you WILL make irrational decisions.

 

[SteveK]

SV, I think Birdman nailed it with that line. I used to be a manager in the RV business. The easiest people to sell were those who came in and fell in love with a certain RV. We called it "being in the ether", and when they were in the ether they would sign anything to be the owner of THAT RV.

There's a diff between being in love with it and finding one that fits your needs that you LIKE. But when you get emotionally involved with your "new" boat you WILL make irrational decisions.

OK, explained like that I can see it. But as an ex salesperson I could sell ice to Eskimos, maybe they just fell in love with it.

 

[Lollygag1]

Look at it this way the survey saved you lots of future pain and misery. There are plenty of boats out there just might need to to travel farther to see them and do so quickly.

 

[costalive]

DO NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH ANY OF THEM, until you are the owner of it!
Seriously? I have not bought anything without first wanting it, in your words falling in love. If it does not appeal it gets a pass. First do the window shopping online comparison, then look at what I want, end up buying it due to knowing the value in advance.

As for Owen, Overpriced comes to mind.
But these vague threads lately, why not show us the listing, pictures and price of the under surveyed boat.
Everyone here has bought a boat and would have a solid opinion on the one that got away.

Right on!