Selling the farm???

Fascinating thread with many valid perspectives.

I bought my current boat when I was 24 specifically to liveaboard and cruise the PNW. At 24 my financial situation is different. I should have lots of years to make more money BUT the money I spent on the boat would have grown nicely in those same years.

Whether it's a boat or a house or a condo, I'd need some place to live. None of it is free. If I'd bought a house/condo I would have spent at least twice what I did on the boat. I don't view residential real estate as a particularly good investment, but I think long term it's fair to expect to break even once inflation/taxes/maintenance etc. are taken into account. I view the boat as a depreciating asset (and did my calculations assuming the boat is worth nothing when I sell), but the boat is also much less expensive than a house. So I might lose a high percentage of what I put into the boat, but that will hopefully earn roughly as much on money that I invested because I didn't buy a house/condo.

So instead of selling the farm, I just never bought it. I do have ownership interests in commercial real estate. Owning real estate (especially when it's cashflow positive) certainly makes me feel more comfortable financially about living aboard.

My decision to live aboard was really more about lifestyle than finances, though. I figured I had the money, I hadn't yet collected all the "stuff" or gotten used to a large house, and was single...what better time to liveaboard? So far, so good...I put 600 hours on the main engine the first year, took a bunch of family and friends to see glaciers and bears and whales in SE Alaska, met lots of really nice, interesting people...yeah, I wouldn't trade it for land life.

psneeld said:

It is really not that bad. After my first divorce I was homeless anyway, so the boat was a good fit.

After my second divorce, I had 4 homes and several financial liabilities not of my doing that drove me to near bankruptcy during the banking/housing collapse in 2009. So a major life change and cheap place to live was in order.

Building back was actually easier and the boat has given me the flexibility to go south in the winter. So a good fit again.

I have lost more money on every house I ever owned to live in than any of the 3 boats I have lived on. So I'm not sure why it is scary unless it is about loss principle (which can be solved) or moving from an area and if you lost some money would be forever priced out of (maybe not fixable) and not able to move back.

Click to expand...

I have to say that the situation you faced is all to common today and having a boat large enough to comfortably live on provides a good amount of security that men generally do not get these days.

Case in point. A guy I worked with split with his wife. I asked him later how it was.. He told me that the only really bad part was being a 40 something year old guy living in an apartment and starting with basically no household goods. He said that he has no "drama" in his life anymore and otherwise loves it. If that guy would have had a nice boat, well...

My admiral commented in a half hearted question... "If I kicked you out, it probably wouldn't bother you would it?"

I thought about it and told her No, except for the loss of our relationship, it would not bother me at all. I told her that I would be free from the burdens, and the expense of "normal" life. At one point I told her that I'd be in Ensenada, sipping a margarita in the harbor by Thanksgiving.

So, when I say I would not "sell the farm" I'm really saying WE would not sell the farm. If it were me alone, well...

Larry M said:

In 1997 we sold the house, our 1981 Mainship and a piece of property. We bought a 42.5 sailboat and sold or donated everything except 6 boxes of treasures (well we thought they were at the time). We left the US with idea of going for 3-5 years or for as long as we were still having fun. We returned to the US in 2005. In 2006 we sold the sailboat moved back to the PNW and Lena went back to work. Four months later she asked if we could find another boat. Bought Hobo and left the US for another 4+ years. I just had my right knee replaced 2 months ago so that has slowed us down a little but we're planning on leaving again in the late winter/early spring.

What scares us is living on land. Our lives are very simple living on the boat. No cable TV or cell phone contracts. We own no real estate, have an 5 x 8 storage locker for more treasures and have owned a car (s) for less than 4 years out of 14. Health insurance has been easy as has the banking/mail forwarding. Selling the farm isn't for everyone but heck you can always go back and buy another one.

Click to expand...

Yep I would agree that living on our boat has made life simpler. I like that and look forward to retirement so I can break away from land and explore. I am now living the dream instead of just dreaming it....

ksanders said:

I have to say that the situation you faced is all to common today and having a boat large enough to comfortably live on provides a good amount of security that men generally do not get these days.

Case in point. A guy I worked with split with his wife. I asked him later how it was.. He told me that the only really bad part was being a 40 something year old guy living in an apartment and starting with basically no household goods. He said that he has no "drama" in his life anymore and otherwise loves it. If that guy would have had a nice boat, well...

My admiral commented in a half hearted question... "If I kicked you out, it probably wouldn't bother you would it?"

I thought about it and told her No, except for the loss of our relationship, it would not bother me at all. I told her that would be free from the burdens of "normal" life.

So, when I say I would not "sell the farm" I'm really saying WE would not sell the farm. If it were me alone, well...

Click to expand...

Been there done that. My Admiral would rather fish, than breath, so her and I are a good match. I am re-doing my house battery system and when we discussed the money part, she asked, do we need it? yep. Then go for it! I am a very lucky man, but I had to go through the above twice before I learned...

ksanders said:

I have to say that the situation you faced is all to common today and having a boat large enough to comfortably live on provides a good amount of security that men generally do not get these days.

Case in point. A guy I worked with split with his wife. I asked him later how it was.. He told me that the only really bad part was being a 40 something year old guy living in an apartment and starting with basically no household goods. He said that he has no "drama" in his life anymore and otherwise loves it. If that guy would have had a nice boat, well...

My admiral commented in a half hearted question... "If I kicked you out, it probably wouldn't bother you would it?"

I thought about it and told her No, except for the loss of our relationship, it would not bother me at all. I told her that I would be free from the burdens, and the expense of "normal" life. At one point I told her that I'd be in Ensenada, sipping a margarita in the harbor by Thanksgiving.

So, when I say I would not "sell the farm" I'm really saying WE would not sell the farm. If it were me alone, well...

Click to expand...

...amazing when you whittle many TF posts down to brass tacks where they wind up.

For me...after moving 40 times in 40 years..from the time I left for college till I moved aboard this boat....I think I could live anyplace in almost anything and not suffer...well the snow cave routine I did for a weekend wasn't all that great.

Add starting financially over one and a half times from divorces and walking away with no house or household goods to speak of...dear personal belongings pretty much fit into any car's back seat. So for me it was easy and after living aboard 2X before, the 3rd time I knew was going to be better cause I could buy just big enough to be happy and there were no serious obligations on the horizon except who will pay the undertaker someday...

So it's a little harder for me to see why people are worried about something like selling the "only" farm...and most of my friends even with nice boats fit that category...but there's almost always an easy solution to most concerns.

psneeld said:

...amazing when you whittle many TF posts down to brass tacks where they wind up.

Click to expand...

For the most part I think guys are different, and I'll guarantee that single guys are different.

That and the fact that for much of my career I have not slept at home for half the year anyway, because I've worked at remote oilfields I just do not have the strong ties to "the farm" that the wife has. To her its her nest, her rock, her security.

If it were only me, and I hope it never is, I might not "sell the farm" but I certainly would not live on it either.

If you look at this thread there are a few married couples advocating their happiness with no land ties, but far and away I think that guys are more inclined than gals to be happy "forever" on a boat.

I finally got around to reading the article, and mostly agree with it. The point about where are you going to live when you can't manage the physical aspects of a dock/boat etc are key. By all means go for it while your health is good, but have some kind of plan B that is better than selling the boat. Almost certainly you will be way short of capital if you take that path.

Earlier this year I downsized, bought a smaller house for half what I sold the large one for. This move was to give my twin daughters a home for a few more years and to be a storage place for tools and stuff I want to keep that just will not fit on the boat. And I effectively have a small apartment downstairs as well. I'm living there more than on the boat at present, but that is about to be reversed. I dont think it will be where I will live when the girls are married and I eventually sell the boat, but it works as a placeholder in the market.

I bought my first house in 1980, it cost $48k and we only put in $10k for the purchase. Since then we bought and renovated 5 houses, spending over $730k on renovations, doing a lot of the work ourselves. In total we have cleared $2m in profits. That has paid for the current cottage, boat, refit and lots of other stuff. Real estate has been good to me, I will always have a piece of it.

My wife and I agreed on a 2 year trial period when we decided to buy our trawler. After that something is getting sold. Could be the house, could be the boat. I do know that I can't afford to keep this spending rate up more than 2 years.

Heath is everything about living aboard...but by no means a show stopper.

Living on my boat is just as easy as any apartment, condo or house.

Working on it isn't...but then again working on many houses at the same point of not being able to work on a boat can be pretty close.

Only a fool would not plan on going ashore at some point, but even a fool can plan for it.