Money Matters

A quick little survey.*When you bought your boat, what percentage of the asking price did you pay?* Any anecdotes would also be appreciated.

100 percent of the builder's asking price.

Is this a touchy subject?

When you bought your boat, what percentage of the asking price did you pay?

This is a time related concept, 5 or 10 years ago the pricing was very different , today some owners are dreaming of the "old" pricing and the half price offers seem to surprise them.

Estate sales are the worst , till ALL the offers come to the same value.

%

We sold a sailboat in Sep 2008 and received 100% of asking price. The boat was in bristol condition and priced for the market. If we had sold her 2 years eariler, I think we would have been able to get an additional 20%.

In Feb 2010 we purchased a boat for 60% of asking price. The owner thought the boat was "cruise ready". She is presently on the hard being restored. Needless to say, we are in the midst of doing a lot of expensive work. If I had been more patient, we probably could have bought her for 50% of asking price.

When shopping last year, we found that brokers "thought the owners" would back off the asking price by 10% to 15% without much effort on our part, even for boats that were truely "cruise ready".

Thanks for the info, it really helps.

After looking at every Defever 49 on the market, we went back to the first one that had seemed to be way over priced as it was the most expensive one listed at the time.* Due to the level of equipment, maintenance and general overall condition I decided it was the one for us, and got it for about 10% below asking, but this was in 2005.......* Arctic Traveller

12% below asking, after some very hard bargaining which went into the 1/2 boat unit...

25 to 50% - but I do that every day a work, so its sort of second nature. *If you want a good deal you can not fall in love with A BOAT, and have to make many/several low ball offers and WALK.* If the owner makes a counter offer at least you know he is willing to deal/talk.**


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There have been past discussion on PMM and Trawler forum about buying a boat and what is involved.* To find THE BOAT AND MAKE A GOOD DEAL it takes time, and some money. Cash and/or pre approvel does speak loudly as a large % of boat deals fall through because of finance and/or insurance.*

We paid 75% of the asking price, but of course that was too much!

We paid about 64% of the asking price, after the survey revealed the typical TT issues.
That was 6 years ago. Don't even want to think of what she would sell for today

KJ,
you will find answers all over the map on this matter. It is a function of actual list price, actual FMV, motivation of the seller, and motivation of the buyer. For good measure, throw a lousy economy on top of that!
Some boats will sell right at asking price in this market...that will most likely be because the boat was priced right for this market and it was the actual price buyers are willing to pay.
Some boats will sell for 50% of their asking price. This occurs when miracle of all miracles someone actually takes the time to look at a ridiculously overpriced listing and throws out a low offer, which typically isn't all that low but is more like today's actual FMV, and the seller accepts.

So it just really depends on the condition of the boat, equipment and upgrades, etc. etc. as you determine what a serious offer would be and that number varies from boat to boat. I would NOT be worried about offending a seller. Please....in this market, the biggest offense is our economy! It's not your fault everything fell off a cliff and if a seller is upside down (as most often are though the trawler market has a higher # of cash buyers than other segments), that is not your fault.

Take each deal, each boat, on it's own merits and make your offer based on that while factoring in the boat and the real market conditions.

we bought in 2002 -

also bought a Canadian built boat.

Paid 90% of the asking price in Canadian dollars.

Fortunately, the CAD was very weak against the USD at the time, so we effectively got the boat for 60% of the asking price.


As the boat had 200 hrs on her and was 4 years old since launch when we bought her, there were not too many problems that needed addressing at that time.

markpierce wrote:

100 percent of the builder's asking price.

Click to expand...

Ooops, I forgot about the builder-offered $20K discount since the steel hull had already been constructed.* The builder is also including a radar set as an incentive for me making progress payments.

*

Asking price is quite often fanciful. Base market price can be established if you've shopped carefully and then go up or down dependent upon condition and cost to repair essentials.

Thanks folks, lots of great info.

We paid 75% of asking price in 2004. A boat we are now watching has reduced its asking price twice in the last three months.* It is now down* to 70% of the starting asking price.

-- Edited by Budds Outlet on Wednesday 8th of December 2010 09:07:40 PM

KJ wrote:

A quick little survey.*When you bought your boat, what percentage of the asking price did you pay?* Any anecdotes would also be appreciated.

Click to expand...

We offered the sellers asking price.* Based on the the equipment, age, condition, etc. of the boat as well as the prices for comparable boats in comparable condition we felt the asking price was fair and reasonable.* We did not make this decision on our own--- we had two people "working" for us, a broker who is extremely knowledgeable about Grand Banks boats, and a good friend who*had a*thirty-plus year career in the marine industry and was very well acquainted with GBs and boating issues in general.

In our case the owner had just bought a new GB46 and didn't want to own two boats.* He wasn't looking*to make a killing from the sale, he just*needed to move the boat to make room for his new one.* His price was good--- we found out about the availability of the boat before it ever hit the market (one advantage of using a "buyer's" broker--- they ofen hear*about boats before they actually go on the market, just like real estate agents and houses).*

After we had decided to buy the boat our broker on his own negotiated a $500 deduction from the price because this is what it would have cost to fix the autopilot.* We didn't even know the boat had an autopilot before we flew to California to inspect, sea trial, and survey the boat.* So the price reduction was nice, although we had no intention of fixing the autopilot--- we removed it almost immediately.* But that was the only adjustment to the seller's original price.

We did not finance the boat which made the sale a very straightforward process.

-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 8th of December 2010 09:55:14 PM

"Cruise Ready" is as variable as Hi FI.

Can simply mean the boat is is can run along shore 5000 miles with only normal maint.


To some it equals bow thrusters $1000's of dollars worth of NEW electric toys , windlass , loads of ground tackle , noisemaker, water maker , Sat TV, Sat Com,air cond and heat for -0F.

The vessel is what counts , most folks outfitting deseirements will vary.

87% (in 2008)


-- Edited by GonzoF1 on Thursday 9th of December 2010 10:22:38 AM

69% in 2005

75%, in 2005, knowing I'd need to put a chunk of $$ back into the boat (electrical re-work, incl new gauges, etc, bottom paint, injector pump rebuild) right away.

Probably could've got it for less, but made the mistake of taking the Admiral on the initial shopping trip, and she got "invested" in the boat early, making a walk-away negotiation pretty much a non-starter.

Over the past 5 years I have several more boat units of outside yard work on transmission rebuild and stern tube replacement, so I doubt I could sell it for what I have in it.

Still, when we bought her, the boat already had a 5kw genset, 2000A inverter, radar, thruster, A/C, new leakproof windows, inflatable and 6hp outboard, teak decks removed, etc.

We have completed many cosmetic and other DIY projects, and if I HAD to sell her it would have far fewer issues than when we got her.

But, like they say, it's still a hole in the water....etc

71% (after pointing out all the things that needed to be fixed/changed.)

80% in 2006 and the boat was absolutely Bristol.

100% in 1997.

Never fall in love.

50% but I walked away from the boat three times and had a long list of immediately needed repairs to keep the boat afloat. But I went in looking for a project boat and got one. If you are looking for a turn key to walk on and enjoy right away or you fall in love with it and the seller will know, you can expect to pay 80-100%. GOOD lUCK

markpierce wrote:


markpierce wrote:

100 percent of the builder's asking price.

Click to expand...

Ooops, I forgot about the builder-offered $20K discount since the steel hull had already been constructed.* The builder is also including a radar set as an incentive for me making progress payments.

*

"Carquinez Coot" as in Carquinez Straits?

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KJ wrote:

"Carquinez Coot" as in Carquinez Straits?


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Click to expand...

Yes, as in Carquinez Strait.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carquinez_Strait

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In the last month I have sold 3 boats for :

90% (1989 72' Hatteras in great shape and buyer looking for a refit/update project)
66% (1985 43' Hatteras in great condition, owner moving)
73% (1968 Wood grand banks having completed full restoration but owner wanting to move to 42' glass GB)

I bought mine for 55% two years ago in the beginning of the so called great depression, but have since invested 175% of what it was bought for getting halfway through a complete and major refit.........

Most of the buyers come in saying** "I don't want to offend the seller with my offer" and are surprised when they come down substantially with little negotation after having spent the last two years trying to get rid of it. We have seen a substantial increase in traffic since the elections, and nationally, powerboat sales showed a slight uptick in November.....also starting to get some deals financed again so maybe the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to get brighter....

Tim God help us that they dont impose a tax like they have in Horry SC on slip rental...*