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How far in advance should you start looking for a narrowboat?


Alexis Gkantiragas

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1 hour ago, RichM said:

Some people say you don't find a boat, the boat finds you.

 

My advice is to spend time looking and figure out what kind of boat you need, they all have different layouts, different quirks. Some are designed and suitable for liveaboard, others not so. Work out what your priorities are for a boat and aim to find one which ticks most boxes, while also remembering you will probably have to make some compromises/sacrifices somewhere unless you have one built to your specification. (££££££££) 

 

Some boat brokers will give you the keys and let you look at boats on your own which may help give you an idea as to what would suit most. 

 

There's also many useful Youtube channels which share some insight but be mindful that not all are experienced boaters.

 

 

Very very true. From the limited look I have made I would say that hardly any of them have much experience, if any!!

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8 hours ago, Alexis Gkantiragas said:

Hey folks, 

 

I am aware this may be a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question but roughly how far in advance should you start looking for a narrowboat? 

 

For context I am looking to purchase a roughly 30ft narrowboat in roughly one years time. How long does it usually take for a sale to be agreed upon? Will any boats I look at now actually be on the market by the time I am ready to buy? 

 

Thanks in advance! 

I plan to buy a boat sometime in the future, we are all different in the way we emotionally handle a purchase, however if I was in your position I’d start looking at boats in 11 months and 28 days ?

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1 minute ago, Knighty said:

I plan to buy a boat sometime in the future, we are all different in the way we emotionally handle a purchase, however if I was in your position I’d start looking at boats in 11 months and 28 days ?

 

That's good advice, but also leads to disappointment.

Find a boat tommorrow, its perfect, just what you want, its within your planned budget but then your remember that  you won't have the money for another 11 months 26 days.

 

Then you are depressed for the next year when you think "what I could have had .................."

 

"Better to have never loved than loved and then lost"

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6 hours ago, Higgs said:

 

It's all cosmetics and emotion, without understanding what you may be buying. Research is important. 

 

 

Not quite sure why you've picked my quote out when I reiterated what everyone else said...with the addition of dipping their toe in for market research!?!

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36 minutes ago, manicpb said:

Not quite sure why you've picked my quote out when I reiterated what everyone else said...with the addition of dipping their toe in for market research!?!

 

If it helps, I thought he was agreeing with you and expanding on your research point ...

 

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28 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

If it helps, I thought he was agreeing with you and expanding on your research point ...

 

Ah, fair enough. Perhaps I misinterpreted it, easily done and no major offence taken... maybe I was a tad hasty in reply.

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15 hours ago, manicpb said:

Not quite sure why you've picked my quote out when I reiterated what everyone else said...with the addition of dipping their toe in for market research!?!

 

Sorry, if it seemed I singled you out. My statement may not have been adding that much to the conversation. But it can be tempting to buy on impulse and regret it. I've done it, at times. Probably in even more danger of doing that, if the funds are readily available. 

 

 

Edited by Higgs
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1 hour ago, Higgs said:

 

Sorry, if it seemed I singled you out. My statement may not have been adding that much to the conversation. But it can be tempting to buy on impulse and regret it. I've done it, at times. Probably in even more danger of doing that, if the funds are readily available. 

 

 

 

I think more people regret not having done something, that those who regret something they have done.

 

If only we had hindsight before we did something !

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13 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I think more people regret not having done something, that those who regret something they have done.

 

If only we had hindsight before we did something !

 

You can either live in regret or face up to the mistake and be philosophical about. If you buy a pig in a poke and knew it was a possibility, it was done with some preparedness to live with it. Do finances allow, if it's a gamble?

 

 

Edited by Higgs
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18 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

That's good advice, but also leads to disappointment.

Find a boat tommorrow, its perfect, just what you want, its within your planned budget but then your remember that  you won't have the money for another 11 months 26 days.

 

Then you are depressed for the next year when you think "what I could have had .................."

 

"Better to have never loved than loved and then lost"

I've literally just seen the other side of this. Really liked some relatively unusual things about first boat I looked at with a view to buying, but it was the first boat I looked at with a view to buying and obviously there were a few flaws visible even to me.

 

Having seen a couple of dozen more boats and a lot more messy engine bays, signs of water ingress around the chimney etc I'd concluded that it probably hadn't been looked after worse than many other boats unless a survey turned up anything show stopping,, and was probably worth what they were asking for. And also that it appealed to me a damn sight more than the other boats.

 

But I delayed a couple more days before making the offer, because it hadn't gone anywhere in a month, and it was a rainy end of August. Which was obviously when an offer was accepted

 

 

If I'd known a bit more about what I was looking at when I first looked at it, I'd have put in an offer on the spot and would have been cruising it by now.

 

 

 

Looking at other boats is a valuable learning experience if you haven't done it before, and so Alexis might want to look at a few he definitely doesn't expect to buy. Ideally ones that aren't massively appealing to him or would be way outside his price range so he doesn't feel he missed out when he's actually read to buy.

 

Edited by enigmatic
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