Flipping Project Boats

[ditchcrawler]

13 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Wot are census workers, I recall we used to fill in a form every ten years, with pen and ink!

That's only a modern idea. They use to have officials fill the forms in years ago  

Edit to add

 

"They visited individual households and gathered the required information, before submitting statistical summaries. The details of households and individuals were important only in creating these local summaries and were destroyed in all but a few cases."

Edited November 10, 2020 by ditchcrawler

[Onewheeler]

4 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Wot are census workers, I recall we used to fill in a form every ten years, with pen and ink!

https://www.censusjobs.co.uk/

[LadyG]

11 hours ago, Jim Batty said:

Some of these are lovely. Hadn't seen this site before -- goodness knows I've looked at dozens of dutch barges on others.

The Colvic Watson caught my eye, it was never a 'fishing boat', I think they were leisure motor boats, Fisher was the model name. Surprised it need so much work, would need a survey and another £12.5K

Edited November 10, 2020 by LadyG

[David Mack]

A distinctly American take on flipping a project boat.

 

[Bobgrif]

On 08/11/2020 at 19:14, Grotty Thumberg said:

Come January, I confidently expect I'll have no job, 30K in cash and no assets apart from a suitcase of clothes and a 10yr old laptop. Rather than be unemployed (and just pay rent with that 30K until there's so little left I qualify for Universal Credit) I would like to buy something expensive.... like a boat. The smarter option is possibly some land, but I want a boat. I even moved to Milton Keynes last year so i could study the matter further.

 

I am thinking of spending 20k on a small "project boat", where the engine works and not much else.

 

I am not a delicate person accustomed to central heating and working electricity. Hot water would be a nice luxury though, but apart from that I don't really care for myself. Fitting out a boat is more of an occupation I would create for myself. I don't have some fantasy a floating home to live in happily ever after. I want something I can sell in a year or so for the same, for ideally more than I paid for it.

 

I sometimes notice boats on the grand union where people obviously have the same idea. Floating building sites full of power tools and bits of wood rather than dogs and castles and roses jugs.

 

Is buying a "project boat" and living in it for a year a stupid idea?

That may not work anyway due to the 'deprivation of capital' rules.  If the DWP realise you have spent the money to qualify for UC they can treat you as still having it and avoid having to pay you.  Also if you claim UC you will be assigned to a 'work coach' who will monitor what you do and check you are trying to find work, if the coach thinks you aren't doing enough they can impose a sanction which will stop your payment.

 

If you live on the boat at a fixed mooring you may also be liable for council tax and if you don't have a home mooring you will have to move regularly to avoid CRT taking action against you and possibly even insisting you take the boat off the canal.  

 

If you do the work at a boatyard they will not be able to let you live on it at the same time without breaking planning rules.  They won't be willing to create a problem for themselves to allow you to do part-time work on a project boat.

 

Then there is the problem of doing up the boat itself.  Some years ago, I bought a boat on the understanding that I would be allowed to work on it for a few months before putting it back in the water (I didn't live on it but travelled to and from the yard daily).  The boatyard were very helpful and I had access to electricity and water and got a lot of good advice from them but I think it would have been a strain on the relationship with them if I hadn't been there and clearly making progress on getting the boat suitable for relaunching and away to my own mooring.  The key things that I remember is that everything is more complicated than you expect, takes a lot longer than you planned and costs a lot more than I budgetted.  Having said that I enjoyed my time with the boat immensely and spent several happy years with her before selling her on - not at a profit financially though when costing how much I spent on the repair/refit and annual running costs.

 

 

[Murflynn]

...............   nice to see some really practical advice.

[ditchcrawler]

Streethay are selling a Springer they have just plated for sale

[Oakums Narrowboats]

On 08/11/2020 at 19:14, Grotty Thumberg said:

Come January, I confidently expect I'll have no job, 30K in cash and no assets apart from a suitcase of clothes and a 10yr old laptop. Rather than be unemployed (and just pay rent with that 30K until there's so little left I qualify for Universal Credit) I would like to buy something expensive.... like a boat. The smarter option is possibly some land, but I want a boat. I even moved to Milton Keynes last year so i could study the matter further.

 

I am thinking of spending 20k on a small "project boat", where the engine works and not much else.

 

I am not a delicate person accustomed to central heating and working electricity. Hot water would be a nice luxury though, but apart from that I don't really care for myself. Fitting out a boat is more of an occupation I would create for myself. I don't have some fantasy a floating home to live in happily ever after. I want something I can sell in a year or so for the same, for ideally more than I paid for it.

 

I sometimes notice boats on the grand union where people obviously have the same idea. Floating building sites full of power tools and bits of wood rather than dogs and castles and roses jugs.

 

Is buying a "project boat" and living in it for a year a stupid idea?

Reality, is that it wont pay for your time in doing it. You'd be better advertising your services and skills to others at a rate. Dont do it!