The Secondhand boat market... a good or bad time to sell?

[larrysanders]

I've got a cracking little narrowboat 31ft... built in 2006 by Price Fallows, but my job's uncertain. Any advice about selling now. Has the bottom fallen out of the secondhand boat market, has it picked up... or will good boats at the right price always sell? Questions, questions..

[Guest]

I've got a cracking little narrowboat 31ft... built in 2006 by Price Fallows, but my job's uncertain. Any advice about selling now. Has the bottom fallen out of the secondhand boat market, has it picked up... or will good boats at the right price always sell? Questions, questions..

 

http://littleboatafloat.blogspot.com/

 

It's a really nice looking little boat. I wonder if it would appeal to someone down sizing from a bigger boat in the same way people downsize their house - that factor might make it quite appealling in the current climate , if it's priced appropriately of course.

 

Good luck if you decide to sell.

Edited March 16, 2011 by MJG

[Chertsey]

Here's hoping!

[Spacebar]

As someone who has been watching the market frankly its full of overpriced rubbish.

One I recently saw in Cheshire was a 10k 40 foot springer with white plastic pvc windows (that keep the heat in)and no engine installed and currently out the water.

The interior needs ripping out too and is tired.

But the seller claims they will install the engine before you buy it!

My thought is if it needs doing then get it done as in my mind im thinking 4k tops.

The buyer is then expected to pay for surveys ect.

I know this is considered the norm but perhaps this is why so many boats just sit on the market for so long as the way things are done are just more grief than they are worth.

This is why we are just waiting it out and buying as good sailaway as we can.

If you really want to sell your boat make it as easy as possible for someone to buy be staright down the middle.

Consider getting it surveyed yourself and providing that information in the advert via email ect.

Just my thoughts on the matter if IM wrong then so be it but my thoughts are the reason I have not bought one of many many boats we have looked at and we have the cash sitting in the bank.

Edited March 16, 2011 by Spacebar

[curzons246]

Here's hoping!

Oh Chertsey that is gorgeous but is does make me wonder what my boat is now worth - "Love the one your with"

[ymu]

Not great, I don't think. People looking for 'cheap' accommodation in such a small boat would probably go for something older for less, or bigger for the same price. Downsizing is unlikely, given that many would likely lose a fortune on what they paid when the market was booming.

 

On the other hand, the market is unlikely to pick up any time soon. House prices are still going down, which tempts liveaboards to sell up for a deposit. Lots of private businesses are going to go bust, which means holiday-boat owners selling up to cut costs.

 

If you need to free up some cash, sell it for what you can get. You could look into renting it out if cash-flow is the issue, but it's tricky and don't expect to make much after licence, insurance and maintenance costs.

[bottle]

Consider getting it surveyed yourself and providing that information in the advert via email ect.

 

No save your money, if I was buying a boat I would not trust it and have my own survey.

 

You may have to adjust your price but that is normal anyway, no one pays the asking price.

 

A boat that is tidy, well maintained (proof) at the right price will sell, just like anything else.

[ymu]

No one in their right mind would use a survey commissioned by the seller. I discussed this with a marina manager and he said it used to be common for brokerages to run massive scams doing this, but less common now.

 

Buyer's need to do their own homework, and any sensible one would.

[Bobbybass]

No one in their right mind would use a survey commissioned by the seller. I discussed this with a marina manager and he said it used to be common for brokerages to run massive scams doing this, but less common now.

 

Buyer's need to do their own homework, and any sensible one would.

I'm not sure about other surveyors..but my original survey (3 years ago...Braunston ) said it was for 'my eyes only' .. I would not show it to potential purchasers..and the surveyor would not back up anything if it was disclosed to a third party.

 

Bob Two-flasks

[tillergirl]

I would suppose a boat is like houses and cars, only worth their current market value at any given time. We recently traded a car in and got £2k less than we paid for it 14 months ago............swings and roundabouts..............and affordability. The car had cost us more than we got for ita nd was likely to cost us a whole lot more so it went!Sometimes we just have to accept that what we paid for something isn't necessarily the market value now. Good luck if you do decide to sell.

[dor]

Well, in the brokerage I'm associated with, boats have been selling very well this year, at both ends of the market and in-between. They have to be priced realistically, but that does not mean they have to be given away. In the last couple of weeks we have sold a 1970s 50 ft boat in need of quite a bit of work for £11K and another nice recent 60ft boat for over £80K.

 

Our problem is getting boats in - we sell them quicker than we can get them!

[Guest]

Well, in the brokerage I'm associated with, boats have been selling very well this year, at both ends of the market and in-between. They have to be priced realistically, but that does not mean they have to be given away. In the last couple of weeks we have sold a 1970s 50 ft boat in need of quite a bit of work for £11K and another nice recent 60ft boat for over £80K.

 

Our problem is getting boats in - we sell them quicker than we can get them!

 

New & used at Mercia certainly seem to be shifting boats at the moment as there seems to be a healthy changeover of their stock each time we visit our boat there - not sure if they are having to sell at silly prices to shift them but they do seem to be moving them.

 

Oh Chertsey that is gorgeous but is does make me wonder what my boat is now worth - "Love the one your with"

 

'tis indeed a nice looking obviously well cared for boat for not a huge amount of money.

[GSer]

I feel it has certainly picked up over the last month, I've had as many enquiries in the last month as i've had in the previous 6 months, and i've taken a deposit at FAP subject to survey.

 

So not too bad IME

 

Paul

[Naughty Cal]

The brokerage yard in our marina cant get good boats quick enough. They of course have the odd boat sitting around languishing in a corner but they are the overpriced and unloved examples, every yard has them. Good boats at the right price are selling as quick as they can get hold of them.

 

We have had an offer on our boat at the weekend which isnt even for sale, it was only on the sales pontoon for ten minutes whilst we sorted out next weeks lift out.

 

<Note to self, better the devil you know. Refuse offer. Better the devil you know. Refuse offer. Better the devil you know. Refuse offer.........>

[canaldrifter]

Well, in the brokerage I'm associated with, boats have been selling very well this year, at both ends of the market and in-between. They have to be priced realistically, but that does not mean they have to be given away. In the last couple of weeks we have sold a 1970s 50 ft boat in need of quite a bit of work for £11K and another nice recent 60ft boat for over £80K.

 

Our problem is getting boats in - we sell them quicker than we can get them!

 

I think you have hit the nail on the dead that boats will sell if sensibly priced. From observation, the many boats offered for sale on linear moorings (and there are many) are all vastly overpriced.

 

Of course the seller will want to recoup as much as possible of his own buying price and is hoping some starry-eyed, but uninformed buyer will come along with money to burn.

 

As a rule of thumb, do you think boats sell for about two-thirds their original cost at 10 years old, half when they are 20 years old, and perhaps one third at 30 years old?

 

Tone

[alan_fincher]

Our problem is getting boats in - we sell them quicker than we can get them!

Sounds like Ed Rimmer!

[station tug]

i think boats are selling if priced correctly..iv sold two in three months..havnt had alot of profit out of them but just enough to fund my boat build,my bmw m3 is going in the next hour or two i need somewere to live more than a fancy car...

[Dominic M]

I have certainly found the market very healthy since New Year. At one point a few weeks ago everything at the Northants branch was under offer, and we were stymied for new stock owing to lock closures.

 

Cheshire was a little slower to start with, but that has been very lively in the past 4 weeks.

 

What will happen to boat prices in the months and years ahead is impossible to predict. House prices are widely predicted to fall - a number of forecasters give very sound reasons as to why that may be as much as 25%, and previously falling property values have affected every market. It makes people feel insecure and less inclined to spend money generally.

 

Of one thing I feel reasonably certain: prices are not going to go up in the short to medium term either for boats or houses.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Dominic M