Boat Depreciation/Appreciation

[WotEver]

The hull is 26 years old, no matter how good the internals, it could be a colander underneath.

 

Look past the glitz, very deeply

 

Agreed. Nothing whatsoever wrong with a 26 year old hull necessarily but you'll definitely need an out of water survey. Your insurance company may well insist on it anyway.

 

On the surface, a lovely boat which 'appears' to have been well maintained.

 

Tony

[Southern Star]

The hull is 26 years old, no matter how good the internals, it could be a colander underneath.

 

 

Could be, but not necessarily, my boat is 30 years old this year and on a baseplate which was originally 8mm, the minimum the surveyor found in 2014 was 7.2mm. So it should still be floating long after I have kicked the bucket. Certainly would be a good idea to get a survey though and as WotEver said, most insurance companies will want to see a recent survey on a boat of this age.

[dmr]

If you want a cheap house then a widebeam is good, if you want the boaty life then it must be narrow, you can't be a boaty boat if you can't go to Birmingham!

 

Take care with the costings. We are a trading boat so keep good records of what we spend. If you want to keep your boat looking tidy and boaty (ship shape and Bristol fashion!!!!) then you may well find that maintenance costs are more than licence, insurance, diesel and coal put together. (and we do 99% of it ourselves).

 

.............Dave

[Witchword]

All good stuff, thank you! No, this boat isn't where I would want her and we would have to go the long way round to Gloucester. But overland it's not far to go and see her. I have lots of potential crew to bring her round if necessary!

 

I will get a full survey whatever.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Witchword

[dmr]

Are you aware that you probably can't get off the K&A till March or April?????

It depends on the weather but the river between Newbury and Reading can flow very very fast in the winter, even when it settles a bit you need to be a confident boater and confident in the boat to go through Reading.

 

.................Dave

[Neil Smith]

I'd suggest that boats lose price until about 25 years old when they seem to level out. At 25 years they seem to lose a lot less, if anything. I'd suggest that buying at that age you'd lose very little, if anything.

Unless it's over priced to start with.

 

Neil

[Witchword]

Ok so what is worth paying for? How can you tell if something is overpriced?

 

This boat was lovely and if the seller is right she would be a good boat to have. I have the old survey to start with to see if there is a no-no on there already, and will get another if I decide she is long enough. Is it better to go too long than too short?

 

Lastly, does anyone know who to ask for quotes to move a boat by land?

[Witchword]

I hope you don't get sick of me but let's have a show of virtual hands.

 

Boat nicely fitted out, 1990, but I'll have a full survey- let's assume the hull is sound and no major problems are revealed. 54'. I could get a daybed in the saloon. Is it worth going for on the strength of its fittings, and thinking that if it doesn't work for us as a living space we can change it in a year or two, when we'll know more about what we want the space to do and how we want to live- or whether we need to flee back to bricks?

 

Yes or no- buy or leave?

 

Sub question- if buy- what to offer initially?

[WotEver]

If you like it, go for it

 

Subject to survey of course.

 

I would guess that it's listed at that price with the expectation of getting £40k but other more hard-nosed members will be along shortly so let's see what they say.

 

The survey is bound to throw up something even if it's minor, so that may well be a negotiating point.

 

Tony

[Alan de Enfield]

I'd suggest that its priced 'about right', I'd offer something like £37,500 and hope (expect) to end up at £40,000

If the survey finds £1000's of work that needs doing then you can try and negotiate it off your asking price.

 

Push to hard tho' and you may end up with "forget it" we will wait for someone else".

 

Depends on what its worth to you - did it shout out "BUY ME, BUY Me" ?

[WotEver]

Depends on what its worth to you - did it shout out "BUY ME, BUY Me" ?

^^^^ this.

[Witchword]

Yes it did rather!

 

I will make an offer tomorrow first thing. I guess they may reject it but hopefully no-one else will come in better than me...

[Loafer]

I've had LOTS of boats shout 'buy me, buy me', but the one we ended up with was chosen by Mrs Loafer.

 

I did always have final veto though, if the engine room wasn't right, and didn't have a boatman's cabin. She wasn't bothered about anything south of the shower room, and I wasn't bothered about anything north of the engine room.

 

Like Jack Spratt and his missus!

[Alan de Enfield]

Yes it did rather!

 

I will make an offer tomorrow first thing. I guess they may reject it but hopefully no-one else will come in better than me...

 

Good luck, make your offer and stick to it, its still a fairly quiet time of the year and you don't need to rush.

Remember it'll cost you the thick end of £1000 for the survey which can be viewed as 'dead money'.

The survey will probably frighten you to death but that's his job - make you aware of anything that could be a problem, then he has identified everything in the event of a future problem. Use the faults identified as negotiating ammunition, but you cannot say "I need to repaint it because I don't like the colour" - that's a personal choice and not one that should be used for negotiating, the fact you want tartan wallpaper is your 'fault' not the sellers.

[dmr]

In terms of flat v boat, my costs are,

 

Rent a flat £685/month

Live on my boat £342/ month

 

This is all the costs bar diesel and upkeep, but even cruising a little and upkeep of the boat i still have £343/month to play with.

 

I understand its all down to where you live, but for me its a lot cheaper.

 

I say to you do it, work everything out and if you can afford it then go for it, but only if you have spare cash to pay for repairs and replacement of things you need to live, boiler/pumps/batteries .....

oh yeah, the sharing of a wardrobe might be fun, mines tiny and only just big enough for me, thank god i dont share with a lady!!

 

For us Diesel and upkeep are where the money goes!

Just been through my figures for the last 3 years.

These are Real figures from writing down what we actually spent rather than just thinking about regular outgoings. (not a comment aimed at you DP, but aimed at some wannabe boaters)

Total boaty costs (excluding food and beer etc)................

£7800

£5200

£6200

 

We cc big time so there is a fair bit of diesel in here, but no mooring (except for an odd week maybe)

A little of this expense is trading related.

I do almost all the maintenance myself.

The £7800 included a shot blast and epoxy (I didn't do that myself) and a new stove ( I paid a welder to put a kink in the flue but otherwise did it myself).

£6200 included new batteries and a new battery box, but there's a "big job" most years .

 

................Dave

[Witchword]

Average £533 a month for boaty costs. It's good to hear some real costs vs estimates but it's still cheaper than renting a flat, at least where I am. We could still eat and travel if I put £550 into the living costs and maintenance fund each month.

[dmr]

Average £533 a month for boaty costs. It's good to hear some real costs vs estimates but it's still cheaper than renting a flat, at least where I am. We could still eat and travel if I put £550 into the living costs and maintenance fund each month.

 

My costs are without any mooring, which is the biggest expense, though looking back further the maintenance and diesel were a fair bit less when we did have a mooring.

It costs close to £1000/month to rent a house in many places, we would rather live on a boat anyday!

 

.................Dave

[Boat&Bikes]

For us Diesel and upkeep are where the money goes!

Just been through my figures for the last 3 years.

These are Real figures from writing down what we actually spent rather than just thinking about regular outgoings. (not a comment aimed at you DP, but aimed at some wannabe boaters)

Total boaty costs (excluding food and beer etc)................

£7800

£5200

£6200

 

We cc big time so there is a fair bit of diesel in here, but no mooring (except for an odd week maybe)

A little of this expense is trading related.

I do almost all the maintenance myself.

The £7800 included a shot blast and epoxy (I didn't do that myself) and a new stove ( I paid a welder to put a kink in the flue but otherwise did it myself).

£6200 included new batteries and a new battery box, but there's a "big job" most years . We dont liveaboard. Your figures seem a little high. I am probably missing something obvious but I struggle to see how that much is spent on running a narrowboat?

Ian.

 

................Dave

[Athy]

I hope you don't get sick of me

I think you're jesting, but just in case you aren't, then NO! don 't think that way. We were all in your situation once and would have appreciated comments from more experienced people (some of whom know what they're talking about) but most of us bought our first boats before the internet was widespread. A few of us probably bought our first boats before the advent of e-mails, telegrams and the penny post.

DO keep firing any questions which you need to.

[dmr]

 

For us Diesel and upkeep are where the money goes!

Just been through my figures for the last 3 years.

These are Real figures from writing down what we actually spent rather than just thinking about regular outgoings. (not a comment aimed at you DP, but aimed at some wannabe boaters)

Total boaty costs (excluding food and beer etc)................

£7800

£5200

£6200

 

We cc big time so there is a fair bit of diesel in here, but no mooring (except for an odd week maybe)

A little of this expense is trading related.

I do almost all the maintenance myself.

The £7800 included a shot blast and epoxy (I didn't do that myself) and a new stove ( I paid a welder to put a kink in the flue but otherwise did it myself).

£6200 included new batteries and a new battery box, but there's a "big job" most years . We dont liveaboard. Your figures seem a little high. I am probably missing something obvious but I struggle to see how that much is spent on running a narrowboat?

Ian.

 

................Dave

 

 

I expect they are at the high end but they are genuine. I have heard of folk who don't do their own maintenance getting some HUGE bills.

We are a 70 foot liveaboard/workaboard boat, doing maybe 1000 miles each year, in use 52 weeks each year, and keeping the boat tidy though not shiny. £1000 licence, £500 insurance, £1100 diesel, £400 coal and gas, it soon adds up.

 

...................Dave

[Witchword]

I think you're jesting, but just in case you aren't, then NO! don 't think that way. We were all in your situation once and would have appreciated comments from more experienced people (some of whom know what they're talking about) but most of us bought our first boats before the internet was widespread. A few of us probably bought our first boats before the advent of e-mails, telegrams and the penny post.

DO keep firing any questions which you need to.

Thank you :)

 

Off to make an offer... fingers crossed!

[Witchword]

Ok so the three year old survey (no, I'm not relying on it!) says the hull was originally fabricated from 6mm steel. Light and moderate cruising damage was evident at the bow. Maximum pit depth measured was 1mm. Is that thin?

Edited February 14, 2016 by Witchword

[John V]

. A few of us probably bought our first boats before the advent of e-mails, telegrams and the penny post.

 

 

Yes !

Speak for yourself !

 

[WotEver]

I'd go with Alan's suggestion and start at £37.5k with a view to ending at £40k (which I suspect is where he expects to end up). Obviously subject to survey.

 

Of course, in the final analysis it depends on what it's worth to you, not anyone else.

 

Good luck.

 

Tony

[Witchword]

Cheers