Found my dream 1st narrowboat...

[kryspduck]

Hi all,

 

Been looking for a narrowboat for a couple of months, seen quite a few nice ones but nothing really felt like home until today. Stepped on board earlier today and straight away it felt like this could be the one, great head room (I'm 6' 3"), light and airy and the right length for me, more than 50', less than 55'. It gets better, the owner is allegedly open to offers, happy days.

 

Got home, looked for the boat builder on the web as I'd never heard of them and that's when the alarm bells started ringing. Found the company OK, but they're not boat builders, they're steel fabricators and it looks like the boat I'm looking at is the only boat they've ever built, no mention of boat building on their website, no list of clients and generic looking stock photo's of steel structures - not a great website.

 

If I proceed with the purchase, I'll get the survey carried out of course, but as I'll possibly be spending getting on for £50k including extras, should I be worried that the hull's not made by a known hull manufacturer?

 

Any and all advice would be very welcomed,

 

Best, Chris

[Graham Davis]

It might help if you actually named who the fabricator was.

[Arthur Brown]

It may be unique, but that dosn't say it's bad in any way, and with you witholding the details no-one can comment on te builder. BUT if you like it, then it probably is the boat for you. It will be unique. If it "passes" BSS and Survey then it's sound and you like it. Actually what does it matter what other people think.

[kryspduck]

Fabricator is Site Fabrication Services.

 

I'm going to see the boat again tomorrow so I'll have a good look through the documentation they have onsite.

 

Reassured by your comments Arthur and it may seem a little paranoid on my part, but I'm new to boating, excited with the boating lifestyle and terrified I'll make a really, really bad buying decision.

[RLWP]

<snip>

 

terrified I'll make a really, really bad buying decision.

 

Well, you've done the part that some folk seem to find tricky - finding a boat that you love.

 

Having got the heart out of the way, time for the head. If you really like this boat, get it surveyed. The surveyor will tell you how the boat is without having to guess from the 'rand name'

 

Sounds fun, best of luck

 

Richard

[Arthur Brown]

Remember that they will be your pounds for the boat, so it's your opinion that matters. Use the surveyor's report and if possible his verbal talk through to determine whether the hull is sound. Use the BSS inspection or recent report to confirm that the features are basically safe.

[MtB]

Lets not forget you have fallen in love with the interior layout and fit-out. The hull may look ok visually but this is the only hull built by a steel fabricator accustomed to making other stuff, so the chances of it containing a design howler somewhere are fairly high I'd guess.

 

I'm not normally an advocate of paying large amounts of money to have a surveyor tell you things you can see for yourself but in this case I think a professional survey is essential in order to identify any design cock-ups.

 

On the other hand, one the best thought out and elegant hulls I've ever seen was a built by a bloke who only ever made one...

 

Mike

[Ex- Member]

My guess would be it's a good hull, it was clearly a one off project and the fabricator would likely have worked from a design having not built boats before, good fabricators work to quite fine tolerances so I would guess that it was built correctly and accurately to the plan/design. You might well end up with a very nice shell indeed but a survey is a no brainer when spending such sum's of money.

 

Maybe by the time they finished it and worked out how much it cost them in materials effort & labour they realised that there's not much money in building boats

[kryspduck]

As I know nothing about boats below the water line, and precious little above the water line, a full survey is something I'll have done regardless of which boat I finally choose, totally agree with the previous poster, a no brainer.

 

Having slept on it, I'll go back to the broker with some more questions which will hopefully fill in the blanks so I can make an informed decision, not a speculative one.

[Richard10002]

AFAICT you can buy a lot of nice narrow boat for £45k to £50k. In fact, I think you can buy a new, albeit basic, boat for about £1,000 per foot.

 

For almost £50k in a second hand boat a bit over 50ft, I would be expecting almost new, 4 or 5 years old, and pretty much perfection in terms of condition and fit out.

 

You can always turn your money into boat..... Much harder to tun your boat back into money.

[ditchcrawler]

AFAICT you can buy a lot of nice narrow boat for £45k to £50k. In fact, I think you can buy a new, albeit basic, boat for about £1,000 per foot.

 

For almost £50k in a second hand boat a bit over 50ft, I would be expecting almost new, 4 or 5 years old, and pretty much perfection in terms of condition and fit out.

 

You can always turn your money into boat..... Much harder to tun your boat back into money.

That last line is very true and when you come to sell, buyers will be asking the same question as you are now.

[kryspduck]

Something I was curious about, is the boat market akin to the housing market in so much as offers generally being made below the asking price?

[bottle]

Yes, any item is only worth what someone (you) are willing to pay and the seller is willing to take.

 

That is why a survey is good to have, anything found is a bargaining point.

 

ps. gazumping is the same in boats as well as houses.

[Paul C]

Something I was curious about, is the boat market akin to the housing market in so much as offers generally being made below the asking price?

 

Generally yes - well, England housing market. (Scotland do things a bit differently, and the sale price is normally higher than the asking). Also, don't assume that the boat is worth eg 80% of the advertised sale price. There is no hard and fast rule. The only thing that can happen if you put a low offer in, is its declined. One thing I've found in my (limited) experience is below around the £40k mark, boats tend to be priced realistically and tend to not be on sale for too long a time before they're sold. Above that, and you start finding the boats which have been for sale for 2 months, 6 months or longer, etc etc. So, if you're after a slightly cheaper boat then be prepared to commit and have the funding available if you see the one that really appeals to you. At £45-50k though, you won't have as many other prospective buyers.

 

Surveys do seem expensive and many people say they're not worth getting done but in my experience you can more than get your money back for it. And in certain circumstances (eg old boat (as defined by whichever insurance company you go for), finance) it is necessary anyway, so may as well get it done before you buy the boat.