I Thought Estate Agents were Bad - but Boat Brokers...!

[WotEver]

37 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Or, ahem, never sell.  

?

[Dr Bob]

4 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

Yes but you seem to be quite level headed and sensible and don't have over inflated expectations.

 

Some people who come on here seem to want this mythical perfect boat for a fraction of the price of what typical boat will cost.

One issue here though is that some boats do go for low, low prices. Not canal boats which are in big demand due to the Tim & Pru factor amongst others. No, look at the lumpy water market. I am a bit out of touch but 5 years ago, a significant proportion of GRP boats for sale did not budge at all and you could pick up some great bargins by offering 50% of the asking price. The market was even worse in areas away from northern Europe with prices in Portugal (Lagos especially) and most of Greece being slashed to sell boats. A true buyers market. Has it got any better?

People who knew the lumpy water market then would be surprised at the bouyancy of the NB market now in the UK.

[Alan de Enfield]

49 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

One issue here though is that some boats do go for low, low prices. Not canal boats which are in big demand due to the Tim & Pru factor amongst others. No, look at the lumpy water market. I am a bit out of touch but 5 years ago, a significant proportion of GRP boats for sale did not budge at all and you could pick up some great bargins by offering 50% of the asking price. The market was even worse in areas away from northern Europe with prices in Portugal (Lagos especially) and most of Greece being slashed to sell boats. A true buyers market. Has it got any better?

People who knew the lumpy water market then would be surprised at the bouyancy of the NB market now in the UK.

When we bought our boat from Croatia (18 months ago) it was the only one of the model in Europe and its advertised price was on a par with the same model in the rest of the world (I don't think there is so much of a 'local market' for boats that can 'sail the seven seas').

Fortunately for us it was a 'distress sale' (illness) and as the VAT paid certificate and the RCD paperwork could not be found we managed to get £80,000 knocked off the advertised price.

 

Edit to correct 'their' to 'there' (spellchucking device)

Edited October 26, 2018 by Alan de Enfield

[Naughty Cal]

47 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

One issue here though is that some boats do go for low, low prices. Not canal boats which are in big demand due to the Tim & Pru factor amongst others. No, look at the lumpy water market. I am a bit out of touch but 5 years ago, a significant proportion of GRP boats for sale did not budge at all and you could pick up some great bargins by offering 50% of the asking price. The market was even worse in areas away from northern Europe with prices in Portugal (Lagos especially) and most of Greece being slashed to sell boats. A true buyers market. Has it got any better?

People who knew the lumpy water market then would be surprised at the bouyancy of the NB market now in the UK.

Can't get boats quick enough at the brokerages we watch and all are wanting more boats. 

 

 

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

9 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

surprised at the bouyancy of the NB market now in the UK.

Yup - its amazing how buoyant those sewer tubes are - you'd think they'd sink.

[doratheexplorer]

If the OP thinks customer service from brokers is bad, they should wait until they have a boat and then see just how much worse the customer service from many boatyards is when it comes to arranging repairs.

[Laurie Booth]

7 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

If the OP thinks customer service from brokers is bad, they should wait until they have a boat and then see just how much worse the customer service from many boatyards is when it comes to arranging repairs.

Sadly very true

[Alan de Enfield]

8 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

If the OP thinks customer service from brokers is bad, they should wait until they have a boat and then see just how much worse the customer service from many boatyards is when it comes to arranging repairs.

And, the better the boatyard the longer the wait.

 

I had to book 7 months ahead for blacking and over 12 months for a top-side re-paint.

 

Currently looking at having some decking fitted and it's 2-3 weeks for 'measuring up and templating' then 12-17 weeks to produce the decking then 1 week to fit it.

[MtB]

6 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

And, the better the boatyard the longer the wait.

 

I had to book 7 months ahead for blacking and over 12 months for a top-side re-paint.

 

Currently looking at having some decking fitted and it's 2-3 weeks for 'measuring up and templating' then 12-17 weeks to produce the decking then 1 week to fit it.

 

I’m sure sniffy the great could do it quicker for you!

 

[Naughty Cal]

8 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

And, the better the boatyard the longer the wait.

 

I had to book 7 months ahead for blacking and over 12 months for a top-side re-paint.

 

Currently looking at having some decking fitted and it's 2-3 weeks for 'measuring up and templating' then 12-17 weeks to produce the decking then 1 week to fit it.

Indeed. We waited 9 months for our canopies making and fitting and a little bit longer nearly 10 months for the cockpit upholstery doing. 

 

But we wanted the best so we had to be prepared to pay a bit more and to wait for it.

[Momac]

GRP boat sales do seem to have picked up the last two years.

However people who ask a little too much are , even now, finding their boat does not sell.

 

Earlier this year the brokerage where we keep our boat almost ran out of boats for sale . I think the current stock that people have decided to sell at the end of the season is sticking. That's not so unusual as the GRP boat market is much more about seasonal use. Not many people live on GRP boats in the UK. Its more about weekend use and holidays .

Narrowboats having much more liveaboard potential so perhaps not so much affected by seasons or the economy.

 

I think used GRP boat asking prices are a little lower but not far off the sums they were 10 years ago which , due to inflation,  means they have deprecated by about 30%.

 

 

 

[Naughty Cal]

21 minutes ago, MartynG said:

GRP boat sales do seem to have picked up the last two years.

However people who ask a little too much are , even now, finding their boat does not sell.

 

Earlier this year the brokerage where we keep our boat almost ran out of boats for sale . I think the current stock that people have decided to sell at the end of the season is sticking. That's not so unusual as the GRP boat market is much more about seasonal use. Not many people live on GRP boats in the UK. Its more about weekend use and holidays .

Narrowboats having much more liveaboard potential so perhaps not so much affected by seasons or the economy.

 

I think used GRP boat asking prices are a little lower but not far off the sums they were 10 years ago which , due to inflation,  means they have deprecated by about 30%.

 

 

 

I think you under estimate just how many people live in GRP boats there.

[Jennifer McM]

18 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

Can't get boats quick enough at the brokerages we watch and all are wanting more boats. 

 

 

 

 

This was the same (or appeared so) when we bought ours in July '2016. We missed buying a couple of boats because we thought too long about them. 

 

It took us a good two months travelling up and down the country, nearly every day, getting 'our eye in' and feel for the market (we learnt a lot about boats during that time). We also created a rapport with the brokers and sales bods where we could. They knew what we wanted, what we didn't want, and what we'd overlook. 

 

We got a phone call one Friday afternoon after a broker had been to see a boat (first owner, who'd become ill) moored in the 'back of beyond' within the Churnet Valley, and we travelled about 75 miles to see it the next day, Saturday morning. We'd only been on the boat 5 minutes when we both said 'this was the one'. We asked the advice from the sales person (who had become a friend) and she said people normally make an offer 5% less than the asking price. She phoned in our offer to her office, within 5 minutes the deal was done, our first offer was accepted, and the deposit was paid.  Hand on heart, we've never regretted our quick decision, and often count ourselves lucky. 

 

We were glad we 'cultivated' the brokers we liked.

[Momac]

51 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

I think you under estimate just how many people live in GRP boats there.

Possibly. I don't know of any but obviously there must be some.

[aracer]

13 hours ago, Jennifer McM said:

This was the same (or appeared so) when we bought ours in July '2016. We missed buying a couple of boats because we thought too long about them. 

I was worried about that with my boat having seen how quick good ones were selling - I found it whilst still arranging the mooring, fell in love with it instantly and had been given a hint by the brokerage that somebody else was looking at it. I'd only been looking for a couple of weeks at that point, though I didn't manage to be in a position to put an offer in until over a week later - which time I'd spent looking at plenty of other boats and none of the others came close given my requirements which were fairly specific and significantly limited my choices. It's early days yet, but I certainly don't regret at all going in as quickly as I did (circumstances meant I either had to find a boat quickly or not at all). The thing is I saw plenty of real dogs or project boats for similar money to what I paid for mine, that or significantly higher asking prices for seemingly similar quality - I'm guessing the boats which aren't moving are those ones.

 

Though on the subject of brokerages, I certainly can't agree with the OP at all - the service at the marina where I bought my boat was fantastic, going way beyond what they had to do for me. Not only that, but the service I got from other brokerages was also good - clearly I looked like a real buyer and worth chasing up (I got a couple of follow up calls) despite the fact I probably was tyre kicking a bit with most of the boats I viewed after having seen the one I now own!

[Jennifer McM]

10 hours ago, aracer said:

I was worried about that with my boat having seen how quick good ones were selling

 

Yes, we didn't have the 'luxury' of finding a boat we liked, then using that boat as a 'measuring stick'. We had to act quickly. 

[doratheexplorer]

On 26/10/2018 at 23:32, Alan de Enfield said:

And, the better the boatyard the longer the wait.

 

I had to book 7 months ahead for blacking and over 12 months for a top-side re-paint.

 

Currently looking at having some decking fitted and it's 2-3 weeks for 'measuring up and templating' then 12-17 weeks to produce the decking then 1 week to fit it.

I can beat that with ease.  15 months for blacking.  I don't mind waiting for good places though, it's the bad places which repeatedly lie to you and then bodge the work which I object to.