Jump to content

Where do I find boaters who want end of garden moorings?


john cowie

Featured Posts

Hi - when we put our house with end of garden mooring in Worcester up for sale, we were expecting to be trampled in the rush. Instead, the silence has been deafening.

I can honestly say that having our project tied up at the bottom of the garden has been as close of heaven as one would wish of get - so why the reluctance? We have had many viewings, but almost no one from the boating fraternity. And, of course, trying to describe the delights of life afloat to those not that way inclined is just met with bewilderment.

There have to be boaters out there who would like to be our successors as we vacate this property, so does anyone have any thoughts on how to find them?

Any thoughts gratefully received.

Cheers - John

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, john cowie said:

Hi - when we put our house with end of garden mooring in Worcester up for sale, we were expecting to be trampled in the rush. Instead, the silence has been deafening.

I can honestly say that having our project tied up at the bottom of the garden has been as close of heaven as one would wish of get - so why the reluctance? We have had many viewings, but almost no one from the boating fraternity. And, of course, trying to describe the delights of life afloat to those not that way inclined is just met with bewilderment.

There have to be boaters out there who would like to be our successors as we vacate this property, so does anyone have any thoughts on how to find them?

Any thoughts gratefully received.

Cheers - John

 

Advertise it (or get your agent to advertise it) in the waterways press.

 

If you don't tell 'em, they cannot come !!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apropos nothing.....

 

Assuming you’re on Rightmove, you would expect that any boater looking for a house, in the area, in the price bracket, will find it. If that is the case, they are not coming to look...  for some reason.

 

How did you decide how much to ask for it? How many, and which, agents did you get advice from before going in the market?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it the one just down from where they demolished the (Cavalier?) pub and built flats?  If so, I've often thought your boat was a nice looking hull for a project and in a handy place to do it!

 

I always think it's much harder than it really ought to be to search for canalside properties.  I think you need to be quite pushy with your agent(s) who may not be targeting that side of your market well, otherwise it's only going to be seen by those who don't see the location as any justification of the price you're asking. Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 

I always think it's much harder than it really ought to be to search for canalside properties.  I think you need to be quite pushy with your agent(s) who may not be targeting that side of your market well, otherwise it's only going to be seen by those who don't see the location as any justification of the price you're asking. Good luck.

Zoopla is a better website than most as it has an advanced search including keywords. Try “canal” and “mooring” with a 40 mile radius of say Worcester, Birmingham or Stoke. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks a nice house and decent value for money, but it also looks like a house which is ideal for a largish youngish family. However, a largish youngish family, who are keen narrowboaters with a shortish boat who are also looking to upsize within, or move to Worcester must be a pretty small demographic (and they are going to struggle to fit into their shortish boat and may want to upsize that as well).

 

Houses with mooring tend to appeal to empty nesters, retirees etc -  If Worcester was a uni town - it would go quickly I think, but then the mooring is incidental

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

If so, "48ft permanent brick and concrete end-of-garden mooring" is the problem - you can only get a little boat on there.

No, you can get a boat up to 48 feet long on there at a pinch, or a 45-footer comfortably - hardly a "little" boat.

Our house (see photo) has a mooring of exactly the same length, we found it after an exhaustive search over a period of several months. I can assure you from first-hand experience that decent houses with decent moorings are not easy to find, so I'm baffled too. If it really has six bedrooms, though, that could be a problem - it's not that the mooring is too small, it's that the house is too big. Ours has three bedrooms, and we were lucky to get it, as it had been sold but the buyer dropped out.

Edited by Athy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now if you could have got a 50ft boat on there with a few feet to spare I’d have been on the phone!! At least you’ve got the length on the details....the number of agents I’ve called & emailed that don’t have a clue!! 

 

Needless to say I’m still looking so if anyone knows of a 4 bed house with a 55ft + mooring......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, frangar said:

Now if you could have got a 50ft boat on there with a few feet to spare I’d have been on the phone!! At least you’ve got the length on the details....the number of agents I’ve called & emailed that don’t have a clue!! 

 

Needless to say I’m still looking so if anyone knows of a 4 bed house with a 55ft + mooring......

What!

Surely you not thinking of moving off?

Edited by Loddon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Imo imbalance.

 

Those looking for 6 bedrooms at that budget are going to be piling all their dosh into kids not a boat.

 

Those looking for 6 bedrooms with mooring and spare cash will be looking for a more luxurious house with a bigger mooring.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps the answer is in the question?

 

Have you advertised the mooring and house with a sign on the mooring so that passing boaters see it? The estate agent should of done this if he has any idea at all.

 

The Rightmove advert makes very little emphasis about the available mooring, mentions it in passing at the end, no costs etc.

Use another agent, Someone who knows canals?

Edited by Boater Sam
added more
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Boater Sam said:

Perhaps the answer is in the question?

 

Have you advertised the mooring and house with a sign on the mooring so that passing boaters see it? The estate agent should have done this if he has any idea at all.

Ours did - though on the Middle Level its effectiveness would be rather less than on, say, the Grand Union. Whilst doing some clearing up in the garden last autumn, I found the sign, hidden by a bushy hedge!

Edited by Athy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Loddon said:

What!

Surely you not thinking of moving off?

Don’t be daft!! House for ageing parent & all her stuff....and the boat at the bottom of the garden for us! (If I could find one with a 1000 sq ft unit as well that would be ideal!!?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Athy said:

No, you can get a boat up to 48 feet long on there at a pinch, or a 45-footer comfortably - hardly a "little" boat.

Our house (see photo) has a mooring of exactly the same length, we found it after an exhaustive search over a period of several months. I can assure you from first-hand experience that decent houses with decent moorings are not easy to find, so I'm baffled too. If it really has six bedrooms, though, that could be a problem - it's not that the mooring is too small, it's that the house is too big. Ours has three bedrooms, and we were lucky to get it, as it had been sold but the buyer dropped out.

Athy old bean. A 45 foot narrowboat is indeed tiny. People who own them tend to have to fit " Cross beds " the thing of the devil ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought our canalside house with moorings (which needed CRT permission and then developing) almost 5 years ago. It had been on the market for over 2 years...

 

I wanted a house with at least a 58 foot mooring, and back then there were typically 5 or 6 suitable properties (4 bedrooms, right price, reasonable location etc) for sale at any time across the country. Try Googling to see what the competition is.

 

I found mine by Googling "canalside houses with moorings". It was on Rightmove with no mention of potential mooring.

 

Also not many house buyers are boaters, so the mooring is only appealing to a small potential of buyers.

 

Hang on in there and someone will eventually buy it if the price is right.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.