Plan B (your thoughts/ideas please) on buying a boat

Jimbo3067

Here is my plan.

!. Wait until after Labor Day.

2. The kids will be back in school with full activities on the weekends like soccer, football, band practice, etc so boat owners wont use the boat much until next summer. Easier to deal with boat owner when boat isn't being used but payments and storage fees are being paid each month.

3. Hoping its true that the best time to buy is in the winter months.

4. Keep saving 2,000 a month and get a newer - used boat - LOL

Any tips?

 

Jimbo3067

Black_Diamond

Buying a boat is 'easy' - it's keeping it that costs, a rough number to consider is about 15% of the cost you'll spend every year to run/store/maintain. Something to consider. Fall can be a good time if it is slipped, you can usually use the slip for the rest of the season. A lot go off the market in the winter and wait until spring.

BoatAway

Jim,

I wouldn't stop looking. You never know when someone will decide they're ready to move on from their current boat. And like BD said, it's usually very quiet in the Winter (boats get winterized, put up and you can't sea-trail). Keep checking your sources and you'll learn a lot by just browsing. Soon you'll be able to see the difference between a motivated seller and one who's just trying to get top dollar. Then you can move in for a strike.

bat32

If you are wil ing to wait long enough...Boat show season is a great time to buy.

mvn

Jimbo,

When we had decided to upgrade from our 192, I had a couple of models in mind.  I found a few and all of them ended up falling through for one reason or another.  Those are some interesting stories I will share some day.  In any event, I got totally discouraged.  What I did was create a Google Alert for the exact make and model of the boat so that any time anyone posted anything referring to that boat, I would get an alert by email.  I was not flooded with emails, BTW.

After a few months, I got an email one Sunday evening of a new listing on a boat dealer's website.  I called the very next morning and made arrangements to go and look at it that day.  It was only a 2 hour drive away.  The boat was on consignment so I went over everything, started it up (on muffs) and made an offer once I was satisfied.  The dealer called me a few hours later with the news that the owner accepted my offer.  That weekend, I was scrubbing the hull, changing impellers, and making a list of improvements.

The trick is to know exactly what you are looking for and know what you are looking at once you find it.  Your last survey was a very good experience for you.

Mark

Jimbo3067

Mark can you share with me how to do the google alert thing? I have zero regrets that I paid for a survey. 90% of what he did I can do simply because I watched him. I mean it isn't like he took the engine apart. The knowledge I have learned this past 3 weeks here and also the marine survey will go a long ways to insuring I get a good sound boat..

 

Jimbo3067

 

 

TikiHut2

The season and winterizing depends on where you are. If you're on the left coast or southern latitudes then you have a great plan. We found ours at the end of our season in May just before the broiler and humidifier turns full on in SW Fl. The seller was looking at exteneded rack fees and storm prep, all of which softened his resolve. Down here the snowbirds fly north during the summer (justifiably) so the market softens quite a bit. The more boats you see, the better feel you'll have for what the market price should be.

Newer is usually better but your budget will determine where the sweet spot between age and $$ ability meet. Upkeep, insurance, storage and running costs are key thoughts as you increase the size of the fleet. I'd love the room of a 342 but storage/dock fees in our area are outside my comfort zone so we found the nicest boat that'd still hit the road for storage in my shop at the house and it was the FV270.

We shopped for one in the best shape with the most options in an 800mi radius and looked at maybe a dozen with offers on 3. Within 5mths we found ours only 40 miles from our house. It was listed as sale pending but I told the broker to call if anything fell apart with the buyer who inevitably couldn't get his finances in order. I was there with a cash offer within 3hrs contingent upon a satisfactory survey within 10 days.

Looking back I very nearly made some terrible mistakes on some marginal boats with pretty outdated or poorly maintained systems simply due to becoming impatient. Be cool, it'll come but be ready to move to the offer/survey stage pretty quickly. The best ones won't last too long. About 1/3 of the brokers deals were getting shipped overseas so it's not just the local guys you're competing against these days.

Good luck. Mike

Jimbo3067

Nevermind Mark...I did a google search LOL on how to do google alerts..very simple...YIPPEE

 

Jimbo

mvn

Jimbo3067 said:

Nevermind Mark...I did a google search LOL on how to do google alerts..very simple...YIPPEE

 

Jimbo

No problem.  You can have several alerts depending on your search criteria.  I use it all the time to inform me of different things.

Mark

explore7425

We are up here on the Chesapeake and we bought our boat in December. It was bank owned and we got an awesome deal. The bank was only concerned that they get their money before Jan 1st. After that the deal was off and they were ready to ride out the winter. On the flip side of that we were selling a boat as well. Someone came along and bought our boat and closed in November. Part of the deal was that we winterize and pay for winter storage. I think by September most people have made their plans for winter. Around here most boats are on an annual contract. I just wanted to sell my boat and I had already paid for the year so I wasn't thinking about the winter costs. I think their is a number most owners need to get out of their boat and time of the year doesn't play that much on what you pay. Just focus in and find something you like. I think you will do fine no matter when you buy. 

MarkB

Do you have any boat shows coming up? If so go have a look at the models and decide what you like. Then go shopping for a used boat. Also those that just bought a new boat will be lookin to offload their old boat = good deals!

Jimbo3067

Is it just new boats at a boat show?

 

Jimbo

brianluck

I'd say keep saving till you can aford the boat you want! Don't settle cuase you want to be on the water ASAP

mvn

Jimbo3067 said:

Is it just new boats at a boat show?

 

Jimbo

Obviously, the bulk will most definitely be new.  I've seen larger brokers with booths at shows.  Let the interweb be your friend and shop from home.  Boat shows are great in helping you decide on specific models and features if you're looking for a used recent model boat.

Mark

JoeStang

When we started looking I was watching a couple specific boats from the spring to the summer. There was a TON of boats that popped up for sale in August and right after Labor Day the prices dropped a bunch.

We ended up buying new but only because we couldnt find the specific boat we wanted locally. Its a decent idea at this point to wait until Labor Day, because the summer is basically half over and you wont get a big price break right now.