Association Forum - Hypothetical boat selling questions....

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Hypothetical boat selling questions....

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

Davy J
Master Marine Consultant

Member Avatar

USA
1511 Posts

Initially Posted - 02/24/2014 : 07:33:12

As usual, I find myself wishing for amenities that a C25 lacks. You know, standing headroom, hot and cold running water, enclosed head with shower, air conditioning……..

So a hypothetical question about selling my Catalina. The boat overall is in very good condition. Has newer sails, newer outboard, autopilot and a lot of other extras in good working order.

Two areas that need attention are 1) the bottom paint is in bad shape. I have a diver clean it every month, so it is clean, but it needs new paint and most likely some blister repairs. 2) I have a trailer, I‘ve only used it once in ten years. To bring the boat home. It also is in bad shape and would need considerable work to make it roadworthy.

So the question is: leave these items the way they are, and sell the boat for a discount. Or paint and repair the bottom, fix/repair the trailer and ask a premium for the boat.

What’s your opinion?

Davy J

2005 Gemini 105Mc
PO 1987 C25 #5509 SR/SK
Tampa Bay

Edited by - on

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

2272 Posts

Response Posted - 02/24/2014 : 08:01:22

IMO, there are no "premiums" in the current market. Any money you put into it may not be returned. You may sell it faster by doing the fix-up first, but not sure you'd recoup the extra money unless you do all the labor yourself. You will attract more first-timers who are afraid of doing the work themselves, but they will be very cost-conscious, and may not realize the value of those improvements.

Edited by - on

Davy J
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1511 Posts

Response Posted - 02/24/2014 : 08:23:39

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">IMO, there are no "premiums" in the current market. Any money you put into it may not be returned.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
"Premium" may not be the right term. I doubt I would recoup the expense of the bottom job in the selling price. I guess the better question would be the sale-ability of the boat. I could have the bottom done and price the boat closer to the top of the market. Or, leave it as-is and sell her some where in the middle or less?

Edited by - Davy J on 02/24/2014 08:24:23

pastmember
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

2402 Posts

Response Posted - 02/24/2014 : 08:31:04

The condition of your boat determines how it stacks up against the competition, it seldom adds value. The point as Rick said is for your boat to sell instead of someone else's. A bottom job is trivial if you pay someone to take it down to glass for you... a couple hundred dollars for labor then you put VC 17 on it and the buyer will fall in love with the bottom... it will make every other boat he looks at look like a barge. Even if they need something other than VC 17 the hard VC 17 finish means another paint can be put on by the buyer with very little effort. The trailer comes down to two issues, brakes and bearings. There are no mountains where you live so don't bother with the brakes, just tell the buyer that a proper tow vehicle will handle the load, just like you the buyer will be transporting the boat to its home with the trailer not "trailering" it. BUT the bearings must be good so the wheels will roll to the buyer's port of call. Replacing all the bearings on your trailer takes no brains, less than a hundred dollars worth of bearings and a can of grease... a trivial project. For $300 to $500 you can remove the barriers to your boat's marketability.
edit: I would think a trailer is the best hurricane hole, market it that way.

Edited by - pastmember on 02/24/2014 15:08:12

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

3477 Posts

Response Posted - 02/24/2014 : 09:26:25

I don't think I'd ever want to do or have work done on a boat I'm about to sell. I loose interest. Let them see the rosy future. Sell the sizzle, not the steak.

To me they all sorta sell at the same price, it is just time that varies.

Edited by - on

islander
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
4025 Posts

Response Posted - 02/24/2014 : 10:49:52

Each of your senerios will attract different buyers. You will get the guy that isn't interested or isn't handy enough for a boat that needs fixing so he's looking for the boat that needs zero work. Then you have the other guy who is looking for the biggest boat he can afford but at a lower price and doesn't mine putting in some sweat equity. We have many here that bought their boats at a lower price and love doing the upgrades. If it were me I would target the second guy and leave it alone, Target the fixer up guys, Adjust the price accordingly and explain what the boat needs. Remember you next boat will surely need work. Nobody sells a perfect boat.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I could have the bottom done and price the boat closer to the top of the market.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
No guarantee you would get a higher price. Remember a boat is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it regardless of any valuation.

Edited by - islander on 02/24/2014 11:08:02

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.