the time has come that every sailor dreads. I have to sell my boat. Any advise would be apprechiated.:cry:
selling your boat
- Thread starter Ginger80
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Depends how boats are selling in your area.
1. Realistic Price.
2. Get yourself a web site ( Moonfruit.Com) its free.
3. Get a web address Catalina309.com or similar.
4. Clean the boat thoroughly from top to bottom.
5. Remove everything thats not in the sale.
6. Don't leave old clothes and unwashed plates in photo's.
7. Make it look like you really cared about it.
8. Lots of photographs of everything.
9. Long indepth description you WANT people to come and view.
9. Advertise everwhere thats free and put the website address.
I've been a buyer but never a seller. My First Mate and I were *amazed* at the god-awful pictures some people used to try to sell their boats. Descriptions of any given model were all pretty similar and didn't do a whole lot to sell us. In the end, it was the pictures that sold us on looking at boats.
Look at the pictures you take and ask yourself if you would buy that boat. Better yet, have a friend, or even better yet, have your mother look at the pictures and tell you honestly what they think of them. Make your buyer fall in love with your boat for the same reasons you did.
Realistic pricing is very important. We found a boat we really liked but the seller was asking about double what is was worth. Turned out he wouldn't budge on the price because he needed the money to buy a bigger boat. We decided we didn't want to buy the bigger boat for him.
When a potential buyer comes to see the boat make daggum sure it is in pristine condition. We almost walked away from the boat we ended up buying even before the owner arrived. The hull was so covered with barnacles it nearly made us cry. We did end up buying the boat but insisted the owner have the hull scraped and painted at his expense.
Basically I'm agreeing with everything SeaMist said and elaborating on some of his points. It also wouldn't hurt to have a friend, or better yet your mother, walk through your boat and point out things you've missed. I promise you can't see everything yourself. The buyer will.
Good luck!
Look at the pictures you take and ask yourself if you would buy that boat. Better yet, have a friend, or even better yet, have your mother look at the pictures and tell you honestly what they think of them. Make your buyer fall in love with your boat for the same reasons you did.
Realistic pricing is very important. We found a boat we really liked but the seller was asking about double what is was worth. Turned out he wouldn't budge on the price because he needed the money to buy a bigger boat. We decided we didn't want to buy the bigger boat for him.
When a potential buyer comes to see the boat make daggum sure it is in pristine condition. We almost walked away from the boat we ended up buying even before the owner arrived. The hull was so covered with barnacles it nearly made us cry. We did end up buying the boat but insisted the owner have the hull scraped and painted at his expense.
Basically I'm agreeing with everything SeaMist said and elaborating on some of his points. It also wouldn't hurt to have a friend, or better yet your mother, walk through your boat and point out things you've missed. I promise you can't see everything yourself. The buyer will.
Good luck!
Agree completely with Kermit(it IS easy being green
)
No idea what the Mass. boat market is like but the SF Bay Area is deeeepressed. The only thing more depressing is the price some owners will not budge from. I don't expect anyone to give me a boat(though one actually did), but for crying out loud don't ask me to pay for your next boat in full with the sale of your old one.
FWIW. I am not cheap, just realistic. Two of the boats I looked at later sold at lien sale at the marina for less than five cents on the dollar of what the PO was trying to sell them for.
)No idea what the Mass. boat market is like but the SF Bay Area is deeeepressed. The only thing more depressing is the price some owners will not budge from. I don't expect anyone to give me a boat(though one actually did), but for crying out loud don't ask me to pay for your next boat in full with the sale of your old one.
FWIW. I am not cheap, just realistic. Two of the boats I looked at later sold at lien sale at the marina for less than five cents on the dollar of what the PO was trying to sell them for.
Ouch...selling is a pain. Cheaper boats seem to sell easier, but then again you get a lot of tire kickers.
When I sell my boat, in about 20+years, I will use a broker (although it probably won't be worth all that much).
It may not hurt to get a survey so you know what to expect when someone else gets a survey done.
When I sell my boat, in about 20+years, I will use a broker (although it probably won't be worth all that much).
It may not hurt to get a survey so you know what to expect when someone else gets a survey done.
Survey is right around 12 to 14 dollars a foot. With that in hand you have a real hard price. If you want to sell it yourself, you have bargaining leverage with the document, if you use a broker, they have a survey to work with. If you are expecting over 20K for our boat I think a survey is a great first step to getting top dollar.
I sold a boat once...Christmas eve a few years back a wonderful couple gave me a check. I never made it out of the lot before I signed the papers for a new one. SeaMist above had solid advice. clean it really good - good looks sell. Stage the boat to make it inviting. Having a web site (even a free one from google, yahoo, or other) to supplement the brokers listing helps. I didn't even provide my contact info on the site I created on google for the boat I sold...just the brokers number. The in depth description of what you want people to come and see on your boat is another draw. Take a lot of great pictures - use some from your trips if you can. Pictures put the potential buyer in your boat and living the boating lifestyle. Good luck.
In the SF Bay I have seen more than a dozen boats sold over the last year. My Hunter 31 received 2 offers at a price I thought it would sell without a broker and 10 days after purchasing my current boat a year ago. It needs to be clean, serviced, dry, everything working, records, manuals and a reasonable price.
I agree with all the ideas posted with the exception of a survey. As a buyer I wouldn't trust a survey if I did not commission it myself.
Good luck.
Good luck.
It is the "turn-off" items that kill a sale.
A dirty boat implies the owner didn't take care of the boat.
A boat where the owner comments that "I have that part but haven't had time to put it on" or "that's easy to fix".
Everything on the boat should be in good working order, should be clean and should relate to the boats operation. Otherwise, remove it.
Good luck, Ray
A dirty boat implies the owner didn't take care of the boat.
A boat where the owner comments that "I have that part but haven't had time to put it on" or "that's easy to fix".
Everything on the boat should be in good working order, should be clean and should relate to the boats operation. Otherwise, remove it.
Good luck, Ray
I like to be there, follow surveyor around, ask questions. I wouln't like being handed a printed report, even if I paid for it.
Clean clean and clean some more....not just the immediately visible places, but lockers, bilge areas, engine compartments.....ect. If the boat doesn't smell good down below you're sunk. You need to isolate where the odor is coming from and eliminate it before any potential buyer gets on-board.
Pretty much agree with SeaMist's comments.
Pretty much agree with SeaMist's comments.
As a former broker, and a sailor who has sold 4 previous boats, my advice is to make everything on or in the boat look clean and great; take off everything that won't convey; make sure everything works; and most importantly, price the boat realistically. Be prepared for the buyer to have the boat surveyed at his/her expense and offer a sea trial. Be prepared to negotiate on your asking price. I can't tell you how many people I know who were trying to sell their boats at a "firm" price. Nine out of ten of these sellers sat on their boats (and ate the costs) for a few years before accepting a negotiated price....
I've sold a lot of small powerboats. via CL, or boattrader.
I'd get a lot of tirekickers. some would want a sea-trial. I would do a $100-200 sea trial, deductible from any sale.
you might try this in reverse, Offer sea trials, at 200 per 2 hour trip.... might draw in a looker that way... depending on the price.
-and I had a different opinion on brokers from buyers point of view. many didn't know anything about the boat. but the did know financing, and the sales game.
this is the best time to sell, in NE.
I'd get a lot of tirekickers. some would want a sea-trial. I would do a $100-200 sea trial, deductible from any sale.
you might try this in reverse, Offer sea trials, at 200 per 2 hour trip.... might draw in a looker that way... depending on the price.
-and I had a different opinion on brokers from buyers point of view. many didn't know anything about the boat. but the did know financing, and the sales game.
this is the best time to sell, in NE.
When I was a broker, you only did a sea trial after a contingent contract was signed and 10- -to-20 per cent deposit was put in escrow. If the sea trial developed any previously unknown issues, they were negotiated or the buyer walked.
This creates a huge liability problem for the boat owner especially if being paid but not having a Captains License or cert from the CG for a vessel for hire. All those issues are mitigated only if the sea trail is a contractual obligation as part of a sale but ONLY AFTER a contract is signed.
Listen to the advice of Warren Millberg. First impression is the lasting impression. Make sure the boat is clean, remove all personal gear not included in the sale, fix any known descrepancies and so forth. If you do not want to handle the sale, get a good competent broker. Warren is correct that any seatrail, there should be a firm offer with deposit or a minimal nonrefundable charge for the tirekickers who want to go out. If they give you a check, then make sure they write that check it is non refundable for the joy ride. That chases away the tire kickers.
Crazy Dave Condon, former broker as well.
Crazy Dave Condon, former broker as well.
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