Financing a boat as a canadian

[Blade Runner]

Hello, I've been researching my financing options as a canadian for purchasing a 250k-ish CAD$ catamaran outside of Canada and I seem to have come to a roadblock.

The Canadian companies I have contacted will only finance new boats sold by dealers in Canada and the US companies I have contacted will finance me but only if I have three years (or something like that) of US credit history.

So, does anyone have a solution to finance a boat as a Canadian? We're looking to put about 50k of cash and 200k of financing if possible.

Cheers!

[Joh.Ghurt]

No real help from me, I ended up paying for my boat out of my pocket. No financing was available. But still I'm curious whether you have better luck. Please keep us posted.

[Blade Runner]

I will try. So far boat brokers have been less than helpful...

[Blade Runner]

No update. Have been trying to get information from Banque Nationale, Caisse Desjardins and even Banque Royale but no success yet.

[scargo]

Originally Posted by Blade Runner

No update. Have been trying to get information from Banque Nationale, Caisse Desjardins and even Banque Royale but no success yet.

I met a lady, two or so years ago, at a Scotia Bank branch downtown Montreal. I think on corner René Levesque and University. I could borrow something like 150K and I think it depends on the age of the boat.


The other option, could be Home Equity Line of Credit. If you have a property, I think this is a better option.

[Blade Runner]

I do. I own a 5 plex which has been appreciating quite nicely and has enough equity available. Unfortunately, I still have 4 years left on my current mortgage term...

But thanks for the referral, I'll try calling that branch, as I'm in Montréal too.

I did find these guys: http://hebertmaritime.com/index.php?lang=english

Who are located in Montréal. They have referred me to desjardins and Banque nationale, but they warned me none of the local banks know what they are doing and you need to tell them to call Hébert Maritime as they are consultants for the banks and help set up a marine mortgage. I have SOME progress with Desjardins using this method. More info to come later.

[scargo]

Originally Posted by Blade Runner

I do. I own a 5 plex which has been appreciating quite nicely and has enough equity available. Unfortunately, I still have 4 years left on my current mortgage term...

But thanks for the referral, I'll try calling that branch, as I'm in Montréal too.

I did find these guys: H?bert et Associ?s Conseillers Maritime - Home

Who are located in Montréal. They have referred me to desjardins and Banque nationale, but they warned me none of the local banks know what they are doing and you need to tell them to call Hébert Maritime as they are consultants for the banks and help set up a marine mortgage. I have SOME progress with Desjardins using this method. More info to come later.

I know that Hebert Maritime are very knowledgeable and professional. But to be honest, Desjardins, Banque Nationale or even TD are among the worst banks. I dealt with them all. When you google "marine mortgage Canada" the only Canadian banks that show up are Royal Bank and Scotia Bank. I know nothing about RBC. But I can tell you that Scotia Bank has branches in a lot of countries in the Caribbean. So, if you will be traveling in that region with your boat in the future, it might worth opening an account with them in CAD and USD.
https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/per...oat-loans.html
But, again, a HELOC will give you a better interest rate and the freedom to chose the boat you want even if it is located half way around the world.

[Blade Runner]

On a side note: do you own a boat? Do you have it here or somewhere else?

We want to cruise the caribbean for a year or two before coming back, waiting a year or two then go out and cruise the world, but the Marina situation here has us worried...

[scargo]

Originally Posted by Blade Runner

On a side note: do you own a boat? Do you have it here or somewhere else?

We want to cruise the caribbean for a year or two before coming back, waiting a year or two then go out and cruise the world, but the Marina situation here has us worried...

No, I don't. I sold my boat in 2019 with the marina slip and I've been looking for an other boat since then. I just got back from the Caribbean with no luck. Covid makes it hard with less boats on the market.
I delivered a boat from Montreal to les iles de la madeleine this past summer and I can tell you that maybe Rimouski has some free slips. Also Craig quai in Ontario (which is not very far from Valleyfield) used to have some free spots. If you want to sail the Maratimes, from anchorage to anchorage, an excellent spot where to leave your boat for winter is Souris,PEI. I left my previous boat there for 3 years. Until I decided, it is time to sell and brought it back to Montreal.

[Enfant Du Vent]

Ahoy Blade Runner:


American Lenders - I'm a Canadian living in Florida. My experience relates to buying a house, but it may give you some ideas to pursue.


As my wife and I were house shopping with a real estate agent I asked about obtaining a mortgage--given that I had NO United States credit record. He replied that I might quality for a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" mortgage. When I asked what he meant, he explained that if I put 50% down they wouldn't ask / care where the money came from.


Bonne Chance

[Blade Runner]

Yikes. 50%. I'm tryig to avoid that. Capital is best spent on appreciating assets , I'd rather have enough left over for other investments. But I'll look into it. The issue with american boat lenders has always bee lack of credit history i the USA.

I'll give american lenders another try though, maybe some of them have canadian branches.