Making the Move

[Thebriansnyder]

I currently own a 31' allmand monohull. I'm 25 and I have a wife and two kids, ages 5 and 1 1/2 both boys. My wife says that she isn't opposed to living aboard someday. My dad tells me if she agrees I'm 90% of the way there. I know if we live aboard, a catamaran is what we'd like to eventually own.

I know I'm young but I'd like to do it now. We currently rent an apartment and don't pay much. I feel like the responsible thing to do is buy a house wait for it to appreciate then sell it down the road and buy a catamaran. That may be responsible but its not for me. I'd love to buy the catamaran now. I figure enjoy it now, let the kids experience it and have it paid off when I near retirement age. I would love to liveaboard in the next few years but some of the cats just seem so expensive in comparison to a monohull. Some of the builds I've looked at have been Geminis, PDQ 36 32, victory 35, royal cape cats and prouts.

I need a push from the catamran community. Tell me if you were in a similar situation. Any advice would be appreciated. I would really love this lifestyle.

Background info: I'm a firefighter/paramedic with 5 years in Fairfax county VA. I'd love to live in another country aboard but don't know how I'd swing that. I don't mind living aboard in the Chesapeake bay area in the meantime.

Thanks for any comments or advice

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by Thebriansnyder

I feel like the responsible thing to do is buy a house wait for it to appreciate then sell it down the road and buy a catamaran.

At 21 I built a house because "that was the responsible thing to do"... at 29, I just sold the house for a loss. Do what you want, not what others tell you to do. It may just work out better in the long run (I wish I bought the boat first).

[got seashells?]

Ok this is coming from a homeowner that is also waiting to sell the house at the point of moving into retirement. I have done some thinking about the whole great dream of being a home owner and have decided that it is more of a nightmare. if you are the owner, you fix it, update it, and pay the taxes on it. however if you rent it the owner fixes it updates it and pays the taxes. (you as the renter cover the taxes in your monthly payment)
now something that most people miss is if you pay $200,000.00 for a house and it does not increase in value (like todays values) you still will be shelling out the funds to upkeep and update. add in the closing costs to buy and then sell the property. you at a financial loss.

hindsight being 20/20, I wish I was not saddled to the house so I would not have to wait for it to sell for me to begin my dream.

[smj]

I build houses for a living and........hum maybe that's why we've lived aboard for 20 years

[44'cruisingcat]

In the current climate, real estate is not easy to sell, your mono would be even harder. 2 adults and 2 small kids should fit Ok on a 31 foot mono, if you want to go now, that would be the way to do it.

[SV.Maverick]

I agree if you can do it now

[Cookiesa]

For live aboard I agree with you... too small with a young family. The cat would open up deck space for the family. Kids can spend hours staring through the tramps at the water/dolphins etc (wearing a harness for piece of mind of course)

Only you and your wife can make the call, but for my opinion go for it!

[Carley]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

At 21 I built a house because "that was the responsible thing to do"... at 29, I just sold the house for a loss. Do what you want, not what others tell you to do. It may just work out better in the long run (I wish I bought the boat first).

We did the same thing. Bought a house when we were young then quickly felt suffocated by it and moved aboard a couple years later. We haven't been able to sell the house yet though, we'd take too big of a loss. We so wish we skipped the house part and went straight for a boat. Or at least rented for awhile to avoid being trapped by a mortgage.

[tybee22]

As a 20 yr liveaboard who fell in love w/ another liveaboard we decided to get a place on a canal Florida Keys 10 mi. from Key West. All was well, then I needed a hip replacment so sold my boat, as we had a mortage payment I still had to contribute to. 2 yrs later took out line of credit and bought place next door, thinking great investment. Plan was to sell both and buy the big cat and never come back. After buying I spent 8 mo. of nights and weekends doing a total remodel, we moved in and 45 days later had 3 ft of ocean in both places. Hurricane Wilma OCT. 2005. Property values dropped and market went soft. Sold Linda's boat to recoup from hurricane and stay above water. Fast forward 1 yr. sold 1st property and made small profit which put us back to even. I was a custom home builder and when the economy tanked and the sub-prime mess came along there was very little work.Linda was a bartender.

Linda now live in mainland Fl. I still live in the KEYS and just bought a 31' prout that is a fixer-uper for a good price and will be moving aboard in about 1 mo.

You can get a pretty good size cat for the price of a house, and pay it off just like a house. You will have a home and a wonderful way to see much of the world should you choose.

Take it from one who has done the full circle and going right back where he started ...living aboard. Live the dream life is much shorter than it seems. Enjoy it, and best to you which ever way you go.