How Long Did It Take to Sell Your Boat?

[Duke95]

Firstly, apologies if there is an existing thread about this...if so my attempts at finding it failed!

As I slowly move closer to ownership someday, I become far more concerned about selling than buying. How long did it take you to sell your boat? What kind of boat was it, where was it berthed, how old was it, (honestly now) what was its condition, and (honestly now), were you trying to it sell at, above or below market value (best guess)? All of these factors surely correlate with time sold.

I feel like boats are probably like cars, in that, if you buy new and do upkeep, selling in 5 years is not a problem. If you buy a 5 year old boat and do upkeep, selling in 5 years should not be too much of a problem, but could be. But if you buy 10 years old and sell in 5, probably much tougher. And so on. And, all of these scenarios are probably tougher if the boat is owned for 10 years or even more. Of course all the factors I mention above come into play, for example a 15 year old mass production boat is probably a harder sell then a 15 year old high-end custom/semi-custom brand.

Anyway, I would love to hear everyone's thoughts!

[Cheechako]

1-1.5 years is not unusual for a big -ish boat.
My 38 sold in 1.5 years at a 40% discount from asking price.
My 47 sold in < 1 year at a 10% loss
My 44 sold in a couple months at a profit.
all were moored at expense.

[a64pilot]

I had a sales lot sell my little 21' Center Console, it sold in a month or two.
My airplane sold on word of mouth, I didn't even advertise it, similar thing on my house.

I disagree with what your saying on older cars etc. As long as it's not junk, if your realistic about the price, it will sell quickly.
Even unusual things if priced correctly will sell. I just sold two SCUBA "scooters" used in cave diving, not much demand for those things, but they sold quickly because they were priced realistically.
To many people I believe have unrealistic expectations of their possessions worth.
Something is worth what it will sell for or what it can generate in income, that's all.


My financial plan is for us to cruise for 6 years, then buy a house, I have planned on the boat to have no residual value.
I wouldn't plan on the boat being worth X amount of dollars in the future, cause it may not be.

[Matt Johnson]

1989 Sabre 34' Targa
6 days to sell
Located in Florida
Very good condition
Sold at market value
Sold June last year

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I had a sales lot sell my little 21' Center Console, it sold in a month or two.
My airplane sold on word of mouth, I didn't even advertise it, similar thing on my house.

I disagree with what your saying on older cars etc. As long as it's not junk, if your realistic about the price, it will sell quickly.
Even unusual things if priced correctly will sell. I just sold two SCUBA "scooters" used in cave diving, not much demand for those things, but they sold quickly because they were priced realistically.
To many people I believe have unrealistic expectations of their possessions worth.
Something is worth what it will sell for or what it can generate in income, that's all.


My financial plan is for us to cruise for 6 years, then buy a house, I have planned on the boat to have no residual value.
I wouldn't plan on the boat being worth X amount of dollars in the future, cause it may not be.

Exactly how we view the world. When our cruising is over the boat will not owe us anything. It costs you to live somewhere and we sort of right it off as if it was rent. That said we keep the boat in excellent condition and while we don't count on a thing, if it didn't sell and reasonably quick, I'd be surprised. Even in this day and age it's hard to find a quality boat that has been really well kept and in turn key condition.

[Schooner Chandlery]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I had a sales lot sell my little 21' Center Console, it sold in a month or two.
My airplane sold on word of mouth, I didn't even advertise it, similar thing on my house.

I disagree with what your saying on older cars etc. As long as it's not junk, if your realistic about the price, it will sell quickly.
Even unusual things if priced correctly will sell. I just sold two SCUBA "scooters" used in cave diving, not much demand for those things, but they sold quickly because they were priced realistically.
To many people I believe have unrealistic expectations of their possessions worth.
Something is worth what it will sell for or what it can generate in income, that's all.


My financial plan is for us to cruise for 6 years, then buy a house, I have planned on the boat to have no residual value.
I wouldn't plan on the boat being worth X amount of dollars in the future, cause it may not be.

Agree across the board. Price it right and it will sell quickly. Let people know you've got something that you might be selling soon and if it is in good shape, you may never have to advertise it. House, car, boat. Similar story. We've sold all three quickly--there's always a buyer if you're pricing at the market and not with your ego. We share your plans about not counting on a boat having some value in the future. It if does, great, if not so, at least you've not counted on it.

[Stumble]

I am handeling a deceased friends boats sale. From the moment it was posted for sale till it was under contract took about 48 hours.

In this case the trick was simply to make sure the price was reflective of the condition the boat was in, and advertise it to people who may be interested.

[a64pilot]

I'm no expert on selling things, but it seem like things either sell quickly, or become hard to sell.
I assume if it's been on the market for awhile people just sort of assume it's not worth the asking price or it would have sold already?
Boat I have had been on the market for awhile and I think reduced in price a few times and was at what I thought a good price.
I threw a low ball offer at the guy, one not too insulting I hoped, but to get the negotiations started. He took it, but threw out the where is, as is at me.
I assume he had become tired of trying to sell the thing, had it priced high for quite awhile and had been through a couple of, well I'll buy it, but you have to fix the things on this list etc.

Point is, he paid too much and thought I believe due to the work he ad put into it, that it was worth more, a year later he was just ready to get rid of the thing.

Don't be that guy, who had a years worth of Marina bills, he didn't want

[Duke95]

Thanks for replies so far! Interested in other's experiences!

I totally understand, everything has its price...some idiot in my neighborhood is trying to sell his house a good $100k over market value...of course it has been sitting for 6 months (so far!). But I have heard enough horror stories that the boat market might be different...too many used boats out there, not enough buyers...so I was not sure...

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by Duke95

Thanks for replies so far! Interested in other's experiences!

I totally understand, everything has its price...some idiot in my neighborhood is trying to sell his house a good $100k over market value...of course it has been sitting for 6 months (so far!). But I have heard enough horror stories that the boat market might be different...too many used boats out there, not enough buyers...so I was not sure...

Move to our hometown, biggest increase in real estate prices in the world at 24% last year. One home sold for 1 million over the listing price. Oh, that's Vancouver, BC Boats, well that's a different subject, just glad we didn't sell our house.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

1-1.5 years is not unusual for a big -ish boat.
My 38 sold in 1.5 years at a 40% discount from asking price.
My 47 sold in < 1 year at a 10% loss
My 44 sold in a couple months at a profit.
all were moored at expense.

Pricing is difficult. The 38 mentioned above had 4 sisterships on the market at the same time..... all listed within 5K of each other. mine was loaded and had many upgrades, including recent new deck/cabin paint. Yet it took 1.5 years to sell at a heavy discount. it was probably flock mentality on the part of brokers. They each followed suit on listing price.

[Caribbeachbum]

Market price is that price which will fetch one, and only one, willing and able buyer within time t. Debate is always over how long t should be. I always say it should be one quarter (three months). After that, you can assume the market has changed and the market price might thus have changed as well. It's a bit arbitrary, that t.

A boat that sits on the market longer than t is over-priced; a boat that fetches more than one able and willing buyer in time t is under-priced.

Mark the boat to market price, sell the boat now.

-

[svHyLyte]

In 2003 we sold our 1976 Cal 2-29 to the first person that looked at her in 20 days from listing her. Our advertisement in Southwinds had not even been published yet. She was very well maintained and in very good condition. Most importantly, she was very clean with no "junk" aboard and smelled clean--no mold or mildew or diesel smells. The engine, engine bay and bilge were a clean as a whistle as was the head. We listed her high and accepted 90% of the offering price, which was, then, north of $20K. The buyer commented that it was the orderliness and cleanliness of the yacht that gained his wife's immediate approval hence his purchase offer.

Compared with the foregoing, we were stunned by the lousy condition of many of the boats offered for sale that we had gone to see. I could not imagine anyone having a prospective buyer see some of the boats we looked at or a broker having accepted a listing for them.

FWIW...

[FollowingCs]

It also depends on what kind of boat, how old, etc.

For example, boats older than 15 years are harder to finance.

Also, production catamarans like Lagoons and FP's sell in a matter of weeks if priced at market, where a specialty catamaran like a Privilege or Catana may take 18 months to sell.

(This is all info I have received from brokers, so take it for what it is, free advice from people making a commission on the process.)

Good to ask for examples though, some anecdotal evidence is better than nothing.

~ Following Cs ~

[hamburking]

C&C27mk2 in good shape sold in 3 weeks at market value (slightly more than I paid 3 years previous.

Tanzer 22 sold in 2 weeks, I advertised it under market value, got multiple offers, and sold over asking price.

Cal 25 sold in 4 weeks. Started at market value and dropped the price $1000 per week till sold. When it got to $5k, had multiple offers.

C&C27mk4. Excellent condition and well equipped. Sold in less than a week. First guy to come bought it at full asking price, which was over market value.

Hunter 35.5 Sold in 2 months. One guy came to see before haulout. He called back 2 months later and made a good offer, which I accepted. It was at or over market value. It was an excellent boat in excellent condition.

C&C25mk1 Started by asking slightly over market value, dropped the price $1000 a week, till it was sold...took 3 weeks.
https://youtu.be/bDssMt3Eb9Q

Paceship 29 poor condition. Got market value in 2 weeks. Market value was pretty low.

Pearson 30. Took 1 month to sell, showed it 10 times. Started above market value and dropped price significantly every week (I didn't want to own it over the winter). Sold for 60% of my original asking price, or about $1000 less than market value. Average condition, but extremely well equipped.

My conclusions:

You can't sell any boat that's not in good shape and ready to sail.

Old boats sell on price.

A good condition, well equipped boat is what everyone wants.

A newer boat will hold its value and be easier to sell than a much cheaper older boat.

The more expensive the boat, the easier to sell. Cheap boats have lots of unknowns. Expensive boats are usually in much better condition and have surveys to say so.

It was easier to sell my Hunter legend 35.5 for over $100k than any of my other, much cheaper boats.

I never used a broker or a lawyer.