Boat Evaluation Guidelines for Newbies

Posted on June 5, 2009
Filed Under Fishing Tips | Leave a Comment

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

by John Howard

Establishing the monetary value for a boat is one of the most important and sometimes the most difficult aspects of dealing with pleasure boats, from the perspective of the seller but of course also for other parties such as buyers, brokers, insurers and marine surveyors

If you are selling, the proceeds that you will get on your motorboat, sailing yacht or fishing pontoon will either determine how much you will have in your pocket if you are moving away from marine life, or if you are upgrading, it will settle on the size of your next vessel.

At first glance buyers may think that the subject is less crucial for them as there is a lot of choice of similar boats with clear prices, but make no mistake – don’t become complacent and forget that not getting the best deal may mean losing tens of thousands of dollars.

This is, unfortunately, harder than it seems. Boat prices fluctuate a lot due to a series of sometimes obscure circumstances, such as the place you are in and the season of the year, and these are all things you need to be aware of. Otherwise you may strike what seems a great deal, but in hindsight you may then notice that the transaction left you worse off by thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

Which is why boat evaluation cannot just be an afterthought or a given, but must be considered with care. First of all, the prospective buyer or seller needs to decide whether to go solo, or whether to hire a boat evaluation pro. Marine brokers can help to sort out the issue for you.

In fact, as there is a lot of information available on the subject for those who are willing to spend some time educating themselves, you can do this yourself if you prefer not to be dependent on someone else’s opinion.

To become your own appraiser for boat values, you need to look at as many resources as possible – and there are plenty of books and websites on the subject. Your aim should be to come up with realistic minimum and maximum process for the kind of boat you want or are about to sell.

Online or paper trade magazines are a very popular source to compare the min-max values of your boat with comparable objects – check out classifieds, journals, various yards and boat traders. You will find plenty of listings with prices, and if you look at various ads over time (in different issues) you will get an idea of how fast objects are selling, that is if the asking price was right.

Also good are boating festivals, which are usually organized by boating clubs and yachting marinas. These shows are excellent to pick up more info on boat values, plus people who come to the shows are experts in this industry and know what they are talking about. Don’t underestimate the value of a chat with the right person to accurately pinpoint the possible value of a boat – and you may even find a buyer!

New boat exhibitions are good to gauge current fashions. Fashionable items demand a better price, and you can increase the value of your marine transaction by finding out what features and accessories are currently over- or undervalued.

About the Author:
BoatValueWorld.com is the premier resource for boat prices on the Net, with guides on matters such as how to handle boat transactions, as well as on boat sale negotiation, value-for-money refurbishments, yacht prices – and much more!
VN:F [1.6.1_878]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.6.1_878]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Comments

Leave a Reply