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Buying A Yacht: a few notes!
Greetings!This (as you may have guessed!) is a subject both near and dear to my heart! As a professional Yacht Broker, as well as a boat-buyer both new and used myself, I can tell you that this is a subject fraught with personal and professional pitfalls for the unwary.
How to begin? Perhaps the first thing to examine is why do you want to buy a boat in the first place? For many of us, and surprisingly when you consider how much time, money and effort goes into boat ownership, this urge can be quite difficult to define or explain. I mean think about it! For the price of a reasonably decent boat, you could have the finest of automobiles, a significant down-payment on a house, afford membership in a first-rate golf club, or send the kids to college. And what about the time you will spend with, and around your boat? Wouldn’t that be time better spent in self-improvement, or fixing up your house, or any of a hundred other things? Don’t you think that mowing the lawn or painting the house is a better use of your time and money than being hungry, soaking wet, windblown and bouncing over the waves out at sea someplace? If the answer to the foregoing, despite all sweet and logical arguments is a resounding “No!” then read on!
The first question that MUST be answered, is what do you want to do with a boat? This sounds so elementary as to be not worth considering, but it is amazing how often ‘buyers’ really haven’t thought about it! All they want is some sort of ‘boat,’ and it is up to either the broker, or the boat dealer to sell them something (and they will!). In such cases, the boat acquired usually turns out to be entirely unsuitable for what the buyer really wanted, but as the buyer didn’t really know what that was at the time, it is his own fault for being so vague (and you may believe me when I tell you that there are many brokers and dealers that make a specialty of such customers)! For most people, there is some sort of combination of activities, like cruising, fishing, racing, ‘gunkholing,’ or maybe just sitting in a marina with a cold drink. As boats come in all shapes, sizes capabilities and prices, it is important for the buyer to narrow this down considerably before being sold a boat he can neither use, appreciate, nor afford.
The second question is how many people does the buyer reasonably expect to regularly participate in this activity with him? There is no point in buying that huge shiny yacht if it takes a crew of ten to run, but you really like solo-sailing. While it is a truism in the boat-business that you should buy the largest yacht you can afford, this is more of benefit to the brokers and dealers than the boat-buying public. Look for a boat that is right for your needs! If you have a family you wish to take with you (and most of us do), look for a yacht that has sufficient berthing to handle all of them comfortably. While there are many boats that have dinettes that convert to berths, etc, this usually means the main living area of the boat will be full of sleeping people at inconvenient times (like when you have to check if your anchor is dragging in the middle of the night!). Such arrangements are fine for the occasional trip with extra guests, but you will be much happier if it is not the usual thing.
The third question is how much can you afford? There is no point in looking at million dollar yachts if you can only afford twenty grand. Keep focused, and keep within your budget! The dealer or broker may regale you with all sorts of tales about how you can afford that big boat, but you must remember that if it SOUNDS too good to be true, it probably IS too good to be true. You must always remember that buying a boat is not the end of the expense. Boat maintenance, mooring fees, hauling fees, Winter storage fees, insurance can all eat into your budget, so it is important to find out what these costs are likely to be BEFORE you buy a boat, not after. A final point on this topic: Be realistic! Don’t expect to buy a fifty thousand dollar yacht for twenty thousand dollars! While every once in a blue moon a bargain DOES crop up, by and large YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR, and if you are not careful, sometimes not even that! What does this mean? It means if you see a boat for sale that normally would sell for fifty grand, but is offered at twenty, look very carefully and cautiously at that boat my friend, because there must be some good reason that needs explaining.
The fourth question is how long do you expect to own the boat? This seems like a fairly ‘sour grapes’ question, but the fact remains that statistics prove that most boat owners buy a different boat every two to five years! Of course, YOU are different; YOU will make the right choice and own THIS boat forever! What people generally forget (or choose to ignore) is that personal situations are subject to change. You may suddenly have more children than you had planned for, or you may have to support a relative, lose your job, get a new job, or have to move house. The point is, that the boat that seems ‘perfect’ for you today, may not be in a surprisingly short time. While you cannot really ‘plan’ for many of these eventualities, you CAN place yourself in a position where you can have the flexibility to deal with these things when they appear. This leads very naturally into my final remarks on this subject.
I cannot stress enough my two final points. The first point is that NEW BOATS ARE FOR SUCKERS! I know I shouldn’t say this, since if it wasn’t for new boat buyers, I wouldn’t have any used boats to sell, but it is true nevertheless! If you look at any kind of yacht and compare the price of a new version and one that is a couple of years old, you will know what I am talking about. Boat values drop like a rock after their initial sale, but this has little or nothing to do with the capabilities, performance, or longevity of the yacht. It is more remarkable than new and used car prices, and generally with far less justification. A new boat, even a small one, may cost you a hundred grand, but you will only get thirty grand for it in as little as five years. There are only two good reasons to buy a new boat, the first being that you just won the lottery, and the second being that warranties have a unique attraction for you. Warranties on new boats are good and valuable things while you own the boat, but won’t help you sell it after a few years. Further, you still won’t avoid the problems of things breaking or requiring maintenance, and as your warranties will require you to use an exclusive dealer, you will pay through the nose for that service. And remember, a warranty doesn’t mean anything when you are floating in the middle of the ocean with a dead engine. The moral of all of this? Unless you don’t mind throwing tens of thousands of dollars away, stick to used boats!
The second, and perhaps most important point is the singular value of research. Once you have decided what sort of boat you are interested in, it is UP TO YOU to determine which particular brand of boat will best suit your needs. Talk to current owners of boats of a type you admire. Ask them about how they perform. Does this boat still sound good to you? If you ask a broker or a dealer, you can bet they will tell you whatever they think you want to hear. With the pervasive availability of the Internet, there is just no excuse for not doing your homework. Within a matter of days or even minutes, you should be able to narrow down your interest to about three different boat models, even to the preferred year of production. At the same time, you can find out what such boats are selling for, and determine whether they are right for your budget. www.yachtworld.com is a good place to determine current boat prices, which you should know if you are reading this now! Many people also look at www.bucnet.com for pricing, but I have found this to be very uncertain, and generally much lower than the actual market. There are also many owners associations on the Internet, practically one for every brand and model of boat, and most of these are very obliging in providing info about their boats.
I hope you have found the above to be helpful, and if you follow all of my recommendations, your next boat purchase should be a cinch. See you at the boatyard!
Best Regards,
Eric Husher, Topsail Yachts
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Topsail Yachts
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The Hummocks 35 North Water Street Portsmouth, RI 02871, USA |
Toll-free 877-369-3584 Tel 401-683-2334/401-714-7912 Fax 401-683-2334 Email Us Eric Husher, OGA |
