Someone will pay you $300 to take his sailboat away

[jameswilson29]

http://norfolk.craigslist.org/boa/2579295193.html

[olson34]

In a recession this is not surprising.
Way back when we spent a year (big sigh...) looking for our next boat we found a number of boats in the 30 foot - and longer - range that effectively had a "negative value."
A wise boat builder and surveyor once explained the price offer process to me: on a given model, you can, with research, figure out what a turn-key version should cost you.
For the exact one you are considering, start with that turn-key value and subtract from that $ figure the cost of deferred maintenance and upgrades to bring it up to that standard.
Offer no more than that value remaining....
on quite a few boats we looked at, this would be a negative number. In other words the owner would have to pay us XX thousand to take their boat.
(It was interesting how often the broker would agree with us, and lament that the listing owner was being very unrealistic.)

Happy shopping!


L

[jameswilson29]

Yes, as a buyer in the market today, you must have a sense of humor and a high tolerance for frustration.

I have seen quite a few project boats in the 25-30' range that are advertised as sailaway condition for a $5-10K price, but have serious problems such as rotten decks, cockpit soles, or bulkheads, severely corroded keel bolts, interior waterline marks indicating a past sinking, rigging problems, and/or original 30 - 40 year old sails or engines in need of immediate replacement that make the boat basically worthless. The sellers don't seem to understand the cost of their deferred maintenance or the serious problems with their boats.

I am now wary of the seller who has had the boat for only a year or two, and wants to sell, or someone who is selling for a "friend". I think some are given these boats, or picking them up on eBay or from charitable auctions, with a number of problems, including a blown engine, then fixing only the engine (usually an A4), and trying to sell the boat as if that were the only problem and the boat is now in overall fine condition. I suspect the blown engine was usually not the only problem, but the final straw that caused the previous owner to give up.

There are also some unrealistic sellers who refuse to recognize the economic conditions and the fact that there is an oversupply of boats at reasonable prices. Their price would have been realistic 5years ago, but not now. So, their boats are sitting there unsold for months on end, waiting for the promised economic turnaround, while they pay another years slip fees or the cost of bottom paint.

[jameswilson29]

Here's another one, a free 1978 Tartan 30:

1978 Tartan 30

I have noticed a greater supply of used sailboats since the market crashed after the budget fiasco, or as the sailing season comes to a close in Fall.

[jameswilson29]

Here's a free O'Day 23 in Md:

FREE-Sailboat-O'Day 23

and a free Tanzer 22 in NC:

22' Sailboat needs a good home!

[capttb]

They all seem overpriced, you'd need to pay me $3000 to take the first one to the dump.

[Cal28]

And yet the sad truth is that ... of the 1200 or so boats (vast majority of which are sail powered) here in the 3 marinas on South San Francisco Bay ... one of (if not the best) places to sail ... you can count the number going out on a weekend on two hands

[jameswilson29]

Within walking distance of shoreline...

free sailboat

[Indevolatile]

Another freebie near Seattle. I have to say, if I had a yard and actually wanted a 24 footer, I'd be tempted. Come to think of it, I wonder if the cost of scrapping the hull on some of these would be more than a recycler would give you for the 2000-5000 lbs of lead or iron in the keel.

Islander 24 sailboat (FREE)

[pcloot]

I really agree with all what you are saying.