Canadian buying US boat

[gottartb]

Hi all!!

Frst of all it's nice to see a forum with so many helpful and knowledgable people posting. I have been reading in here for the past week and have learned a lot. For the past 6 months I have been thinking about purchasing a 27' Cat or similiar and have seriously started looking in the past 2 weeks. There seems to be a shortage of good Catalina 27's for sale in Victoria, bC area and I have considered going to the US.
My questions is... where do I find good links for boats for sale in Washington state? I dont seem to have much luck finding 27' boats under $15000, most brokers have lots at $100k and up :-)

Any advice or links would be greatly appreciated.

Kevin

[Digiital]

New and Used Yachts for Sale - YachtWorld.com

[artbyjody]

Check also the seattle-tacoma boats classifieds - craigslist There are usually a few C-27s for sale on a regular basis.

[Faster]

If you use Yachtworld.com or Boats.com and set your filters for area and price you'll get a good idea of what's around. (and others like craigslist's regional boards too)

Once you find 'the' boat, importing is a simple process that mostly involves writing a cheque. Under NAFTA there is no duty on North American built boats, but there will be PST and GST in BC. I've been involved in several such deals in the past 4 years or so, it's straightforward.

Don't try to short the government, say what you paid and pay the taxes.. they do check (easy to do with the web) and if they think you're lying it'll go hard.

So be up front and it will likely all be done over the phone.

A quick yachtworld search picked up 11 boats in BC and the PNW:

YachtWorld.com Boats and Yachts for Sale

[blt2ski]

You might try 48Norths list online too
48° North - Sailboats for Sale 27-28'

The main online at 48° North - The Sailing Magazine also has a sailing link with a few brokerage firms that advertise, along with a private for sale classified section too!

marty

[dhornsey]

One thing to keep in mind is that you will have to pay GST and PST when you bring your boat through customs. You can avoid those taxes if you find a private sale here in Canada.

[Faster]

Originally Posted by dhornsey

One thing to keep in mind is that you will have to pay GST and PST when you bring your boat through customs. You can avoid those taxes if you find a private sale here in Canada.

Actually you can only avoid the taxes (PST, anyway) if you do not transfer the licence (ie the "K number") This is possible (at least I think it still is) if the boat is under 30 feet and under 10 hp, as such vessels need not be licenced (again, unless that's recently changed) A good many under-30' boats with one lung diesels will fit that category.

Typically the strong dollar today, coupled with lower prices in the US will mean that it can work out to the same or a better deal, despite paying "extra" tax.

We would have much preferred to buy locally, but the reality was that the selection in BC (4 yrs ago - mid-30 footers) was slim, and what was here was either in poor condition, overpriced, or both.

[hellosailor]

Typical brokerage commission on old 27' 15,000 boat that needs lots of work and time showing it; $1500.

Typical brokerage commission on 100,000 boat: $10,000.

So, they have six times more profit for the same labor when the show the more expensive boat. Even more so considering you want 'under' $15k.

It may pay to take a few days, go down to Seattle or another place with lots of boats, and walk the docks and yards looking for "For sale by owner".

[gottartb]

FANTASTIC INFORMATION!!

Thanks for all of the replies, very helpful indeed.

Yachtworld seems to have a nice search engine and I hit about 10 boats in my area. It's hard to tell if the price will be much cheaper by going to the US, from what I have seen on yachtworld the prices are pretty close. Way more selection down south though!
For first time buyers is it better to go a little less expensive, to make sure the family enjoys it first, and then upgrade a year or two later? Or is one better off buying better right off the bat? Are boats hard to sell?

Kevin

[GreatWhite]

If the boat is not maufactured in North America, the boat would be subject to 9.5% duty.