Boat for Deep, Long, Lakeshore Land Offer

[Winderlust]

Boat for Land Offer,

Please, don’t scoff, instead “sea” into this unusual trade offer.

I have Lakefront Land and will trade it for a cutter rigged, monohull, sailing cruiser. With Good Faith and some basic legal effort, we can make a fair trade.

If you want to trade your 20 year old cruiser for a relatively safe recreation and retirement, waterfront homestead, away from the Gulf hurricanes and turmoil, let me know.

I own one premium lakefront lot and I’ll trade it for the correct, cutter rig, semi-heavy, sailing cruiser: 1985+, something between 34-43’, in excellent condition. My intention is that it will be my live-aboard in California, where I live, and eventually my cruiser to the South Pacific.

Here are some Desired Boat Examples:
(R. Perry) Toshiba 40’, Tayana 37’, Valiant 40-42’; Hans Chris 38’; (Pacific Seacraft) Crealock 37’; Cape Dory, Cape George, Gozzard, or Garden cutters (any with non-leaky teak decks or non-teak decks).

I like old, safe, classic and comfortable shoes.

Here is the satellite image of the Bear Branch Cove Development, in which my land resides. It’s on the right shore of the right fork in the picture. The lot includes the rock land peninsula sticking out 60’ X 30’ into the cove from the right shore; it looks like a boat dock, but isn’t:
Google Maps

My land is 500+ ft. peninsular shoreline of deep-water lakefront property, in a prime location on Lewis Smith Lake in Winston County, northern Alabama. It has water, phone and electricity underground. The lake contains 21,000+ sq, acres of water, 250 ft at the deepest and over 500 miles of shoreline. It’s about 75 minutes from NASA’s Huntsville, Alabama; 110 minutes due south of Nashville, TN.

I purchased the land in 2006, free and clear for $260,500 and owe nothing on it. The Winston County tax roll’s values it at $266,100, up because the neighbors have built their homes. I have a 4,700+ sq. ft. floor-plan, designed specifically for the lot, valued at $30,000, which I’ll throw in.

The whole land deal for me was to include my wife and kid but she bugged out, so my eye for the land has changed. My eye for a cruising life has not.

I have title and a very recent land survey and much more detail I’ll share with any qualified trader. Contact me with your boat information, PM.

All questions are welcome.

[sailingdog]

Winderlust—

As I've said on many similar posts previously, I think you'd be much better off selling the land and buying the boat in two different transactions. Here is why:

First, the number of decent bluewater cruising boats that are for sale is fairly small. By limiting yourself to the subset of those that have an owner looking for land in a specific geographic area, you eliminate most of them from consideration

Second, by offering a trade, you limit your effective purchase price to a fairly narrow range, which is going to force you to purchase at a premium price—the more conditions you have to a purchase, the higher the premium the seller can command.

Third, by offering a trade, you basically eliminate almost any real power to bargain. Cash talks much more loudly. So does the ability to say, "No thank you, I have other boats to look at."

Fourth, the legal paperwork that goes into the exchange of real property for personal property is far more complicated than selling real property for cash and buying personal property for cash. You could probably handle the paperwork on either of the latter yourself... but combining them adds complexity that will probably require the use of an attorney to ensure that all legal requirements are met and that both parties have free and clear title to what is being traded.