Catamaran wanted for real estate in trade

[gelsailing]

I know everyone selling a boat wants cash..so would I ...in the past. But in today's world, cash is about to become less valuable....hyperinflation is going to descend on the USA. And with the economy etc. in the condition it's in, maybe someone would trade a boat that requires care and feeding ($$$ every month) for real estate just outside Denver, CO that produces income and will at least start appreciating again before too long...I doubt that a used catamaran is going to appreciate nearly as much.

We want to retire and go cruising so we don't care that our boat (see how optimistic I am ) will lose value since we will be using it. We are "land rich and cash poor" but want to do it NOW rather than wait. But, we have to find the right seller who has the ability and willingness to take real estate rather than cash. Any takers??? No commission to pay for either party, potentially less taxes. Catamaran ready to go is our ideal boat. If any interest post here or reply to impersonal1@gmail.com. We are serious and have lots of paid for land....which never disappears...

[sailingdog]

As I've said on previous swap house for land/home/house trades. You're really better off selling the house and then buying a boat. Trying to swap is really quite stupid IMHO.

The reason I say this is:

• You're looking for a certain type of boat.
• There are a finite number of people with that kind of boat.
• You would need to deal with the number of people owning the type of boat you want that are also limited by their desire to own property like yours, in your part of the country.
• Given the finite number of boat owners with catamarans that might be suitable, the number of buyers you're going to have available is close to ZERO.

Also, seeing as you have a very limited market of boat owners who might want to trade their catamaran for your land and house, you are effectively killing any bargaining power you have.

If you were to sell the house and use the cash to purchase the boat, you'd have a lot more leverage, especially in today's financial conditions, to buy the exact boat you want at a decent price.

[gelsailing]

and agree...in theory. From our point of view only (buyer) selling the land in this market would only be desirable IF we could find a boat for the amount of $ we clear from the land. This is not a house, it's land and we can just let it sit there producing if we cannot turn it into something we want. We will not take on more debt, period. So if we sell land and then cannot buy a boat for that, we are in a pickle...don't want to pay commission and taxes only to put cash in the bank to earn almost no interest and waiting for the hyperinflation to happen since Treasury is just printing money and must do much more. It's a classic chicken and egg problem made much more difficult when one (buyer or seller) cannot count on selling when they want to at a fairly predictable price. This is partially why the real estate (and boat) markets are in a mess right now. So i guess if our long shot doesn't result in a trade, we just keep our land and do more chartering, which is getting less expensive....

So, in summary, you're right, extreme long shot. No harm in trying.

[kd3pc]

Selling real estate of any kind in this area (most areas, actually) is a double edge sword. The economy has removed well over 50% of all potential buyers - a buyer today needs 20% down and a FICO of better than 700. Leaving only those well equipped to buy, or speculators. We got plenty of both in trying to sell our house which was on the market for 8 months, and we lowered the price by well over 35% during that time. All we got were upset people who wanted us to assume any and all risk with their offers. ie, rent with purchase, at today's price with no money down, pay rent less than current mortgage, and oh by the way, we want a 5 year balloon with an option to walk away at that time, no harm no foul. They had credit "issues" were being thrown out of their current house (upside down and not paying the mortgage), and the like.

COngrats to Gel for trying some thing new to get to where you want to be, best of luck. You may try Craig's list "real estate swap" in areas near the water or where you want to keep the boat.

dave

[gelsailing]

Dave,
Thanks for your encouragement! We will look at Craigs list, good idea. We don't want a house (have some), just a boat. Want to live on it a couple years cruising the Caribbean. Land parcel we are proposing to trade is a separate 160 acre property and there is no structure on it. That is good for out of area boat trader; cousin farms it for shares...we just get checks and pay less than $400/year in taxes (agricultural zoning). No maintenance or repairs cause there is nothing to break. This 160 acre parcel already has several homes built around it, but this has slowed/stopped with current conditions. But this won't last forever and Denver area is very desirable and growing in our direction. So eventually boat trader (or us if no takers) can sell for a significant profit. And there is some income in the middle, not tons but always positive cash flow since ONLY expense is the $400/year taxes. A non-used/wanted yacht has lots of cash flow...OUT... plus it's depreciating even in a good market. I do not think the expensive toy market will rebound before real estate already has come back solidly. If we were younger we would just wait this out, but we have the time now to to cruising, just no boat except charters.

[gelsailing]

Forgot to add that a Broker informed us that a very nice catamaran was traded for a Colorado condo just a few weeks ago. The boat seller did not want to take a trade, but did it cause he couldn't sell his boat, even after marking it way down.

We didn't get a chance on that one, but this broker knows what we want now. And that's when I thought of posting on sites...we may have been a better trade for him but never communicated before deal done. Rats!

[imagine2frolic]

It's America! They can't take you outside, and shoot you for asking. ......i2f

[kd3pc]

gel

craig's list home swap has everything on it here, not just homes, but rv's boats, and even some weird trades...

best of luck, can't hurt to ask...

dave

[WouldaShoulda]

...wives??

[gelsailing]

Want to thank Sailingdog for the honest feedback. Made us rethink our needs vs wants. We used to sail/own monohulls and converted...however, as Sailingdog pointed out, that is a pretty limited pool. So we could definitely "go back" so we could go sailing. We liked the extra room, so would like to have a larger monohull. Land value is now down to about $2000/acre or $320K for the full 160 acres....so that would be the top of the budget.