[shansen5]

I have a 1977 Downeast 32 sailboat here in Bellingham, Washington. I bought it for $23,000 in 2005. I've loved the boat and never wanted anything more than what this is. Circumstances now say that I should sell it. I thought I'd see if I could get opinions on what path to take in doing so.

I've put a new Yanmar engine in it in 2008, just over 500 hours now. I added a Dickinson heater, put on a dodger, several other fix-ups. The sails are functional but very old and have been patched several times. A friend has the same boat, one year newer, and has been all over the south Pacific for the past 5 or so years. They are well-built boats.

I'd like to think I could get $20,000 for it. I haven't started to look around to see what boats are now selling for, though, so I don't know if that expectation is reasonable.

Do you think I should use a broker, craigslist, or what other means to sell it?

 

[Faster]

I'd try your various local Craigslists/Kijiji for starters. Be prepared to be disappointed in what boats are going for these days. You also need to decide how quick a sale you need. A low asking price will hasten most deals, esp relative to other similar models in the area.

Don't forget to factor in the ongoing costs of moorage and upkeep as you hold out for a better deal vs the hit you'd take selling sooner.

Generally if you can offer/transfer the boat's moorage the odds on a quicker sale go up in a hurry, at least up here where moorage is very tight.

 

[krisscross]

I would say that even in the current market you should be able to get 20K for it. I have been looking at boats here on East Coast for over a year now and you have a nice boat. Try sailboatlistings.com - very good site for selling your boat IMO, lots of traffic.

 

[Faster]

In your favour: there are currently two on Sailboatlistings.com.. both have been for sale for over a year, one of them nearly two. Asking low $30Ks.. both back east, I think, so you'd need to try to find a west coast listing for a better comparison.

A Yachtworld search.. wide range of askings.. only one in Cali.

1975 Downeaster (Sail) Boats For Sale

As an 'East Coast' boat they are likely on the rare side here on the left coast, that may hurt your potential, however by the looks of it a low $20K listing should draw some interest depending on condition.

 

[SloopJonB]

Weren't the Downeast boats built in L.A.?

 

[Argyle38]

Weren't the Downeast boats built in L.A.?

Irvine, just down the street from where the Westsails were built. Founder was from Maine, hence the name. Confusing as hell ever since though.

OP: Wouldn't hurt to put a post up in the "For Sale" section at the Down East Yachts owners group web site. I'd say that there are at least five or six people that peruse that group on a monthly basis, so posting it there should do the trick.

Meh, wouldn't hurt anyway.

http://downeasteryachts.com/

 

[Faster]

Weren't the Downeast boats built in L.A.?

WTH?? Who would build a boat in the southwest and call it a 'down east'???

 

[shansen5]

Thanks to all. I'm always impressed by the quality of the answers on this forum!

 

[djodenda]

Weren't the Downeast boats built in L.A.?

Well.. I think they were built in Costa Mesa, which is south and east from LA.

So, Downeast makes sense to me.

 

[christian.hess]

I have a 1977 Downeast 32 sailboat here in Bellingham, Washington. I bought it for $23,000 in 2005. I've loved the boat and never wanted anything more than what this is. Circumstances now say that I should sell it. I thought I'd see if I could get opinions on what path to take in doing so.

I've put a new Yanmar engine in it in 2008, just over 500 hours now. I added a Dickinson heater, put on a dodger, several other fix-ups. The sails are functional but very old and have been patched several times. A friend has the same boat, one year newer, and has been all over the south Pacific for the past 5 or so years. They are well-built boats.

I'd like to think I could get $20,000 for it. I haven't started to look around to see what boats are now selling for, though, so I don't know if that expectation is reasonable.

Do you think I should use a broker, craigslist, or what other means to sell it?

Ive always used craigslist although on boats cheaper than yours...

I have always paid attention to the market...im under the impression things are getting better again...so people can get better prices as a seller.

yachwtord is another great place you can do this and people really do search for boats on there...

a broker is great but make sure he knows your boat and boat style...sometimes brokers are worth squat if they never focus or sell boats like yours...

good luck

ps. if the market is good I see no reason you couldnt expect to get close to what you bought the boat for, especially since it has been repowered in fact you could get more...

but a 32 footer for 25k or so is steep nowadays or at least in general terms, prices in washington are on average 25-30% higher than say in the san francisco bay area...

cheers

 

[capttb]

WTH?? Who would build a boat in the southwest and call it a 'down east'???

Ever been to Maine ? They call going North "down east", Mainers take pride in confusing us "Outsiders", I been married to one for 40 years.
When I was a boy you could get high from fiberglass fumes just walking thru some of the boat building cities in Southern California, we pretty much assumed all boats were built here.

 

[christian.hess]

costa mesa, santa ana... made some nice boats...my favs from there are the yankees...

still a dream boat to me...they shutdown cause they were too good to let the recession make them build crap boats...jajaja

I like that..so they cut their losses and left us with some damn well built boats...

 

[theonecalledtom]

I made a 12% loss on my DE 38 over 5 years, buying at the height and selling at the low. Probably could have got more money but I wanted a quick sale, priced below any boat on yachtworld that looked similar in quality and sold in two weeks with a tear in my eye. I'd worked continuously on the boat and feel it was in similar condition when I sold it to when I bought it.

Hopefully the loss was made up by a discount on my next boat but I may never know that as we have no plans to sell..

Don't undersell yourself, if you've been maintaining the boat which it sounds like you have then the hull is likely solid (even bullet proof) and it might have similar worth to when you bought it.

 

[SloopJonB]

When I was a boy you could get high from fiberglass fumes just walking thru some of the boat building cities in Southern California, we pretty much assumed all boats were built here.

Back in the day they pretty well were, except for the ones built in Tampa anyway.

Costa Mesa was mecca for anyone interested in sailboats in the 70's.

 

[fryewe]

You might try the Sailing Texas website. Their "Sailboats for Sale" feature seems to be effective based on their Sailboat Photo Gallery which gives the history of all their listings. A couple of Downeast 32s have been listed there. One sold in '08 for what you paid for yours and another was originally listed last year at 32.5K but lowered to 22.9K about a month later. That ad expired and there is no indication of whether it sold or not (the site doesn't know unless the seller lets them know).

 

[miatapaul]

Nice boat, I looked at one that was in awful shape and they wanted more than that. I think it was for sale for 4 or 5 years, and he never lowered his price. I often wonder what it wound up selling for if it ever did. I know the broker would not renew the listing. You sound to have reasonable expectations. List it here, Craigs List, and sailboat listings. If it does not sell for over $20,000 you might want to put it on eBay.

 

[kwaltersmi]

Seems like a lot of boat for $20k. There's one here in the Great Lakes asking something in the $50k range.

Another free option to help get some eyeballs on your boat if you do decide to sell: SailFarYachts.com

 

[miatapaul]

Seems like a lot of boat for $20k. There's one here in the Great Lakes asking something in the $50k range.

Another free option to help get some eyeballs on your boat if you do decide to sell: SailFarYachts.com

Some one may be asking 50 but will never see it. Even if it is perfect. They are nice boats but not 50 I would think a really nice one might bring 30 rp 35 but 50 is dreaming.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Unkle Toad]

where were you 6 months ago .. downeaster 32 was on my short list .. its a hard market right now but assuming everything is in good order I think you can probably get 20k. tis the season and all .. with the weather about to turn great around here people will be looking.

 

[MarioG]

you can also put an E-bay ad with a buy it now at your asking price. I and I'm sure others look at the boats on E-bay. I one my 2nd boat on E-bay and know if I don't stay off their site might endding up owning another boat.