What's with boat sales????

We have a gorgeous 1985 38' Chris Craft Catalina for sale that is fully loaded and marina maintained.this boat is immaculate inside and updated neutral coloured interior. It's a condo on the water with berber carpet, wrap-around pullout sofa, counter bar and stools, full size refrigerator..king bed. in aft....and the list goes on. It is by far, the cleanest and in the best condition of any of the other 38' C.C.Cs, The problem, is, it doesn't seem to matter what the condition the other 38'CCCs 1985 are in Prices are all over the board from $39.000.00 to 129,000.00 with no rhyme or reason not reflecting their condition at all. We've lowered our price drastically because of the dollar. It is priced very fair, What's going on with the sales agents, Can't they advise their clients what their boat is really worth?????


Sorry just need to vent!!!!|||It is not the boat it is the near $4 per gallon gas price on the water.





Let's face it, boats don't get the best economy.





Then add to that, most buyers just look at price and not quality. That is why Bayliner is the best selling boat. They have both a low price and cheaply made boat. Where they do spend the money is in highering good designers.





-tcw|||i agree boat sales are nuts try to find a small fishing boat for 3000 dollars you cant just junk|||A friend of ours sold his boat on e-Bay and said he got a very fair price for her.


Just a thought!|||Where do you have your boat presently ?


Can it be towed to any Indian port.


Can you e mail me some more details such as length,breadth and depth.


Draft, loaded %26amp; when empty.


Hull - copper sheathed or wooden.





Someone in India is interested.|||I hear ya...sold many boats. And if you're in Canada there's some lazy brokers in the Toronto area.





Be real...eliminate the sellers asking pie-in-the-sky speculative prices. Like trying to recoup the money you spent on a pool at your house...not likely to happen.





Consider refurbishments an act to bring your yacht to the forefront in terms of appeal and survey passing....not the top of the list in price.





Gorgeous boats...and I'm sure your Baby is worth the world to you...that said....





I think all the Money for a nice Mid 80's CC 38 Cat is $59-69K for super nice because I'll seriously consider the ones down around 39K with a budget for repairs and refurbishing.





Some guy who may have repowered with big blocks or diesels and repainted...etc...etc is still just dreaming at 120K....you know...like new at a third of the price...blah,blah..





Try to get financing for a 25yr old boat if you don't have the cake...likely a secured line of credit...then you come out from under the ether and look at newer with longer terms on conventional financing. Tough game.





And you don't even want to know what I can buy one on www.motors.ebay.com for...(when they're listed)...ship up here(near Toronto)...clean and refurbish it. I'd have HUGE equity.





So...I understand your frustration...honestly, and I love Catalinas. You just can't speculate if you seriously want to sell it...59-69K is it... or lower! Otherwise, continue to lavish her with the love and care you have for all these years.





There two fresh water examples in the Toronto area ...one is 79 the other is 89 and they have been on the market for 3 years or more in this range. Clearly nobody wants to pay that price. A broker calls this a dead listing/unrealistic seller and he doesn't get excited about it or market it agressively. They don't even show it or hold the buyer/prospects hand...they call you and let you show it yourself. Sound familiar?





An overpriced listing is a waste of advertising money and energy. They park it occassionally in the magazines or on the internet and forget about it.





For the record...across 15 boats, I have never lost money. It's ludacris to say you never get your money out of boats. You have to buy them right and perform much of your own work....cheque writers always lose. It's better to do your own work and gain an intimate knowledge of your vessel and systems.





Good luck.|||The bottom line in selling boats is that there are far more boats for sale than there are buyers. It is always a buyer's market. A boat, like everything else, is worth only what someone is willing to pay you for it. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how beautiful it is, or how well maintained, or how up-to-date, or how nicely refurbished - buyers will always look for the best deal, not necessarily the best boat. For most people it is a luxury they can just barely afford, sometimes cannot really afford, so they have to go with the best price. If the boat needs work, they can do that on their own time and nickel, bit by bit.





Sales agents want to make as much money as possible from a sale. They don't mind if the listing price starts way too high - they have other boats that are listed and will sell while waiting for someone who doesn't know any better and maybe has more money than brains to pay too much for a boat on a whim. I saw an agent encourage a friend of mine to list a boat for much more than he wanted to get for it - for actually about 60% more than he wanted to get for it - because if it sold at that list price it meant more money for the agent. That was in August, and the boat is still not sold. If he had listed it for about what he wanted to get, it would probably be sold now, because it is one of those basic boats, good for beginners, that would usually sell quickly.





I have seen beautiful boats, well maintained, with a fair asking price, listed for years. You cannot get back the money you put into a boat. No matter what you do, the boat is still the age that it is, and the market is still what it is. I sold a 35 Ericson not long ago for about half what I thought it was worth, but I realized that it was worth that much only to me. Most likely the people asking the outlandish prices for their boats will still own them a year from now, but the people willing to bite the bullet and sell for probably considerably less than they are asking, but still for a reasonable amount in terms of the market, will make a deal.





I hope you have good luck in selling your boat. Sometimes the right buyer is just around the corner.|||According to the ABOS Blue Book, low book value for your boat is $50,400 and high book value is $61,300. It is slightly higher if it is diesel powered. I am in the boat sales industry and consistently use this book as a guide. I believe it to be fair and accurate.





These values reflect the boat being in good running condition. If there are ANY repairs, etc. that the boat needs, you must subtract that dollar amount from the value of the boat.





When listing your boat with a broker, they might convince you to accept a dollar amount closer to the low book value because there is a greater chance of it selling. As you know, the market is really not good for selling right now, so just be realistic.





Good luck!