Buying a boat from Italy (procedure)

[jfm]

thanks Deleted User very help full, only other thing I have stumbled across is transport, I am being told Italy is a nightmare to transport boats so I would be better off cruising to the south of France and loading it there. The thing is this seems a bit daunting to me and is making an Italian purchase even more less attractive I wonder if these things contribute to the boats I have seen being a fair chunk cheaper than in other countries

Shawn they will want to load it on a lorry in perhaps port Napoleon, just west of Marseille. The trip there from italy will be a joy and don't let it put you off. There is full knowledge on this forum of every inch of that journey plus between us loads of tools to fix anything that needs fixing and I'll happily sail a leg or the whole thing with you as will plenty of others I bet. Better still, leave the boat in Med for the summer and truck back to UK in September (berths are available)

 

[MapisM]

Better still, leave the boat in Med for the summer and truck back to UK in September

Good suggestion, if a bit dangerous.
He might not want to bring the boat back to the UK anymore, by then...

 

[bumpy_the_dog]

At the end of 2008 the pound fell almost to parity with the Euro. The pound then spent most of the next three years below Euro1.15. But now sterling is on a roll, worth about Euro 1.25 and has been climbing pretty steadily for over a year. With UK interest rates set to rise and some European interest rates turning negative there may well be more to come. No wonder continental boats are starting to look more and more attractive.

Incidentally I was told that, during the 2009-2012 low sterling period, sales of second hand British boats oversees was a significant prop to keeping many British brokerages open and trading. Don't know if that's true or not, but maybe the traffic's now in the opposite direction?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

At the end of 2008 the pound fell almost to parity with the Euro. The pound then spent most of the next three years below Euro1.15. But now sterling is on a roll, worth about Euro 1.25 and has been climbing pretty steadily for over a year. With UK interest rates set to rise and some European interest rates turning negative there may well be more to come. No wonder continental boats are starting to look more and more attractive.

Incidentally I was told that, during the 2009-2012 low sterling period, sales of second hand British boats oversees was a significant prop to keeping many British brokerages open and trading. Don't know if that's true or not, but maybe the traffic's now in the opposite direction?

We need to get the £/€ rate in perspective. For the 10yrs prior to 2008, Sterling traded in a range €1.40-1.70 so a rate of €1.25 is nothing to get excited about although, yes, it obviously makes Med boats more attractive in what is already a buyers market there. Yes you're right about the period of 2009-12. A lot of boats went out of the UK market due to the low value of Sterling, most to Scandinavia I believe