Do you think people are selling their boats?

Medskipper

Medskipper

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Just read the star letter in December issue of MBY.
Written by a chap named Nick Eades, Nick suggests that Quote "most 35'-40' boats on his pontoon at Hythe are for sale" And not many are being purchased!
I have indeed noticed that a good many boats at Chatham are up for sale but a few have changed hands during this summer.
As this forum attracts many boat owners across the country and abroad do you feel that Nick is correct?
Have you noticed a large number of people getting out of boat ownership? and if you agree with this do you think it is the price of fuel or just a downturn in the economy?

Barry
 
Not noticed any such trend in my part of the world. Could it be the time of year? Sell in Autumn to avoid cost of keeping boat safe all winter and servicing/cleaning in Spring. If make a sale then have a pot of cash to buy that bigger (or smaller) boat when spotted before next season.

Sales of new boats at SIBS were reported as holding up, so would seem at odds with people getting out of boating.
 
I see loads of Bavaria's and other new boats a'plenty. I think that people are buying but not so much second hand.

Regards.

Peter.
 
There is certainly a big down turn in the economy. People have borrowed over the last ten years, far past the hilt. Many must now be suffering. All there own fault. Same happened in 89/90, the economy went wild, just as it's done the last year or two. Folk aint got a clue when it comes to income and expenditure, then blame some on else,. Then it was Margret Thatcher. This time maybe G Brown, though he is a pillock and has ruined the economy. But he's been doing it for years, so no surprise. Many people live on the edge of there finances these days, spured on by cheap rates and over zelloss lenders. For me boating is some thing I do on spare cash. For many others it's a status simble. Trouble is, when the walls of Jerico start to fall, prices fall and them with it. It's always been so. Down turn in economy nearlyalways coinside with other expences. A result of over indulgence. In 89'ish I saw a house for sale at 50 grand, and bought it a couple of years later for 23 grand. Folk need to reassess what there worth!!
 
Some of us buy cash - boats, cars, etc. Only thing on tick I go for is house mortgage. Quite a buffer when things occasionally go wrong. Means you can keep them as no payments, or sell them if things tight.
 
Have been keeping a close eye on my own personal "how are things going in the mid market boat world index".This mainly involves looking at the number of P35s for sale on the www.boats-for-sale web site.Would say that there is a rough 20% increase in boats listed this winter compared to the summer.However some of them have obviously been proving hard to shift for a long time because a good half dozen have been up for sale for ages and a few for a couple of years.
Am still sort of looking to buy but all the pervading doom and gloom is making me think that if I wait long enough..................................
 
I am being told by the trade that in general that things are bad. I do not believe a single word I read in the mags from the trade ... its all pure hype just like the we never get really critical boat reports, we never get the real truth about the industry.

One of the reasons for the expansion over the last ten years has been the simple fact that capital is cheap and some thought they might as well spend it on a boat than accept the very low interest rate it would otherwise earn.... or borrow it at low rates.

I watched the owner of Ryan Air being asked a question on TV ... "Why should we subsidise your air fuel when you have these new big planes that guzzle fuel bla bla" You could have substituted boats for planes. He only had seconds to answer so simply stated that they are a highly taxed industry and do more than pay their way. The fact that taxing fuel to the hilt would in a single stroke kill air transport to and from the UK and that few could afford holidays any more seems to have escaped the reporter. Reporters have a very simple mind set that fascinates me ... sometimes the question contain so many assumptions and the answer time is so restricted.

Now here is a radical thought - hydrogen cars etc are well within our technology today, its the cost of producing the hydrogen that is prohibitive - so why not use nuclear power stations to produce the energy to produce the hydrogen .... at the end of the day that will probably be the solution. Sure enough even Blair is now making good noises about nuclear power and many countries including places like Sweden are building them fast.
 
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I am being told by the trade that in general that things are bad.

[/ QUOTE ]

You are very correct with that statement, regrettably......
 
The boat I have is the boat I can afford. I have no mortgages or loans of any sort. I set my stall out this way many years ago, purely because I hated banks so much. I also hate the fickleness of employers and economies in general.

Whats the definition of a bank?
"They lend you an umbrella when the sun shines - and take it off you again when it starts to rain!"
 
The marina that I am in has been transformed over the last couple of years with ever more (and bigger) boats arriving, many of them new. I sold my Corniche a couple of months ago within weeks. A boat will sell if it is properly presented and priced. Before I bought my S34, I looked at dozens of mistreated and disgracefully over priced tubs. These will still be for sale in 6 months, and they shouldn't be used as a measure of the market.
 
I bought my new (to me) boat in April/May this year and looked at a number of 50 footer used boats from various different manufacturers in both the UK and the Med. I am still seeing adverts for those same boats now despite the fact that I thought one or two of them would be snapped up quickly. The boat I bought had been on the market for more than 12 months and I was able to get it at a reduced price. This all tells me the used boat market for 50 footers is poor.
On the other hand, the reports from SIBS were that new boat sales were buoyant. Unless somebody is telling porkies just to keep morale up, I dont understand how the new boat market can be roaring away and the used market be dead. Is it that all the p/x boats are flooding the used market? Anyway, the new market cannot continue to prosper indefinitely if the used market is dead. I expect to see more dealers and builders going under especially given that many parts of the economy are not growing
 
Agree completely - there are so many used boats advertised as 'immaculate' or 'well looked after' that are actually a disgrace. As with houses and cars, those that are looked after, well presented and sensibly priced will sell.
 
I put mine up for sale two weeks ago mainly for health reasons after heart attack and surgery. I intend getting back to boating in a year or two but with a bigger boat.
 
Nope, buying when all around are selling.

In the past, doing the opposite of what "market sense" suggested seems to have worked reasonably well for me. Back in 1995, buying a house caused a lot of whistling of teeth, because of what had happened previously. I hadn't really taken advantage of the rise in value until this week, when I took delivery of a 2003 Sealine S28 at what I thought was a very reasonable price, given the uncertainty over RedD etc. Still less than 50% mortgage, plus if it does go all go t&ts up, the boat is at least an asset that can be turned back into (less) cash...

dv.
 
Sold my 37ft in August, sold within a couple of months, although it was good boat and not over priced. Just bought a newer 37ft and neotiated a good price as it was coming to the end of the season. I always tend to buy this time of the year when people are more keen to reduce the boat instead of paying mooring fees all winter etc etc. Some boats as others have said seem to be for sale a long time but turn out to be in bad condition or something up with them.
 
curious this, as to whether more boats up for sale, or just that people maybe wont pay the possibly unrealistic price being asked.. and so instead of a normal flow of boats being sold, a backlog develops. Of course, as times get hard, people initially have less freedom to reduce on price... until they are so forced against the wall that they get more hurt.
So is it more people trying to sell, or just as much, less people looking to buy....
 
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