Is a 27' sailing boat now too small and will not sell?

[NPMR]

We have had our very well equipped and cared for Sabre 27 up for sale for a little over a year now. We have had 'nibbles' and views, even one offer but they withdrew before survey but now, enquiries seem to be at an all-time low.

I rang some brokers in the West Country, where our boat lies at present, and asked if they were selling boats like this and their replies implied that small motorboats are selling well at present. And larger yachts (more costly) are also selling well. My son bought a 38' boat and then put his 34' boat up for sale - both transactions were complete inside 4 months!!

But the market we are selling to (27 feet sailing boat) seems to be particularly flat. I have a friend who is trying to sell a 27 foot boat that has done a circumnavigation, and he is not getting enquiries either.

Is this common across the UK? What else can we try, to sell her?

We are on websites, Apollo Duck, with a broker who has listings with other brokers, tried the local paper small ads. She is polished, antifouled, prominent by the road and I've just ordered a 'sale' flag to put on her forestay. What else can I do?

Or is 27 feet just too small now and we need to put a chainsaw into her to cut the endless cost of parking her and keeping her clean. We have another (33') boat we are sailing in, so can't sensibly even put her back in the water and enjoy her!

 

[Bobc]

If you really want to sell it, then list it on Feabay with a 99p start price and no reserve (and I'm not joking about the start price either, that's how you get the highest final bid).

Make sure it has a really good description and lots of really good photos though.

 

[Scillypete]

Managed to sell our 27' last year, put on the market in April viewed in August and sold, private sale and no brokers involved only advertised on Apollo duck and the association website. So there are buyers out there . . . . is the price right? don't despair someone will eventually turn up

 

[neilf39]

You don't say how much for. Are you expecting too much and the price too high? What are other similar boats going for and how long do they appear to have been advertised for. It could be there are just a lot of boats of around this size on the market. Its the sort of size where people without fortunes get to in boat ownership (reasonably comfortable size and not horridly expensive to maintain) and not having loads of money have to sell when recessions hit. If that's the case then double whammy as there are loads on the market and not many purchasers so price has to plummet in order to stand a chance.

 

[Seajet]

Years ago I knew someone keen to sell his Pageant, tried all the usual methods without luck - and this was in 1978 - in the end he made up a ' for sale ' board to hang in the rigging and put her alongside Lymington Town Quay - sold by Sunday evening, so your ' for sale ' flag is a good idea; best to put your mobile no. on it ( not home ) so people can take a note and think then call later, I think that's important.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

A quick look on Yachtworld tells me the newest Sabre 27 for sale is 1975 for about 9 grand. If I was spending 9 grand I could get a 1994 Pacesetter for the same price or any number of 1980's boats for the same or less.

Is it priced realistically?

 

[lustyd]

27' is definitely not too small, but having just looked on Apollo duck I can tell you that none of the adverts for that type of boat grab me as people trying to sell a boat. If you can link to your actual advert you may get specific advice, but right now I can say that out of all of the Westcountry versions of this boat the problems were:
One wasn't tidy, lots of junk in the shots.
A couple had no pictures - as with internet dating, no pic, no chance!
One looked like my nan's lounge - I'm sure this is to someone's taste, but they are in the minority these days.

Finally, and you must have realised this one - it's a bilge keeler, and people fear bilge keels these days so you'll need to make everything else immaculate.

So, without knowing which one is yours, I recommend you remove EVERYTHING from the boat which isn't attached to the boat. Clean the boat as if you plan to later eat from any of the surfaces. Take pictures, LOTS of pictures of every possible angle - do this with a very wide angled lens to make it look roomy, then post these pictures on your advert. Also, before taking pictures of a boat out of the water, put a coat of anti foul on it - it's amazing the difference this makes.

 

[TSB240]

I searched on Google and this came up quite high on the search.http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/advert.phtml?id=331385

Some observations if this is your boat?

Better say new reduced price. Low is perhaps your opinion but not necessarily a potential buyers. Reduced price indicates that your price is flexible and you are keen to sell.
You have not used the best opportunity available with Apollo Duck to sell to interested buyers using the website link. You can post a link in there to a drop box file, eg a photo gallery or a word document with pictures and words that say what a Sabre 27 could do for a potential buyer. You know but someone new to the market hasn't a clue.

Sell the dream not the boat!

Your target market is likely to be a first time buyer into yacht ownership on a limited budget or alternatively someone trading down to a smaller, cheaper to own boat.
You need to make your proposition stand out from the crowd and its a big crowd at that size and age.

Make a big thing about the fact if she is in commission as a boat being used is much more likely to be less of a money pit than those that have been on the hard for the last 4 years.
Have a good talk with your broker he will tell you if it is overpriced.
I had as much interest from mobile phone callers who saw the DIY foresale sign and mob number as I had from Apollo Duck. I was then able to point to the ad and the website link. In the end I had three interested parties and was able to sell the boat within 3 months for the horrendous cost of a £9 ad.

 

[Bru]

What LustyD said (except the bit about bilge keels, I love em!)

We bought Erbas last autumn and we paid top price for a Sabre 27 but that's because she was immaculately turned out and superbly maintained (new engine, rigging, sails etc within the previous four years). She is also a bit special interior wise being a custom fit out in teak. Even so, we probably paid over the odds but she was too good (for us) to walk away from

There's a good example of an immaculate standard Sabre on brokerage with EYB with an asking price of £12k, they might get £10k but I doubt it

There are other ads totally devoid of a single photo of the interior which is common and fatal

Sabres will sell at the right price for the condition but in the current market it may take a long time unless the boat is really special or the asking price is really cheap

(looking at the prices on the Sabres advertised on Apolloduck I'd reckon then all to be a couple of grand too high)

 

[Greenheart]

A couple (of adverts) had no pictures - as with internet dating, no pic, no chance!

Hear, hear! I'm always amazed when brokers or individuals put up adverts for boats without photos. When sites like Boatshed have pictures which show almost all areas of each of their boats in detail, who would bother to enquire about a boat with just a couple of muddy old brochure-pictures, or no pic at all? That's a hopelessly outdated approach.

...it's a bilge keeler, and people fear bilge keels these days...

Really? Why? And, why "these days", any more than previously? Personally I hope you're right...I like bilge keelers, so I hope they're depreciating faster. Sounds unlikely though.

 

[TSB240]

You can also put a link to your website in your signature! Every time you post on here you get another potential opportunity for a sale!

 

[Matador]

Sorry, why do people "fear bilge keelers these days". The rivers and creeks round here are full of them including our 30 year old Sadler 26.
As has been said the price needs to be realistic. A friend of mine only got half of what she was asking for her bilge keeler, but it sold.
Good Luck.

 

[Seajet]

NPMR,

I think possibly the size does go against her; all the inboard engine & mast probably requiring yard assistance of a larger boat.

OTOH smaller should be more attractive nowadays as cheaper berthing / mooring fees, and she'll go on a cheaper swinging mooring, definitely something to emphasize.

Also people expect a boat of this vintage to be re-engined by now; a chum recently got a late Centaur with new 3 cyl Nannidiesel for £6,500, probably the going rate for a good Centaur now though he was a bit lucky with his, right place at the right time.

You will always be up against the Centaur and its' versatile reputation, though the Sabre looks better, another thing to pitch.

 

[Otter]

Needs lots of interior shots with everything, absolutely everything removed that looks personal to you. Just clean bunk cushions and the cabin fixtures. Look at how yachtsnet do it. Sell the reliability, cheap berthing etc not the features. £9k is an awful lot for a vintage 27 footer. 10 years ago it was a completely different market for this type of boat, the market has moved a long way toward newer and bigger.

 

[Twister_Ken]

A tip I was given when selling the Twister was to put on white anti fouling. Makes the boat look bigger, cleaner and more modern.

 

[niccapotamus]

We just bought a 30 year old 30 footer. What we were looking for - firstly reassurance that the design was "right for us" - so use the description to sell the positives of the boat - easy handling, light helm, or whatever. Emphasise the work you have done on her and the fact that everything works really well - the biggest other factor in buying second hand is avoiding a money pit as we are all aware that boats cost and it is cheaper to get a "good-un" second hand. it is so easy to get comparatives that there is almost too much choice - but after we decided that we were going to buy a bilge keeler (to keep running costs low and give us drying out + shoal draft) the options get whittled down pretty quickly to a few popular marques.

So I'd say you need lots of pictures of good quality that you take and really sell your boat it in the description (we ignored many ads as the owners didn't look like they were trying) - and yep the price has to be right - we paid 15K for a 30 footer that had come down from 20K - whether we ultimately could have bought for a couple of grand less isn't relevant in the general scheme of things as all the other boxes were ticked.

Go to town on it - and make sure the boat is clean, tidy and shiny - like most things the first couple of minutes will sell your boat if you get a viewing - polish and scrubbing works wonders.

lord knows about pricing - but just look at the sort of boats you can get for a couple of grand more and a couple less on boatshed and apolloduck as it is these you are also competing against - we saw a westerly 28 footer (forgotten the model name) and a sadler 29 but at our price threshold they were pretty shoddy. As someone said above you have to look really hard at your boat as a cynical buyer with lots of choice and dead easy access to compare the market on the net.

 

[rwoofer]

so use the description to sell the positives of the boat - easy handling, light helm, or whatever. Emphasise the work you have done on her and the fact that everything works really well

The last thing I would trust is the owners opinion on how a boat handles, sails etc. Nothing to do with whether they are lying or not, just that we all have massive differences in opinion for the same thing. What I might think is slow and boring, another will think fast and frisky.

 

[Davegriff]

Well I looked on Apollo Duck, and have to say even if I were desperate for a Sabre 27, not one of the ones advertised there was at all appealing! Really dull in fact. Of course, I'm sure in real life, at least one or two are actually amazing, not that you'd know by the photos/descriptions.

If one of them is yours, get some good pics and a decent write-up and you'll knock spots off the competition. If its the right price it'll sell. (and remember the old adage - it ain't 'worth' anything 'til it's sold) Good luck.

 

[martyn78]

Well I looked on Apollo Duck, and have to say even if I were desperate for a Sabre 27, not one of the ones advertised there was at all appealing! Really dull in fact. Of course, I'm sure in real life, at least one or two are actually amazing, not that you'd know by the photos/descriptions.

If one of them is yours, get some good pics and a decent write-up and you'll knock spots off the competition. If its the right price it'll sell. (and remember the old adage - it ain't 'worth' anything 'til it's sold) Good luck.

+1

 

[lustyd]

Really? Why? And, why "these days", any more than previously? Personally I hope you're right...I like bilge keelers, so I hope they're depreciating faster. Sounds unlikely though.

I don't know why, probably because of all the BS on forums about not sailing to windward. There are loads of threads on here from new boaters looking for their first boat where they specify fin keel but can't explain why. I have a twin keeler myself so hope my comment didn't come across as me suggesting they aren't any good, it's just the current market as can plainly be seen by reading these forums.