Newbie ... buy abroad??

[Stevesandley]

Hi all,
OK, I'm going to be buying a boat primarily to live aboard, in a marina on the Medway.
I'm looking at around 40 foot, and have noticed that in my price range,45-60k,there seem to be much nicer,newer boats available in various parts of Europe.
My question is would it be sensible as a new boater to buy abroad, and if I did what are my options for getting it back here?
I'm sure I'll have loads more questions but I'll start with this,thanks for reading.
Steve

 

[Stevesandley]

Oh well, guess this is the wrong place to ask.

 

[petem]

Welcome to the forum. Newbie posts always have a bit of a delay so sometimes they get missed. I'm sure someone will reply shortly.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Hi all,
OK, I'm going to be buying a boat primarily to live aboard, in a marina on the Medway.
I'm looking at around 40 foot, and have noticed that in my price range,45-60k,there seem to be much nicer,newer boats available in various parts of Europe.
My question is would it be sensible as a new boater to buy abroad, and if I did what are my options for getting it back here?
I'm sure I'll have loads more questions but I'll start with this,thanks for reading.
Steve

Welcome to the forum. As petem mentions, you need to have a bit of patience with your first few posts, they will take a while to show up.
No reason not to buy abroad, but you need to do your maths carefully. It depends on where you're planning to bring a boat back from - but if it's Spain or France med coast, then a 40 footer's going to cost £5-6k to bring back on a truck, plus cranage at each end; probably a bit more from the Adriatic. Add in your travel and hotel costs for a remote viewing, and the extra cost of sending a trusted surveyor out there to check the boat out for you, and you could reasonably be £10k backwards just for buying overseas. With the budget you've mentioned, this has to take a big bite out of the savings you're hoping to make by buying overseas.

What sort of boat specifically are you looking at?

 

[Whitelighter]

There can be many advantages to buying abroad (I've done it on 4 occasions - including my latest tub last year).
There are also some pitfalls but none that you can't anticipate and negate/avoid especially if you seek the experiences of others.

What boats are you looking at?

 

[oldgit]

There are several recent 40-50ft arrivals up around Cuxton which by the size of them are going to used as livabords,very much doubt they were bought for cruising in the UK. All appear to be from Italian builders and presumably were sourced from Italy or in that locale.Thought one of them had Bennetti ? on the side but they do not build boats as small as this one.
Might be worth a trip up there and ask the owners a question or two.
Obviously the fact that engine condition is not so critical in livaboard boat should make things a bit easier in the purchase department by not ruling out boats with monster engines or very high hours ?
Sorting out a pair of knackered engines under normal circumstances could prevent a boat purchase even in they gave you the boat.
Ps. No WOOD ....ever.

 

[JT57]

My wife and I are in the process of buying from abroad right now, and in fact are due to go to France next week to pick her up. We live in Jersey, the boat is in Southern Brittany, so an easy 90 minute ferry crossing and 2hr 30m drive for us. Observations of process to date:
1) We knew exactly the model of boat we wanted, so it was relatively easy to narrow down those we wished to view and in fact in the end we only saw two and have ended up buying the first one we saw, which was also the one I had really had my eye on all the time in The Yacht Market classifieds.
2) My wife and I treated the viewing trip as a holiday and wrote off the expense on that basis. We saw "our boat" on day one. We stayed in France for a few days holiday and returned a four days later for a second viewing and a damn good crawl all over it.
3) Then took a local surveyor over with me at significant cost - ferry, two nights accommodation, food, hourly rate etc.
4) Got a quote for transport from S Brittany to St Malo - surprisingly expensive so decided again we would make a holiday of it and bring the boat back ourselves. Estimate circa 400 nautical miles.
5) Bought Euros at 1.26. Rate has since dropped further. Had we sold my our boat last year then could have got Euros at around 1.42 per pound. A saving of £15k or thereabouts. The Brexit vote may see rates tumble further of course.

Point I'm making is that any up front savings on the purchase of a boat abroad have to be offset against the not insignificant costs of purchase and transport back to the UK, as already mentioned in earlier replies. We are paying EUR 165k for the boat (£132k-ish) and will make a significant saving on any UK price BUT, your fixed costs of purchase will be similar or greater, depending on where in Europe you find one. Don't forget that though we are purchasing in France, the boat is still quite local to us. Nearer in fact than purchasing from much of the UK.

Bottom line is, for a boat in the £45-60k price range I'm not convinced you are going to save much. Might not be worth the hassle.

 

[Stevesandley]

Thanks for the replies all... didn't realise new posters had to wait a while.
I'm fairly open as to what make really, the ones that seem to in my price range are princess,saline, Fairline. The Guy Couach ones in France seem to be a lot of boat for the money.
As I said it will be primarily for living on,although I do want something that I can take out for shortish journeys seaward's. .. once I've learnt all that I need to know!
Good idea to have an ask around locally old git,particularly as I live in Cuxton. And I've already been warned about the wood,!!!

 

[Whitelighter]

So I bought the kind of bust you are looking for - a 1994 15m Ferretti in France last year. Mine was as a boat to keep abroad so buying in Europe really made sense. There are lots of 20yr + boats around for not much money, and even less when you realise just what kind of offer some vendors will accept.

The reason? Big old boats cost as much to run if not more than big new boats, so for many there just isn't the appetite. I am the exception rather than the rule so there are few buyers for lots of boats.

I found broker response variable, though those that did respond to email were often open to discussing price by email first s d many would volunteer a best or'last' price without too much prodding.

Let Mekong if you want any further info/advice