Sealine S48 Advice Needed

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I still stick by what I said yesterday. You don't get enough of your equity out of it to be worth taking the risk unless you are desperate to get your hands on £100k sharpish and I don't think you are. The other question I would be asking myself is, if £180k is such a bargain price for this boat, why has'nt the owner sold it already at this price?
I do agree that £180k looks like good value for a 48 footer but consider what else is on the market for a buyer looking for a used £200k sportscruiser. You can get a good Fairline Targa 48 for this money which has 3 cabins instead of 2 and a better hull, Sunseeker Camargues 46/47 are around this price level and an early Princess V50 is only a few quid more. All of these are higher profile brands and arguably better boats. I don't doubt you will eventually sell the S48 and it will give you a boat to use in the interim but you might have to wait a few months for the right buyer to come along unless you're lucky

 

[Gludy]

The plot thickens
This morning I was clearly told this is not the boat that was fire damaged but it was vandalised. I bleive that Tarquin were also told that. They told me.

I have now been told by the current owner that the boat was smoke damaged when another boat caught fire in the same building and was bought just last November by the current owner.

It was also vandalised.

This all happened in Spain but the boat was brought back to the UK for repairs.

What upsets me most is that the prospective purchaser, according to him, has not even seen Drumbeat!!!! I was told he had made two visits ..... so the whole thing is not panning out right.

The top side, not hull, had to be redone with all new dials, nav stuff, radar etc as well as windscreen canopy, cushions and it seems significant glass fibre work because they could not get rid of the smoke stain.

So it now seems that this is the same boat that others are talking about. Apparantly the work done in the UK was all done properly under the supervision of a marine surveyor etc.

All my instincs are now turning me away from it and that is just my gut feeling. How can someone not even see the boat they are buying?

Comments welcome.

 

[[2068]]

"Run, don't walk"

dv.

 

[wakeup]

You might find a certain broker is giving even less for the fire damaged boat and they are skimming off you. Hence the story re two visits!

 

[Gludy]

I was today told it was in the Hamble but in fact it is in Ipswich at Levington.

I think the messages from the broker are an honest mistake as I think that as it was handed over from one person to another there today the second person is confusing customers and the boat location.

I am now just blinkin fascinated to get to the truth behind all this - I am running very fast, the other way. Its a mini real life saga once again unfolding on the forum and once again the forum help has proved invaluable .... thank you.

 

[Gludy]

In phoning the owner this afternoon I started by asking him if there were any questions about Drumbeat - I have nothing to hide and would welcome any questions - answer "No questions".

OK I say ....well what do you think of her? Then it emerges he has not seen her!!

Ok what did your agent say about her then? ... no, no agent, he told me he just accepted what Tarquin said about the boat!!!!!!!

From that point on in finding out 'no fire damage' but extensive 'smoke damage', the conversation from my point of view just got worse and worse.

Its going to be interesting to find out more in the morning buts that for post mortem purposes - this is one deal I am not doing.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I guess he's offering his S48 to anyone who'll listen then and is far more interested in offloading the S48 than actually buying your boat
I also would'nt mind betting that he bought the S48 from an insurance co or the previous owner at a knockdown price with the idea of turning a quick buck and now he's finding that maybe was'nt a bright idea
Why don't you ask him what he paid for the S48? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Gludy]

He stated he paid about what he is now selling it for.
The excercise is meaningless because as you say the interest seems to be in off-loading rather than buying. Not a single question about the new boat, not even bothered in seeing it.
The forum advice has proved invaluable on this one.
I have emailed Tarquin to tell them I am not interested and will not be going for the sea trial in it which I intended to do this Friday.
If it sounds to good to be true - it is ..... If he really wanted Drumbeat all he has to do is sell his boat for about £175k and then he can afford to buy Drumbeat. That should be no trouble because that is £90k off the current asking price of £265k for the S48. He had increased his offer to £105k plus his boat for Drumbeat so, in effect he should be able to clear the cheapest S48 on the market in a few days.

 

[david_steward]

I saw this boat in the shed at Essex Boatyards half way through the repair work. Which was extensive to say the least. It certainly looked more than smoke damage.

We thought about buying it at the right price. How ever, it seemed that the last 5 % of the work would be hardest to get right. Small items of trim etc, stuff that is hard to buy, and get exactly right to match the original fit out.

It wasn't Essex Boatyards undertaking the work, they had sold the boat to a repairer.

A lot of the wiring was in bits, and we thought that there would be niggly problems with stuff for ages.

 

[Gludy]

David - when did you see the boat?
The current owner bought it in November 2006 but I have now found out that he was making part X offers as early as January 2007.
There is something i really do not understand that is going on here.

 

[MedDreamer]

Why worry Paul? just walk away.

 

[Gludy]

I have spoken again to the seller who seems a very reasonable guy and he has decided to put the boat on the market now for £180k asking price. That as a straight sale is a very good price and about £90k below the asking pricce ot the 2003 models.

The gelcoat on the topside was repaired under surveyor supervision and she has 150 hours on the clock. So I reckon she may be a good buy for someone at that price. He is happy to have any survey on the boat. So that is an opportunity for someone?

 

[MedDreamer]

Did he clarify his reasons for looking to sell so soon after buying?

 

[Gludy]

I think he and SWMBO decided to go for a bigger boat.
The S48 was in Spain and it is really a Med type boat. However any potential buyer could cross chack all that with him. I am just reporting the outcome of the mini saga.

 

[david_steward]

We saw the boat early last year. Probably Jan/Feb.

 

[Gludy]

Thanks.
I have just spoken to someone in the trade and basically Sealines and Brooms are sticky sellers whereas Fairline Squadrons are selling so it seems I am better off sitting tight.

 

[ari]

[ QUOTE ]
I have spoken again to the seller who seems a very reasonable guy and he has decided to put the boat on the market now for £180k asking price. That as a straight sale is a very good price and about £90k below the asking pricce ot the 2003 models.


[/ QUOTE ]

I think that (as you yourself have said in the past) the relevent word here is ASKING

I suspect he's seen all the S48 asking prices and made an assumption on what an S48 is worth based on that (ie thought he's bought it cheap).

He's now finding out what it's really worth (the same or less than he paid) and is looking for an alternative way of offloading it.

A lot of larger Sealine "values" seem based on asking prices, but since many owners trade up through the range they keep getting their money back against steadily larger more expensive boats, believing that therefore the brand holds its money well. It's only when they want to sell "out of the brand" (ie not trade up to another yet bigger one) that they finally realise what they're really worth secondhand...

 

[Agent]

I have been offered a 2003 S48 as a partX for Drumbeat.
It would mean that I woukld get a limp of cash back and have a lower value boat to sell.
I know nothing about these boats and I am therefore seeking advice on how well they sell, what they are like etc.

I am looking at an s48 currently - was called Ivy Sea and now Norouz. Is this the fire damaged one repaired in Essex?

 

[Shifty]

I do remember Ivy Sea, but have no knowledge of its history, but what I will add is the 48 is one of Sealines best handling hulls, a very capable sea boat.

 

[Agent]

Many thanks for your reply. Just nervous to buy if the same boaT for future re-sale value.