boat value revisited

[tonywright]

And we Canadians in Eastern Canada are doing our bit too. We now have no less than 5 C34 MKII's in our club (3 are recent purchases from the US), and another 320 from south of the border just showed up.

Tony

[catboatwilliy]

Ken, there is very little question that a boat ~ or anything else for that matter~ is worth only worth what some is will to pay for it. I too have been in the market for a new craft for over a year and, with regard to pricing, it's a bit overwhelming. But only by going out and seeing the condition of the various boats, will you be able to walk up to any craft and determine what it should sell for in the given market place and what it is worth to you. For instance, the difference in general asking price between a 1988 c-34 and a 1988 C&C 35 is about $10K. But the real question is it worth the difference to you, for certainly, they are about equal in construction and features.
An owner will always think that a boat is worth more than the asking price and buyers will always think that it is worth less than the asking price. It is just the nature of the market. There will always be a difference between 'bid' and 'ask' and most brokers will price a boat right out of a book. As the economy softens, the difference between bid and ask will increase. Brokers/owners will still ask the same price but owners may be pressed and accept a lower price.
Perhaps the opinions on this link will help this link   http://www.boats.com/news-reviews/article/pricing-to-sell     and the associated related articles will help.
In my experience here in SW Florida a nice 1991 C-34 with walk thru transom is selling at $50K although, through a broker, a nice 1992 e/w 4 cylinder diesel, walk through transom, good canvas & dink~  sold recently for $42K
Good luck as I think it's becoming a buyers market.

[Joe and Carol]

I seem to think boat prices are "all over the place"  depending on geographical location, accessories, and  the usual assessments.  At some point, in regard to valuing a pre owned Catalina, one tends to give expense latitude to availability of finding a well kept sail away opportunity.  When we sized up our purchase price, we figured the cost of all accessories, systems, gadgets and go along equipment, as well as the standard factors of sails and engine, hull and rigging, deciding we had found an excellent sailboat, within our budget, that would keep us safe and happy for some time.  Never looking back, giving worry if we paid too much, we hope to keep the boat in shape to recover as much as possible when we sell.  A sailboat is a discretionary expense, with modest deductability, and high intangible returns.  Fit sailboats share broad financial ranges based on local, regional markets, impulses and must sells.  Irrational exultation for creditability of rising book value is usually held in higher esteem by the assessor than the tax payer! So let us all appreciate depreciation despite initial costs. The graph of expenses plotted to please us according to our personal economic decisionmaking. This report of rising assessment is another example of taxation out of control!

[Kyle Ewing]

It seems the BUC price of older boats is the price of the hull only and assumes the systems have reached the end of their useful lives.  A well maintained boat has increased value through life left on systems. 

Look at the cost of major systems--prices are estimates and may include sweat equity:  New sails ($4k), standing rigging ($2k), cushions ($1.5k), low engine hours and documented maintenance (vs. $10k for a new engine), new rudder ($2k),  clean hull ($1k for detailing), electronics ($5k), clean bottom ($2k for bottom job), etc.  You won't get 100% return if you do everything at once and nothing after 4 or 5 years but well maintained boats sell for the higher end of the price range.  Total cost of ownership for a $55K boat may be less than a $50K boat over the first three years.  Over 5-10 years total cost may be the same.