WHY SELL YOUR BOAT BEFORE WINTER

Wholesaling your boat is by far the fastest, easiest way to get a boat off of your hands for the most competitive price - especially when it is done through Off the Hook Yacht Sales. Whether you have your eye on a new boat or just don't want your boat sitting all winter long, we can help you out! There are so many benefits of selling your boat before Winter. Spring commissioning, depreciation, the unknown future market, and MASSIVE carrying costs are just a few examples of why it may make sense to sell your boat now vs waiting.

 

Additionally, there is nothing more thrilling than to go boat shopping in the Winter with friends and family.  While carrying your boat until Spring may seem like a good idea, it is worth it to have a brief conversation with us about what we can offer you today.  You may be surprised! 

 

ACCRUED WINTER EXPENSES

 

There are so many reasons to wholesale your boat now, but one of the main reasons we see people wholesaling during this season is to avoid the Winterization costs. You are paying for haul-outs, shrink wrap, labor, storage, service work, spring commissioning - the list goes on and on and on!  If you decide to wholesale your boat now, you will avoid ALL of these expenses and get to keep cash in your pocket for the holiday season.  What is your cash worth being tied up in a depreciating asset all winter long?  If you see your dream boat pop up at an incredible price, are you ready to be a two boat owner?  The best deals come in the winter time.

Holding on to your boat until Spring time in hope of a "hotter" boat market is a mistake many boat owners make. Your boat value is as high as it will ever be at this exact moment, and by springtime, a model year later, expect to have offers 5-15% less than what you could get today. 

 

DEPRECIATION OF YOUR VESSEL

 

All boat owners have heard the phrase about how a boat loses value the moment it leaves the lot. Well, this applies just as well to any vessel you own leading into the new year. As soon as January 1, 2021 rolls around, your boat is now identified as a year older, and retail book values will reflect this change. It is also reflected in the attitudes of any potential buyers and offers will be lower come Spring.

Holding onto a boat until Spring in hopes that a "hotter" boat market will bring better offers is a mistake many boat owners make. Your boat value is as high as it will ever be at this exact moment, and by springtime, expect to have offers at least 5-15% less. This is why wholesaling is a great option heading into winter. Though a wholesale may seem low upfront, after factoring in Winter expenses and depreciation, you are looking at spring retail offers.

 

CARRYING COSTS

 

The expenses incurred by the ownership of your vessel during the Winter months can cost thousands of dollars. In addition to the winterization and storage costs, there can be loan payments, taxes, insurance, and miscellaneous maintenance costs that could all be avoided if you were to wholesale your vessel before winter.  After we buy your boat, regardless of what happens to it, that is now on us, not you!   

 

UNKNOWN FUTURE FOR USED BOAT MARKET

 

While the last seven months the boat market has been good, even during a pandemic, there are so many unknowns as to when the market will slow down, or even crash.  Make hay while the sun shines!  Get top dollar now, and then hold out, because we all know that deals are coming.  Too many boats were sold for that not to be the case.  Soon the market will be flooded, demand will slow down, production will go back up, and you will be very happy you are sitting on cash and not a boat that is rapidly depreciating every day! 

 Read more: used yachts for sale florida

DO IT YOURSELF MINDSET

 

Selling your boat by yourself is not as easy as it looks. It takes a lot of time and effort which means the boat you had your eye on might get sold before you can even put an offer on it. 

 Let’s say you decide to sell your boat through CraigsList or Facebook Marketplace. This may seem like a good idea at first, but it may take weeks or even months for someone to show interest in your vessel. On top of expenses adding up during this time, the boat of your choice could also pass you by while you wait for a prospective buyer to message you. If you are selling your boat to upgrade, it is likely that you already have a boat or two in mind that you have your eyes on (ours is the Nor-Tech 450 Sport). If you are unable to get your current boat off of your hands quickly, it is likely that the boat you are looking at will sell before you can make an offer on it. By wholesaling, you are able to get your vessel off of your hands quickly and easily, making it very unlikely that the boat of your dreams will sell before you can get your hands on it. 

 

QUICK HASSLE-FREE TRANSACTION

 

Our trusted team will help you through the entire selling and buying process. Here at Off the Hook Yacht Sales, we are constantly working with clients looking to upgrade or downsize the size and style of their boat. Our team works effectively and efficiently so you can wholesale your boat for the most competitive price in the quickest amount of time. By the time you contact Off the Hook Yacht Sales, we are typically able to make an offer, close, and inspect within 3-5 days! We aim to offer 80%* of retail on all makes/models of powerboats in good condition and year 2002 or newer. Wholesaling your boat today guarantees cash in your pocket and a stress-free transaction. We handle all paperwork and transportation. 

 

Idiot’s guide to buying a second hand boat

 For a tenth of that you can get a decent yacht that will serve you well for many years and bring you all the joy you would get from a factory-fresh one. Reference 

Generally speaking the less you spend the more effort you will need to get it seaworthy and comfortable.

Over this article we will look into all the aspects you need to consider when you go looking to buy a secondhand boat.

New-build boats aren’t all they’re cracked up to be either. Like a decent pair of leather shoes they will often need wearing in, and that’s not always fun.

Getting a used sailboat vs a new

A common myth is that a new yacht will be trouble-free. The fact is that sailboats are incredibly complex machines and not all new-build boats are perfect.

At least two major boatbuilding companies have been hit with scandals in the last few years where the vessels sank just weeks after delivery to the owner. Thankfully no-one died but one of those companies came close to bankruptcy.

We will touch on getting a surveyor later but if you are insistent on buying new, you will still need to get one to look over a new-build boat before delivery.

Their job in these cases is to ensure you have a safe vessel but in the case of secondhand sailboats they can save you thousands of € by pointing out any safety issues.

A secondhand boat by comparison will be:

Much cheaper to buy

Most of its issues will be obvious from the start

Less expensive to maintain (as long as it isn’t a wooden classic!)

Cost less to insure

May be less attractive to waterborne criminals after the boat or its equipment.

 

There is often more satisfaction to be had in an old boat too, as you maintain and improve it by putting in personal touches to make it suit you.

After a winter’s work on the hard, getting her into the water in Spring and feeling just how sweetly she sails thanks to your work, is a moment of deep satisfaction!

Which boat is right for me?

There are almost as many types of sailboats out there as there are people looking to buy one!

cruisers sailboats that are good for big ocean crossings and others better suited to pottering about the coast between favoured seaside towns.

You won’t find a carbon fibre yacht at the price range we are looking at here, and if you do get ready for your wallet to get a lot thinner!

Osmosis

GRP

Glass reinforced plastic (GRP) is cheap enough that hundreds of thousands if not millions of boats have been built of it over the years.

It is widely regarded as low maintenance but can have an issue where water gets into the ‘sandwich’ called osmosis - think of it as a rotting process.

See a good article explaining what is osmosis.

It is difficult to fix but still easier and cheaper than replacing a rotting wooden hull timber.

Steel

Steel is a low cost material (20% less than wood), the strongest of all the common boat-building materials, but not suitable for small boats (under 30m) due to its limitation of thickness.

You may think steel is easier to maintain than GRP..

It can be if kept well protected with paint and you replace your zinc anodes every year to prevent electrolytic degradation of the hull, keel bolt or screw metal.

Essentially a current will pass between the steel hull and bronze propeller and the softest metal will degrade thanks to the current.

Electric batteries operate in just this way with a reactive metal being placed in an electrolyte (in this case salt water - a brilliant conductor) and the reactive metal ions passing from the positive terminal (the anodes, screw or keel bolts) to the negative terminal (the hull).

Aluminium

Aluminium boats are very light and fast - and as long as well maintained, at least as light as GRP and strong as steel.

The problem is maintenance: They need to be painted and anodes replaced at least every two years as aluminium reacts with salt water just like the steel/bronze/brass problem above.

Leave it ill-maintained and you won’t be forgiven with the metal dis-solving thanks to electrolytic degradation.

Aluminium hulls however are nowhere near as much of a handful as wood - the next on the list!

Read more: used yachts for sale florida

Wood

Wooden boats are a labour of love. If kept in brackish water (where fresh mixes with salt water such as an estuary) or fresh water they will rot. You need to replace a timber at least a metre either side of the rotten patch. Then you need to paint and treat it.  Wooden boats, while some of the most beautiful ever built, are a constant nightmare of maintenance and expense. This is why you hardly see new ones on the water today!

Mono or cat?

So how many hulls do you want?

Catamarans are much more spacious, luxurious and faster but don’t sail as close to the wind as.

Look at our article comparing these two categories in depth here: monohull vs catamaran.

The following catamaran is looking for a new owner: