Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Boat Evaluation Guidelines for Newbies

By John Howard

Determining how much your vessel is worth a fundamental, but also one of the hardest elements of owning a hobby watercraft, especially when the boat is up for sale, but also for the buying counterpart, as well as for professional such as surveyors and insurance representatives.

For the seller, pricing the boat well will make the difference between walking away with the right amount of funds to but an even bigger and more performing watercraft, or finding himself undersold and unable to retrieve its investment in full.

At first glance buyers may think that the subject is less crucial for them as there is a lot of choice of similar boats with clear prices, but make no mistake - don't become complacent and forget that not getting the best deal may mean losing tens of thousands of dollars.

For both boat buyers and sellers, it is a hard evaluation to make, especially because boat prices fluctuate a lot due to circumstances that are hard to understand, not only due to perceived value but also due to factors such as seasonality and location. It is easy to enter what looks like a great deal, only to later discover that you have been had.

To do the evaluation right, there are two principal routes: One is to employ a professional appraiser, the other one is to do it yourself. Hiring a broker is the easier and quicker solution, but it is not automatically the best option.

In fact, as there is a lot of information available on the subject for those who are willing to spend some time educating themselves, you can do this yourself if you prefer not to be dependent on someone else's opinion.

What you have to do if you decide to follow the self-appraisal route is to check out as many resources that you can to approximate the value of your boat based on its mode, age, characteristics and state of repair, aiming at establishing realistic minimum and maximum price levels that you would realistically be able to sell the boat for.

Online or paper trade magazines are a very popular source to compare the min-max values of your boat with comparable objects - check out classifieds, journals, various yards and boat traders. You will find plenty of listings with prices, and if you look at various ads over time (in different issues) you will get an idea of how fast objects are selling, that is if the asking price was right.

Also good are boating festivals, which are usually organized by boating clubs and yachting marinas. These shows are excellent to pick up more info on boat values, plus people who come to the shows are experts in this industry and know what they are talking about. Don't underestimate the value of a chat with the right person to accurately pinpoint the possible value of a boat - and you may even find a buyer!

Lots of new makes and models are introduced in these festivals every year and so you Going to trade shows will also allow you to get an idea of current fashion. What is in fashion sells, and if you can add slight modifications to your vessel to make it look hotter, your boat's value will increase. - 16003

About the Author: