Oops...53 search may be over but purchase may be also...

[mikep996]

Dang!

I may have found a boat but the purchasing part is not what I was expecting...

I guess I won't be buying the boat after all. I was surprised by boat loan issues which I didn't expect. Two different boat loan companies postulated that the "value" of a 1973 53MY is $187,000 and they would loan 80% of that. Another boat loan company would not loan on ANY boat more than 25 years old. I was surprised.

My previous boats were not obtained using boat loans so I'm new at this. Basically, I had planned to finance/purchase the 53 before selling my current boat. But we do not wish to spend as much of "our" money as this purchase would require - considering that the selling price of the boat will be be well above $187,000. I'd guess that we would have to come up with around $75,000 cash. We are not willing to do that.

I suppose some folks would argue that if we can't come up with $75,000, we have no business buying such a boat. Perhaps they would be right.

Much rethinking going on...

[Jackman]

I had the same issues when I looked for my Hat. Mine is much smaller but percentage-wise the financing issues were the same. I couldn't find anyone to do it at first because of the same reasons. They don't understand that these boats are not like cars....they are thinking like people who would loan money for a car. The truth is that most of these banks are the same way. I went to my Credit Union and they had no problem loaning me the money. They even asked if I wanted more in addition to what I asked for believe it or not. As a matter of fact I just got done refinancing the original loan because the %rates dropped two points. The money saved was enough to do my twin 454 rebuilds twice so I still came out ahead and the payment didn't change!

So look into a credit union. They are easier to get money out of... Good Luck!

[skindr1999]

Did you think about a home equity line of credit? They are currently around 6% and go for 15 to 20 yrs. No closing costs or prepayment penalties if you sell before the term is over. If your house value has escalated as have most residences it's a great source of funds to pull from. Good luck and hold onto your $75,000 which will cover about 3 or 4 yrs. maintenance unless you're handy.

[PascalG]

I had a similar situation last year when I found "the" 53 I wanted but my prev boat didn't sell in time.

I was able to get short term (12 months) gap financing from my bank although the amount I needed was about 50% of the value.

home equity can be a good solution too.

pascal

[Dustoff44]

Try Russo Marine in MD (888) 604-7916 They financed my 1971 58YF thru Key bank...Ask for Terri

[mikep996]

Thanks for all the suggestions - I appreciate it! After some research and some checking based on input here, I think we're back on track now and are continuing with the process.

[Mike36c]

I used Suntrust bank (not sure if if one is near you) for my re-power this year after running into problems with "boat loan banks"( I already owned the boat so they treated the loan as a cash out). The home equity loan had no closing costs, 2.99% for the first 6 months, available funds in less than 2 weeks. It was almost free money with no hassles and no pre-payment penalties. Hope this helps. Mike