53 Hatteras Values 101

[Red Hatt]

Sorry, it's a pig with a little lip stick

[MadHatter53]

A $60k kiss would turn a pig into a princess.

[SeaEric]

A $60k kiss would turn a pig into a princess.

If only....

It is my (learned?) experience and honest opinion that in the current market it makes the most sense to buy the NICEST boat that you can find. The down market has depressed all boats, mostly the nice ones. It is (again) my opinion that: for TRIPLE the difference in price between the pig and the princess, the pig can't make the transformation.

[oscarvan]

If only....

It is my (learned?) experience and honest opinion that in the current market it makes the most sense to buy the NICEST boat that you can find.

Almost. The nicest boat you can AFFORD. Unless you're one of those bottomless checkbook guys, and well, then you're on your own.

[rtrafford]

If you're in the market for a $125k boat, go shopping in the $250k aisle. Pick more than one and make offers. You'll be surprised what you can bring home, and the value will most often be far greater than buying the $75k boat with the idea of spending $50-60k on her. That's a very slippery slope. The money doesn't go very far, in most cases.

[SeaEric]

Almost. The nicest boat you can AFFORD. Unless you're one of those bottomless checkbook guys, and well, then you're on your own.

In the final analysis, it's the project boat that no one can afford. Typically the buyer doesn't figure that out until it's way too late.

[oscarvan]

In the final analysis, it's the project boat that no one can afford. Typically the buyer doesn't figure that out until it's way too late.

Depends. I got a Catalina 42 for 60 cents on the dollar out of a foreclosure. Spent 25K and many hours fixing it up. In five years I put 6000 miles on her, sold and got my money back. Easier boat to sell, I will admit, and I didn't run into any really nasty surprises. More so than anything else, I know how to do my own work, and I have the tools. The only people I paid were the travel lift and the media blaster.

It can be done.

That said I will readily admit that there a lot more boobytraps on a 50 something twin diesel motor yacht.

Don't tell my shrink I laid awake at 2am for an hour and figured out how to remove the FB and re-core the salon roof/FB deck by myself.

[MadHatter53]

Boats are only worth what a buyer will pay. Most sellers initially over value their boat with some help from a broker, sometimes they get lucky and sell right away, boats in BRISTOL condition will go for a higher price and sell fast, the rest sit on the market til the price is right. Some buyers have more money than others and they offset the market as they can afford to pay for what they want.

[tellico]

In the final analysis, it's the project boat that no one can afford. Typically the buyer doesn't figure that out until it's way too late.

Well put.

Curious - is there a definition of a "project boat" in the broker world? And what is "way too late"?

[jim rosenthal]

As was said at lunch today, the only thing more expensive than a cheap boat would be a free boat.

The advice to shop carefully, look at several of them, pick your surveyor and engine surveyor carefully, and buy absolutely the best one you can afford- that is sound advice. And always think about the next owner after you.

I have seen exactly ONE Hatteras project boat that was brought back to running, usable, good looking condition. One. That's it. Well, two, if you count my own boat. Sure, there are others out there, but for every project that gets completed, I'll bet ten times that number never get beyond the disassembly stage.

I'm not talking about project boats that get done by Slane Marine or other shops that do top-to-bottom refits. Those shops are paid a lot of money to rebuild and improve old boats- and their services are well worth it, because they know what they are doing. I'm talking about amateurs who decide that it's cheaper to fix up a decrepit boat than to pay good money up front to buy a good one.

Most of us only have to learn this lesson one time. The intellectually challenged or the incurably optimistic may have to go to school two or three times on this.