From the viewpoint of the seller of a boat or yacht, but just as well for other involved people such as buyers, brokers, and marine surveyors, finding out the monetary worth of a boat is one of the most crucial but also one of the most harrowing aspects of marine life.
If you are selling, the proceeds that you will get on your motorboat, sailing yacht or fishing pontoon will either determine how much you will have in your pocket if you are moving away from marine life, or if you are upgrading, it will settle on the size of your next vessel.
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.
But doing this is easier said than done. Without adequate knowledge of boat values, without knowing about the current market situation (often influenced by season and location), chances are that you will end up less well off than you thought. There are possibilities that you will do a deal which might seem to you very profitable in the beginning, but that a few days later you might realize that you could have got a much better deal in the nautical transaction.
Which is why boat evaluation cannot just be an afterthought or a given, but must be considered with care. First of all, the prospective buyer or seller needs to decide whether to go solo, or whether to hire a boat evaluation pro. Marine brokers can help to sort out the issue for you.
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.
Your next stop should me your local marina’s party or some other kind of social get-together, where you can find other boat owners that can brief you on the current state of the market.
New boat exhibitions are good to gauge current fashions. Fashionable items demand a better price, and you can increase the value of your marine transaction by finding out what features and accessories are currently over- or undervalued.
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