First time seller...

gdwindowpane

gdwindowpane

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Halifax, Virginia
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gdwindowpane
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W78 - William M Tuck
TLDR - Selling a C-150F and have no idea how.

I'm going to be selling my dad's 1966 C-150F. He passed away in June. Plane hasn't been flown for several years. I had the annual done a couple of weeks ago. A&P said it was the cleanest/tightest 150 he has ever annualed. I was thinking of keeping it and finishing my PPL but logistically it would be best to sell it now and get something later to finish in.

Other than listing it on Trade-a-Plane and Barnstormers I have no idea of the process of selling a plane. Some questions I have:

- Plane hasn't flown for several years. A&P didn't offer to fly it after annual. I guess I need to find a CFI and fly it a couple of hours to get the "bugs" out?
- I know prospective buyers will want to do a pre-buy. However I shouldn't let them pull cylinders or anything right? I don't want them to damage anything. Do I let them test fly it? I've read enough on here about some horror stories.
- Once we have an agreement with a buyer do I need an attorney to finish the sale? Or do I just need to fill out an 8050-2 online at cares.faa.gov and get a certified check?
- I know I don't want to but should I even consider listing it with a broker and let them deal with the entire transaction?

That's all I have at the moment. Any other advice will be welcomed!

And also, before everyone says I should keep it and finish my PPL, I have thought long and hard about it but the time just isn't right to make that happen. No hangar space near me, knee replacement coming up in November, etc.

Thanks!

And I forgot mention that dad also has 1945 Grumman Widgeon G-44a that will be a great project plane for anyone interested. Can give you a great deal on it!

Chris
 
Question: How much do you know about the airplane? Do you feel comfortable answering questions about its background/the equipment/the mx history/squawk list/etc? If not, I'd put it with a broker. They'll have experience selling aircraft that have sat for a while. Plus they'll deal with tirekickers and what not so you don't have to waste your time. And the price-point on a C150 is low enough where you're not foregoing that much money by paying their commission.

No attorney is needed to finish a sale. There's pre-made sales forms available from AOPA. You can just use one of those contracts. I'd insist on using something like Aerospace Reports for escrow (as buyer or seller); they help steer the transaction to completion and make sure the proper submission and exchanging of forms occurs. You can split that escrow fee cost with the buyer. It's not much.

You can put limitations on the scope of the prebuy. Though if the plane has sat for several years, a buyer is probably justified for wanting to take a look at engine health. You may want to be reasonable on that based on what's discovered.
Then again some might look at a fresh annual and do a compression check and call it a day.

If you're going to hire someone to fly the plane as a test pilot, let them know they're acting as a test pilot in an aircraft that hasn't flown in years :)
 
They're going to want to fly. I always did the take off and landing. You'll need someone that can do that for you. Recommend scanning the logs and take pictures from all angles. Barnstormers upload a few exterior and interior images and have scanned logs ready. Be prepared for questions such as: hangared or tie down, how long was it idle, was engine pickled. They'll want to do a pre-buy, on field mechanics at your place would be better and make sure they're guaranteeing payment ... have agreement to repair anything critical to flight in the contract or negotiate how that will be handled, images will help if they pre-buy mechanics cause damage.
 
gdwindowpane said:
Or do I just need to fill out an 8050-2 online at cares.faa.gov and get a certified check?
Click to expand...
You'll need to sign the 8050-2 to complete the process. Do you have the legal authority to sign it on behalf of your father's estate? Without that the buyer will not be able to register the aircraft under their name.
 
Easiest would be having a aircraft broker sell it for you and do through an escrow company.
 
I agree that a broker is the easy button. But for some of the other questions:

Yes, the prospective buyer will probably want to fly it, and that is normal. Typically, either the seller will go with them (or actually do the flying), or a trusted CFI will do that (doesn't have to be a CFI, but that's often useful for the buyer's future insurance - maybe not applicable in a 150 though, but nowadays, who knows what the insurer might demand. The other benefit of it being a CFI is then the buyer can fly from the left seat with a (hopefully) right-seat competent pilot available if there's a problem.) I assume that puts you in a tough place, since you can't fly it, and probably don't know any good CFIs around. That's one more point for a broker.

Buyers will (well, SHOULD) definitely want to do a pre-buy. But they're not usually the ones actually doing the pre-buy, it's a mechanic they hire. Mechanics can be of varying quality, of course, but at least there's some proof of minimal competence there. You are of course able to set limits on what they can do, for example they can't pull jugs but can use a borescope. But a pre-buy can be as brief or as thorough as the buyer is willing to pay for, and I doubt many people are going to want to pay for a super-thorough (i.e. super-expensive) pre-buy on a 150 anyway. More likely it will be along the order of review the paperwork, de-cowl the engine, open all the inspection panels.

Perhaps the buyer will accept the recent annual as "good enough" and not want a pre-buy. I wouldn't recommend that thought process to the BUYER, but as the seller, the less pre-buy the better.

But yeah, I agree with most of the other comments - you really should just use a broker. It will save you a lot of hassle and aggravation, and very well may get you more for the plane that you would get yourself, offsetting the commission.
 
Keep it, fly it. Perfect airplane to get your private pilot rating in. Find a local CFI and join the elite ranks of those most interesting gentlemen in the world.
 
texasclouds said:
Keep it, fly it. Perfect airplane to get your private pilot rating in. Find a local CFI and join the elite ranks of those most interesting gentlemen in the world.
Click to expand...
1) I assume this is referring to the C 150 and not the Grumman LOL

2) If you don't use a broker, at the minimum use a service like Aero Space, a title company that will do a title search, make sure all the forms are fille out and filed, do the registration, etc. You can have the buyer absorb the cost of their service, split it, or whatever you two decide. They will handle the money / escrow for you. You (or the buyer) get to put together the pre buy agreement. Samples can be found on line. Signatures can be docusigned / Adobe signed.

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3) If you're at all serious about finishing your PPL, keep the C 150. But only if you'll be flying it and finishing up soon. If "maybe someday / maybe next year", then sell it. CAVEAT: C150s don't have a lot of payload capacity. If you're a bit on the "husky" side, you might find it isn't literally a good fit.

4) Yes, the buyer will want to fly the plane with your chosen representative (should be a pilot in the right seat just in case). Buyer will do a pre buy, and there will be things found. You negotiate the desired work and costs, or cancel the contract.
 
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