N/A Got an offer on my boat

dell30rb

dell30rb

Final Approach
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
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Location
Raleigh NC
Display Name
Ren
Home Airfield
KTTA, NC81
I have a 30' sailboat that i've been trying to sell for awhile. Flying too much and interested more in fishing. And I have access to my dads new 43 foot sailboat which he actually wants me to use to keep the bottom and prop clean.

Check out the ad

http://norfolk.craigslist.org/boa/2654176264.html

Its as described. No interior pics on there (should have snapped some). A search on yachtworld shows boats of a similar vintage with atomic 4's listed between 7-10,000



Here is the offer:

Ren, here is our offer:

First, this is a 44 year old boat...
Hull and deck seem structurally solid, but in fair condition: Deck/cockpit need sanding and painting, cockpit instrument holes filled, etc.
Interior is in fair condition with a lot of little projects: broken latches, forward hatch, wood sole?, plumbing does not function, leaky icebox.
Instrumentation functions, but not completely - depth sounder was fouled, but most likely works, rpm, amps, vhf antenna... ?
Main sail is in strong, good condition, but head sail is in fair. roller furling works when wound correctly ;)
Rigging is good, but is 10 years old
Engine appears to run well and is consistent with other atomic 4s that I have researched as far as transmission operation is concerned. However, I am worried about the smell of exhaust in the cabin after and during operation of the engine and think there may be an exhaust leak.
Batteries and electrical are functioning but mast light is out.

The boat is pretty bare bones, however we are both pragmatic and are happy that the boat is in a functional condition as it is, with all of the running rigging and winches, etc. thoughtfully set up. We also like the fact that it has a spinnaker and bimini and other boat "extras" bumpers, anchors, old gps, radar etc.

So, for this 44 year old boat in fair to good condition in a bad economy with lots of boats to chose from, our offer is $4000 after the boat is hauled, cleaned and painted (this is routine maintenance). Delivery/last sailing adventure could be anytime before mid December to oriental ( I am looking for a good marina there as washington is a ways inland but it could work also ).

If you accept the offer, I will draft a bill of sale (or you can if you prefer) that states that an initial deposit of $1000 will be made to your account to cover hauling, etc. and then the remaining sum of $3000 will be paid upon delivery.

Please let us know by Thursday evening if you are going to accept the offer which will save us making a trip on Friday to look at two other boats. We are tired of searching as I am sure you are tired of trying to sell.
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I had it listed for 7K for awhile. A month ago I was offered 6 Grand and accepted but before anything was signed the guy backed out.. his wife vetoed his decision to purchase the boat. I turned down a 5k offer 2 months before that. As-Is in both these departments.

The boat is 44 years old but its livable, very functional, its also 30 feet long and weighs 10,000 pounds. The hull is solid fiberglass, no rotting wood core. No blisters etc

Now with this guy's offer i'd have to get the bottom cleaned and painted. I have a quote on that for $700. So i'd have to shuffle the boat to the yard, and my net on the boat sale would be $3300.

Now I'm sick of trying to sell a boat which I don't use - however this offer seems a little bit low. If I can squeeze .5 AMU more out of this guy i'd be happy. Any tips for haggling?

Also.. If I sold my anchor (35 pound CQR) and old radar i'd make about 500 bucks. Something to think about
 
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I'll buy that for $3K.

As far as haggling, you don't. You are below your rock bottom already. Be prepared to tell the buyer to stuff it where the sun don't shine. Price is firm and haul out is on the buyer. I'm serious.

"As Is, Where Is" avoids all that tiresome niggling.
 
I'm just wondering what my best approach should be to try and wiggle some cash out of him.

I could make more money on the boat if I stripped the goodies from it, sold separately and put the boat on e-bay and sold stripped bare with nothing but sails and a running motor for $2500.

However this guy is probably going to take care of it and I do want to sell it to him.

I am a motivated seller simply because im sick of showing this boat to motherfrers and gettin jerked around!
 
Pearsons are good boats. You couldn't run fast enough to give me an Atomic 4.
dell30rb said:
I'm just wondering what my best approach should be to try and wiggle some cash out of him.

I could make more money on the boat if I stripped the goodies from it, sold separately and put the boat on e-bay and sold stripped bare with nothing but sails and a running motor for $2500.

However this guy is probably going to take care of it and I do want to sell it to him.

I am a motivated seller simply because im sick of showing this boat to motherfrers and gettin jerked around!
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If you are sick and tired from showing the boat you surely don't want to invest the time to part her out.

For showing, require a $500 non refundable (or refundable per your choice). This cancels out the 'tire kickers'.

For negotiating offer to deduct X which is less value (to you) but more vaule to a buyer. The tactic is to assign value to a thing which is lesser than the value as assigned by the buyer. Example, throw in the "old" radar for free to sweeten the deal. Make the purchase as turn key as possible. Or market it as a project. Granted, there are less people these days who want a project but I know some die-hard Pearson afficionados. Besides, NC is an area experiencing a renaissance in vintage boat restoration. In all cases, know your buyer and target the market.
 
10 yr old rigging (standing and running) is going to be replaced with new. That is a given, don't even go there.
 
mmm tough call. I love sailing but am not versed in the value of larger boats. It is what the market will pay not a penny more nor a penny less. October / Nov is a crummy time to sell a boat. You might get a grand more for it in the spring but then what will the carrying cost be till then. Figure out what your line in the sand its and stick to it.

OTOH have you considered donating it and taking a deduction? Not sure if that will be worth it for you but worth considering.
 
Not knowing sailing very well (only taken ASA 101), I've found that you pretty much have two options with pleasure items:

1) Sell them cheap and get rid of them fast
2) Try to sell them for more money and get rid of them slow and get jerked around

Honestly, I'd rather take money off the price of the boat and just let him hassle with it. You're trying to get rid of it so that you don't have to mess with it anymore. My requirement if I'm selling something is that I don't have to do any more work to it. It sounds like you're there.

In motorcycles, this time of year is usually when prices start to go down. Nobody wants to ride a motorcycle in the winter (except me). I have usually done well by buying motorcycles in December and selling them in May. I've done this several times successfully. Would it be worth considering just keeping it ashore until the sailing season gets going and try to sell it then?
 
Be aware of the current (and extensive) IRS appraisal requirements for charitable contributions with values in excess of $5k.

AdamZ said:
mmm tough call. I love sailing but am not versed in the value of larger boats. It is what the market will pay not a penny more nor a penny less. October / Nov is a crummy time to sell a boat. You might get a grand more for it in the spring but then what will the carrying cost be till then. Figure out what your line in the sand its and stick to it.

OTOH have you considered donating it and taking a deduction? Not sure if that will be worth it for you but worth considering.
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I think a good counter would be to tell him that you have been offered more $ than his offer previously and turned the offer down. But you think he will be a good owner for the boat and you like that.

Tell him " how about we split the haul out, clean and paint and you have a deal"

I would just make sure that the splitting of this expense is not open ended, put some limit on it.

Good luck..

Jon
 
Is that even a legit offer? The wording sounds a little bit like the scam replies one gets from Craigslist postings.
 
Richard said:
10 yr old rigging (standing and running) is going to be replaced with new. That is a given, don't even go there.
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The rigging is not to bad. The running rigging is much newer than 10 yrs. The standing rigging is 10 yrs old but its high quality stainless and the boat has been kept in brackish water. It has another 5-10 years left in it.
 
I asked him to let me keep the anchor and radar.

The anchor that I have on the boat is a 35lb CQR. $750 new
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...toreNum=10105&subdeptNum=10372&classNum=10422

No, however you can buy a used anchor for less than 50 bucks. Anchors do not really wear out.

Here is a brand new one for $73 that would be perfectly suited to the boat (the 22 lb claw anchor). You can keep the chain and two anchor rhodes.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...toreNum=10105&subdeptNum=10372&classNum=10419

The anchor on there is 35 pounds and is imported from scotland. Its suitable for a 43 foot, 25,000 pound boat and is way overkill. Actually its a huge pain to deploy and retrieve by hand.

The radar I never used and I can sell for some extra cash. You're extremely unlikely to encounter fog on your trip. (leaving january and returning june/july)

As for the bottom, before undertaking a long trip (such as yours) any boat that has been sitting for more than 6 months should be hauled and cleaned (if not repainted). Its worth an extra .5 to .75 knots. The cost is the same for a boat that has been sitting for 6 months or 2 years. The marina quoted me $350 for hauling, cleaning, and re-launching. Two coats of bottom paint adds $400.

As I said, your offer was not unreasonable however I'd like to make a little bit more off of the sale. In the last 3 months I have turned down a $5000 offer as-is and accepted an offer for $6000 that was yanked out from under me.

If you accept I can take the boat to the marina next weekend to have it pulled and painted. I get back from a business trip to London on Nov 15th and I can deliver it by the end of the month.

Thanks,
Ren
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rpadula said:
Is that even a legit offer? The wording sounds a little bit like the scam replies one gets from Craigslist postings.
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He came to look at the boat and I took him out for a sail last weekend.
 
Must have said the right thing because my buyer said "ok" to me keeping the anchor, radar, and he wants to pay me $300 more for the boat!
 
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