Thinking about a Houseboat

[Ted]

Ted,

A house boat is cheaper than buying a summer cottage at a lake or beach. Sounds like fun!

We are going to look at a Moody 34 while in Sint Maarten this week. Maybe our winter home if the bride likes it.

That looks like a nice boat! Laurie and I would like to do that at some point, in fact it was something we were thinking about before kids came along.

Park it at watauga lake near me and I will go halves.
Seriously I would buy one if I had the management in place to rent it out and cover most of the expenses.

Your lake is a bit far for us. Wanting something that's in the 1-2 hour driving distance from our house. Close enough that it's easy enough to get to by car (if we have to fly that far I'd just as soon get something on the Gulf coast), far enough that we're "away from home" and all the chores etc. that go with it.

Would certainly consider a partnership though. Keep costs lower and utilization higher. Taking a look I don't see any houseboat rentals on AirBnB, at least not at the lakes around. Insurance would strike me as very hard. My wife and I thought about the idea of renting it out, but the more I think about it, the less I like it. Would rather just own outright or have a partner.

Not sure about that. They don't make any more lakefront. The dirt under most lakefront cottages appreciates while all fiberglass boats depreciate. Between berthing, haul-out and the depreciation, the operating cost for one of the real house boats (40-100ft boxes on a lake) are pretty high. A cottage you buy with a conventional mortgage and most of them are pretty simple as homes go.

Buy a house boat because you want the house boat life. Not to save money.

(House boat here means a recreational house boat. Not the permanent structures you'll find on some lakes in WA and on the Columbia River in OR)

I'd tend to think that when you look at the total cost picture, it's probably mostly a wash long term. Don't have a lawn or property to maintain. Do have a houseboat to maintain instead of a normal house. No property taxes on the house itself, but don't know what property taxes may exist on a houseboat. Insurance is probably higher on the houseboat. Slip rental exists on a houseboat, but doesn't exist for a lakehouse. Houseboat will depreciate while lake house would appreciate. For what we're looking at I do think we'd save money on the initial purchase cost of the houseboat, but then catch up over time with other costs.

Really it comes down to the house boat/water life, not to save money.

 

[Ken Ibold]

I have an empty slip in my back yard that will handle a boat up to 55 feet. It has a lift that currently doesn't work, but for the right tenant I'm sure we can remedy that. On the St. Johns River in Jax, 3 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, deep water with no bridges to the ocean.

Maybe we'll get a houseboat, put it up on the lift permanently and use it as a guest house.

 

[Ted]

I have an empty slip in my back yard that will handle a boat up to 55 feet. It has a lift that currently doesn't work, but for the right tenant I'm sure we can remedy that. On the St. Johns River in Jax, 3 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, deep water with no bridges to the ocean.

Maybe we'll get a houseboat, put it up on the lift permanently and use it as a guest house.

Looks beautiful, Ken. We'll just need a Lear 23 to make the time on the commute acceptable.

 

[lowtimer]

http://www.adoniayachts.com/

Was at Lake Powell last week and these are popular. I know, not what your looking for, but we can dream........

 

[lowtimer]

On a more serious note, I see a lot of houseboats for sale due to upcoming major expense. Getting a survey is a very good idea at this level of possible unexpected cash outlay. Also like getting a pre buy or annual on an aircraft, who inspects it is important. There are surveyors out there that aren't worth a nickle.

I'm a fan of outboards on houseboats if hauling it out of the water is going to be a pain/large expense. I can do more of the maint. on the motors with the boat in the water than I can on a stern drive.

 

[Axtel4]

Here you go @Ted DuPuis

https://hackaday.com/2017/08/21/amphibious-houseboat-hits-the-open-road/

 

[Ted]

Easy enough, make a Class A float.

 

[Axtel4]

VW just needed to scale this up to the micro bus and you'd be set.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Easy enough, make a Class A float.

Ahem: it exists already, but seems like an awful, awful idea.