What's the hardest part about selling a plane?

Henning said:
This all is why I say, "buy your last plane first" or at least the one that is going to do what you need a plane for for the next 10 years. The whole "upgrade plane" method of getting into what you need over a matter of a few years is more expensive than the insurance hit you take on the first year operation of the more capable plane, even if you have to go to Flight Safety to train (since likely you have to anyway even after 500hrs in other stuff, and you will still have a first year hit regardless). Plus there is the value of being up to full capability a couple years earlier.
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That would have been good advice for me,
If i knew then what I know now. But if I followed that advice when I bought my first plane, I am quite sure I would have bought the wrong plane anyway. But at least I only bought one starter plane, then without losing much, and with a lot more knowledge, I bought what I think is a keeper.
 
mikeinbama said:
I'm sure that wasn't meant to be as condescending as it came across.
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JOhnH said:
I didn't think it came across as condescending at all.
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Sorry if it came across as condescending.

In my (limited) experience, it is common for trainers, Cubs, Champs, LSA, et al to be sold fairly locally, where buyer and seller meet face-to-face at a local airport. If one is in the market for a C-150, there will be several available not far away.

Once we step up to Bonanzas and up the food chain from there, it is common to buy an airplane that is a thousand miles or more away. One of the first things a potential buyer asks for is copies of the logs before spending the time and money travelling to see the airplane in person.
 
At the time, the hardest part for me was seeing my 'baby' flying away without me in it, knowing I would never get to fly her again. I stood there watching until she was totally out of sight. But alas, there are other airplanes and I eventually bought another that I like even better, but I still have fond memories of the other one.
 
I agree with Henning. Logs and where to be seen. I've never had any trouble getting logs PDF'd to me. Maybe a couple that either did not have them pdf or were not willing - I walked away.

There was a plane I really liked. I called the sellers broker (wont mention who) and he sent the logs right over. Few days later I asked to schedule a time to come see the airplane... he told me I could NOT see the plane until we had an offer in place and a deposit.

I literally started laughing. I said "you want me to spend a couple hundred grand on a plane I have not seen?" - he said its very common. I told him that I had already looked at 5 or 6 different planes around the country - all on my dime (of course) and never been told "no". Needless to say I didnt buy.

Funny thing is every few weeks they call me and ask if I'm interested. They kinda forget who is who I guess and I keep reminding him "Sure, soon as you actually let me see the plane I can actually consider it".

So that was a frustrating part of buying - but whatever.. just sharing it
 
EminiTrader said:
I agree with Henning. Logs and where to be seen. I've never had any trouble getting logs PDF'd to me. Maybe a couple that either did not have them pdf or were not willing - I walked away.

There was a plane I really liked. I called the sellers broker (wont mention who) and he sent the logs right over. Few days later I asked to schedule a time to come see the airplane... he told me I could NOT see the plane until we had an offer in place and a deposit.

I literally started laughing. I said "you want me to spend a couple hundred grand on a plane I have not seen?" - he said its very common. I told him that I had already looked at 5 or 6 different planes around the country - all on my dime (of course) and never been told "no". Needless to say I didnt buy.

Funny thing is every few weeks they call me and ask if I'm interested. They kinda forget who is who I guess and I keep reminding him "Sure, soon as you actually let me see the plane I can actually consider it".

So that was a frustrating part of buying - but whatever.. just sharing it
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This is a fairly common practice, I'm more than happy to show the plane, start the engine, let the potential Buyer check out the avionics, and I always have the logs on PDF, but absolutely no demo flight until I have a contract. Once I have a contract with a price the buyer is willing to pay if everything checks out, they are free to do a pre buy and take a demo flight.
Why not get the purchase price your willing to pay, as long as everything is as presented, agreed upon up front, so you don't waste your time or the Sellers. The contract also protects the Buyer, with an executed contract the Seller can't sell it to anyone else until the Buyer backs out or until it goes past the allotted inspection period.
The contract is always contingent on the Buyers approval of the pre buy, demo flight, and any other conditions that were agreed upon. As long as the buyer doesn't extend past the 14 day(21 days for out of state Buyers) inspection period, they receive the entire deposit back if they decide to back out.
 
I just bought my first plane but my seller had the logs very nicely organized and seemed to accurately represent the plane in his ad. I paid cash so I think that helped the transaction go well. It took less than 3 weeks from my first phone call to him until I was flying home in it.
 
If you want one of my freshly restored aircraft, be the first one here with cash.

Don't plan on taking it apart to see what was done.

you want a ride? sure, we can do that.
 
Tom-D said:
If you want one of my freshly restored aircraft, be the first one here with cash.

Don't plan on taking it apart to see what was done.

you want a ride? sure, we can do that.
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so you are saying you will not allow a pre-buy? if so keep it. I will never buy without a pre-buy. I do not expect to do one without having a deal done on condition of the pre-buy though.

bob
 
When you see a new log with the first 4 pages saying such as the pictures, what else is there to see in the logs ? Yes I had all 8 books to 1937. even the journey logs
 

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unsafervguy said:
so you are saying you will not allow a pre-buy? if so keep it. I will never buy without a pre-buy. I do not expect to do one without having a deal done on condition of the pre-buy though.

bob
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When you buy a restored aircraft from the many who do these acts of love there isn't much of any inspection to see what a new aircraft looks like.
 
Some buyers are a royal PITA.

One guy wanted every serial number of every part that had gone into the overhauled engines. God knows why, but I got it for him. At a great cost of time on my behalf as I had to call around for almost a day. Sent it over and guess what happens? Never heard from him again.

Or they want more serial numbers, more scanned logbooks, more this, more that. Never ends. You provide all of that and most of them never even reply back. Somehow my time is less worth than theirs.

I wish buyers were like me. I walk in, if I see what I like, I buy. Make my mind up in 5 seconds.
 
Where to begin. Lets put it this way, I'm trading my airplane for the next one, and the trade is probably the best part of the deal. Actually, the new airplane looks just as spanky as it did in the pictures.
 
I have apparently been incredibly lucky with my aircraft sales.

1. Warrior. Bought it for $32.7K, sold it for $40K, four years later. (Those were the days!)

2. Ercoupe. I was a 1/3rd partner when we moved to Texas. Got a check in the mail for my share.

3. Pathfinder. Asked $55K. Had a buyer offer $50K, cash. I told him no. He countered with the same amount -- but NO prebuy.

Given the inherent risks of a prebuy inspection (my prebuy turned up a $20K engine issue when I bought the Pathfinder), I accepted. The guy flew in, handed me a cashiers check that cleared, and flew home in a really great airplane.

Now, did I lose $5K, or make $20K? I will never know. :)
 
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