Boat Evaluation – A Crucial Step for all Owners

Establishing the monetary value for a boat is one of the most important and sometimes the most difficult aspects of dealing with pleasure boats, from the perspective of the seller but of course also for other parties such as buyers, brokers, insurers and marine surveyors

For the seller, pricing the boat well will make the difference between walking away with the right amount of funds to but an even bigger and more performing watercraft, or finding himself undersold and unable to retrieve its investment in full.

As a buyer, similarly your ability to appraise your new toy with the right foreknowledge is essential, and you should not walk lightheartedly into a transaction, or you risk being on the losing side of it. You need to learn about boat appraisal to strike a fair deal.

This is, unfortunately, harder than it seems. Boat prices fluctuate a lot due to a series of sometimes obscure circumstances, such as the place you are in and the season of the year, and these are all things you need to be aware of. Otherwise you may strike what seems a great deal, but in hindsight you may then notice that the transaction left you worse off by thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

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.

On the other hand, why should you hire a broker and spend money and time waiting for other peoples judgments to affect you? There is plenty of information available on industry publications and on websites, so if you have the option of doing the boat evaluation yourself, then why not do it?

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.

The first step for self-appraisal of marine values is to go out and collect some boat and yacht classifieds, whether online or from trade magazines. By comparing offers of similar boats in different classes, you will quickly get an idea of where the market is going.

Also good are boating festivals, which are usually organized by boating clubs and yachting marinas. These shows are excellent to pick up more info on boat values, plus people who come to the shows are experts in this industry and know what they are talking about. Don’t underestimate the value of a chat with the right person to accurately pinpoint the possible value of a boat – and you may even find a buyer!

Another good place to spend some time at are boat and yacht shows, even if you are ultimately buying or selling second hand. Finding out by yourself what kind of features and accessories are in fashion helps in determining what is currently in demand and what isn’t and this applies to used boats too.

BoatValueWorld.com is the premier resource for boat prices on the Net, with guides on matters such as how to handle boat transactions, as well as on boat sale negotiation, value-for-money refurbishments, yacht prices – and much more!