SURVIVING THE PERFECT STORM: WHAT BUYERS AND SELLERS NEED TO KNOW WHEN THE ECONOMY SEEMS TO HAVE GONE HAYWIRE

LUXURY MOTOR YACHTS FOR SALE OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS…… 172' TAIPAN III 238' LONE RANGER

Yacht of the Month 78' 2005 Marlow Explorer ROCAWAY!

    We boaters have limited options when we run into stormy seas—we can turn around and go home or we can carry on, hoping to be able to reach the outer edge of the storm quickly. The “turn around and go home skipper” will take his boat off the market (actually, or effectively by leaving the price high) and wait for better weather! The “carry on” skipper will grit his teeth and take whatever the market gives him. For sellers, these are both viable options under the right circumstances. If you can afford to hold your boat, then you can rest easy knowing better weather will return at some point. Use your boat, enjoy it and wait for the market to come back to you.

    If on the other hand, you need your boat sold, because the expense of keeping it is unacceptable or because you are caught as a two boat owner at the wrong time, the good news is that yachts of all types sell in the midst of the worst economic conditions. The bad news, of course, is that selling in such markets means selling at a lower price. Thankfully, there are things that can be done to minimize the loss of value in you yacht.

    First of all, make certain that it is moored in the area of the country where is can best be sold. Buyers and Brokers alike do not like to travel to remote places to look at one boat. The best way to get your boat actively seen by buyers is to have it where the most potential buyers are looking and where the most brokers will show it to their customers. This location issue is an immutable reality and you fight it at your peril.

    The second thing you can do to minimize the hit you are going to take is to make the boat show as attractively as possible—do not leave it with bird poop all over it or with flaking varnish. When the number of buyers shrinks, the boats that sell first are those that show well.

    Finally, the third key to selling in a bad economy is to modify your asking price to reflect the reality of market conditions. Take a hard look at what boats are selling and determine what the asking prices and selling prices were. Sad as it is, you must change your view of an acceptable sales price to conform with reality. If you listen carefully, the market never lies. It can hurt like the devil, but it does not lie! If you must sell, remember that the sooner your luxury yacht is sold, the sooner you can begin to add the savings in yacht expenses to the price for which you sold it!

    Buyers, strangely enough, also often find it hard to navigate difficult economic times. Sure, they can buy at well under the previous market, but in bad times the new lower market prices are, in fact, the actual market prices should something happen to force the new buyer to himself become a seller.

    This is where your broker needs to earn his keep—insist on a quality boat at a price well below the current depressed market prices and hold him to that standard. A boat that is 30% less then the market price that prevailed in better times is not a bargain if the new market price is 40% off, as the new buyer will quickly discover in the event that something happens to require that he too sell the boat quickly.