Jump to content

First Time Buyer


SYBoater

Featured Posts

Hello All,

 

I have been taking narrowboat holidays for quite some time and me and my partner are thinking about buying a narrowboat to liveaboard in the North West/Yorkshire region and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the best places to keep an eye on to buy our first boat.

 

I have been looking on some marina websites and sites such as apolloduck.com but they are all quite expensive. We don't mind a project boat to 'do up' as long as the electrics and plumbing are completed (I'm not comfortable messing with plumbing/gas/electrics).

 

If any of you have any advice or know where there is a sound boat going, even BW seized boats that they're auctioning, if anyone knows who to contact/websites.

 

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

Many thanks.

 

Rob. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

what's your budget?

 

£10,000 - £15,000 max. I know it's not a lot but it's all we can afford... Even if the boat looks a bit of a wreck as long as it floats and the engine is sound with the plumbing/gas/electrics ok then I can rip the interior out and fit it out again and give it a repaint.

 

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello All,

 

I have been taking narrowboat holidays for quite some time and me and my partner are thinking about buying a narrowboat to liveaboard in the North West/Yorkshire region and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the best places to keep an eye on to buy our first boat.

 

I have been looking on some marina websites and sites such as apolloduck.com but they are all quite expensive. We don't mind a project boat to 'do up' as long as the electrics and plumbing are completed (I'm not comfortable messing with plumbing/gas/electrics).

 

If any of you have any advice or know where there is a sound boat going, even BW seized boats that they're auctioning, if anyone knows who to contact/websites.

 

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

Many thanks.

 

Rob. :lol:

 

Just what sort of budget are you looking at;

a) to buy the boat

:lol: annual running costs

 

AD tends to have a range of boats, so if there is nothing in your price range, you may have unrealistic expectations.

 

You say that you want to liveaboard, and don't mind a project.

a) Do you have the requisite skills to refit a boat

:lol: Can you cope with living in your own workshop for 18 months

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With a budget of £15k I'm afraid you'll be struggling to find anything decent. Apollo Duck is currently listing 8 "boats"between £10k and £15k. Five of these are between 28 and 36ft long, which I would suggest is a bit small for a liveaboard. One is 45ft, but its 25 years old, and two are described as a "hull" and a "shell" so would obviously need several thousand quid more spending on them (and one of them is in Poland!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

can check out ebay

http://motors.shop.ebay.co.uk/items/Narrow...QQ_sacatZ121900

 

we saw our boat on www.gumtree.com

 

Thanks for that, I totally forgot about ebay!!!

 

Thanks to everyone who has replied, I think we'll have to remain in bricks and mortar until we've saved up enough to get a decent boat as I don't want to get a boat which will constantly need money spending on it's engine/hull etc...

 

We'll keep looking though...

 

One more question if anyone can offer advice, is a cruiser an alternative?? I have never actually been on a cruiser but they are a lot cheaper than narrowboats. What are the major drawbacks to them?

 

Thanks again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.fennymarina.co.uk/fenny/boats/gismo/index.html

 

again small boat (37 foot, so for two might be a bit of a squeeze) - on the market for 16K - but you could probably get the price down on this.

 

 

This one looks really promising actually, it has all the necessary items in situe and looks in good condition! Could be made lovely inside...

 

Thanks! :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Rob,

 

I would agree with Dave. Make sure your expectations are reasonable. Many people seem to think that living on a boat is a cheap option compared with housing on land. This is not the case.

 

You may be surprised to hear that you are not the first person to post on this topic, and I would recommend you search the archives.

 

Regards

East

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/search.phtml?s...mp;q=1&sr=1

 

Apollo Duck actually have a fair few in your price range. :lol:

 

****

 

One thing you could consider was upping your budget! It sounds hard to do, but Barclays will offer a Marine Loan for less than £25k and RoyScot Larch will give a marine mortgage for anything £25k plus. Ours is for £25,500 and although the interest rate is higher, it's easier to get the marine mortgage than a loan as the mortgage is less risk for the lender, being secured on the boat. That way, you're more likely to be able to afford a decent boat that won't depreciate in value.

 

The other thing to bear in mind is to haggle! The asking price isn't necessarily what the seller will accept. Some are desperate to sell the boat, and- although it seems harsh- you can capitalise on this for a quick sale at a lower price.

 

We've detailed how we went through the process- using detailed spreadsheets to compare the market and hold details of all the boats in our price range- here and here. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, it may sound a bit 'glib' but it could be said that better value for money is to be had by somehow spending a bit more.. It is all too easy to buy a cheap boat and be forced to spend a 'Kings ransom' sorting it out.. And you are still left with a cheap boat.

Edited by John Orentas
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Many people seem to think that living on a boat is a cheap option compared with housing on land. This is not the case.

 

 

According to Radio 4 yesterday the average yearly household gas and electric spend including heating is £1300.

 

I know you are just trying to stop one more boat but it is a touch disingenuous to say that you cannot make living on a boat cheaper than living in house.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to Radio 4 yesterday the average yearly household gas and electric spend including heating is £1300.

 

I know you are just trying to stop one more boat but it is a touch disingenuous to say that you cannot make living on a boat cheaper than living in house.

 

And the average annual wage (broadcast earlier in the year by the same source) is £33,000 or thereabouts. Many of us earn less than the average wage and, therefore, necessarily own smaller than average houses and pay out less than average amounts on all sorts of commodities including heating.

 

As someone, who owns a house and a boat and also carries out ruthless analysis of the spending on each - simply because I don't have anything like the average income to play with, I am quite sure that, in the longer term, it works out a lot cheaper to live on the land. Nevertheless, I prefer living afloat and continue to do so most of the time for that reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was under the impression it was around the £24K mark?

 

There are so many different figures bandied about that it is difficult to know what it is. Some published figures exlude those drawing benefits, others publish a figure as being 'per houshold' and others exclude non-taxpayers but, whatever the parameters, I heard the figure of around £33,000 quoted earlier this year.

 

Even at £24,000, I still don't have anything like that level of income to play with now that I am retired.

Edited by NB Alnwick
Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to Radio 4 yesterday the average yearly household gas and electric spend including heating is £1300.

 

I know you are just trying to stop one more boat but it is a touch disingenuous to say that you cannot make living on a boat cheaper than living in house.

 

I have no interest in stopping one more boat. The more the merrier I say!

 

However, I am interested in removing rose tinted glasses and ensuring that people aren't heading for disaster.

 

With boats, you get what you pay for, and a cheap boat can very often turn out to be a very expensive boat in the long run.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As someone, who owns a house and a boat and also carries out ruthless analysis of the spending on each - simply because I don't have anything like the average income to play with, I am quite sure that, in the longer term, it works out a lot cheaper to live on the land. Nevertheless, I prefer living afloat and continue to do so most of the time for that reason.

 

I would be interested in how you your analysis of fuel costs shows it to be cheaper in a house.

 

Excluding of course propulsion unless you move your house on a regular basis too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would be interested in how you your analysis of fuel costs shows it to be cheaper in a house.

 

In my case, fuel costs at the house are not significantly cheaper than on the boat but then we spend an average of £308.86 a year on coal for the boat whereas the house has gas central heating which is kept at its minimum level to prevent freezing in the Winter. We certainly don't spend anything like £1,300 on gas at the house nor are we likely to. As my mum used to say when I complained about it being cold in our underheated house in the 1950s - "put more clothes on" - if the gas bill at the house goes above £500 a year, there will be Squirrel stove going in and the gas can come out . . .

 

Being brought up in the austere 1950s was tough but it did teach us a thing or two about how to make do and manage without the things that others take for granted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to Radio 4 yesterday the average yearly household gas and electric spend including heating is £1300.

 

I know you are just trying to stop one more boat but it is a touch disingenuous to say that you cannot make living on a boat cheaper than living in house.

 

Chris,

How can you second guess my motives for posting a reply? If you read my post I did not say that you could not make living on a boat cheaper than living in a house.

 

My motives are to help people who wish to live on a boat to have realistic expectations of what is entailed and what the costs are. If you take like for like lifestyle choices, the appreciation of propery value against depreciation of boat values (for we must compare buying with buying, not buying with renting) and the maintenance costs I would be very surprised if it was cheaper.

 

May I also point out that we have entered the 'silly season', so you may expect stories like the average wage etc to appear in the media.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First find your mooring.

 

they are damn hard to find in the north.

 

"The North"

 

Damn big place, and I'd expect sweeping statements about "The North" from shandy drinking southern jessies, not from somebody in Yorkshire!

 

There are moorings to be had in many parts of the North.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And don't forget that any offer should always be "Subject To Survey" - you find much in the survey to haggle over.

 

Must say that "Gismo" is a good looking boat for her price, and the Cowroast staff are a damn good bunch that I'm sure will help.

 

"VC Marine" (www.vcmarine.co.uk) are also very highly recommended - but I'm biased as I bought "Jean Margaret" via them! :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.