Jump to content

What percentage of the asking price would you offer?


Southern Star

Featured Posts

Brief summary, I'm intending to sell my truck and buy a narrowboat in 2016 and then go continuous cruising for the rest of my days, I'll be buying something between 39' and 45', preferably trad but haven't ruled out cruiser or semi-trad.

 

My budget will be £20,000. Here's my question.

 

If a narrowboat is being offered for sale by a marina, then how much are they likely to come down on the asking price? From what I've read, some marinas are little more ethical than second-hand car dealers when it comes to boat sales so I wouldn't be embarrassed about driving a hard bargain, I'm wondering how much other folk paid relative to the asking price or what else they drove into the deal?

 

If I made cash offers of £20,000 on suitable boats being offered for sale by marinas at £25,000, how likely would one of them be to accept it?

 

Thanks for any help you can give!

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The very worst that could happen is a polite (or not) refusal! There are hundreds of boats up for sale and you will find the one for yourself eventually. Stand by for more advice on surveys etc., but best of luck - be adventurous in your offers and see what happens!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If they were asking £25,000 but thought it was really worth £15,000, they would snap your hand off :)

 

I made a cash offer of £18,000 for a boat offered for £18,000, and it was accepted.

 

The answer is........ It depends on so many things, so all you can do is try.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are a lot of variables, and don't forget that it is not the broker that accepts or rejects the offer, it is the owner of the boat.

 

In the interest of giving you an answer and also disguising exactly how much I paid for my boat, I'd look at a scale like this;

 

30k boat, offer 25k.

25k boat, offer 21k.

20k boat, offer 17k.

 

That is what I had in mind when viewing boats for the majority of this year, and one of those worked for me.

 

You could even offer lower for your first offer with a view to negotiating up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It depends on the boat, the owner and how you present to the broker.

 

You need to do a lot of looking to establish in your head what you think the boat is really worth - pricing boats is a black art and some brokers are more sensible than others. There's a number of variables - the condition, the age, the situation the owner is in, but more than anything, it's whether or not you appear to be a committed and trustworthy buyer or just another fender-kicker chancing their arm.

 

When I sold Surprise I had two buyers - one offered the full asking price immediately and the other about 10% less. I went with the second because (despite what Naughty Cal says about her) she was straight-forward and reasonable. In fact, when I told her that someone else had made an offer on the same day, she immediately upped the offer and paid the deposit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its not really possible to say. HOWEVER, although 'they' say its a buyer's market, at that budget (£20,000) there's an awful lot of buyers on the lookout for a boat. Its quite possible, if you do come across a nice boat for, say, £25k (there are not so nice boats at that price too!), then there will be a bunch of buyers possibly interested. Your being all poker-faced and going in low might backfire on you, if it turns out to be a drawn out negotiation. I've heard a number of stories of boats in this price range selling within eg 1 day of being put for sale, etc.

 

Always worth trying below the asking price though!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a while ago so I'm a little vague about he exact numbers, but our boat was up for £38k ish. Dave offered £21k - the broker said "have you seen the boat???" We had but didn't have the budget and were chancing our arm. The broker put the offer to the vendor, who after a bit of haggling over a few hundred quid with the broker stepping in with £500 to seal the deal we got our lovely Doug Moore boat for about £27k.

 

As Wriggly says it's all about personal circumstances. Iona had been on hardstanding at Harralls brokerage for 6 months - the owners were now looking at paying storage fees. It was also apparent that the owners were done with the waterways - they left a full set of Nicholsons, all their crockery and cutlery - it felt like a dream had gone horribly wrong for someone and they wanted out.

 

Lucky us :)

 

(Just in case that sounds harsh, they had a valuable asset that was presented for sale with clutter and rubbish on board and artex falling from the ceiling. You wouldn't put a £5k car up for sale without giving it a clean - what were they thinking of putting a £38k asset up for sale without making it tidy?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The pricing of secondhand narrowboats, as we have discussed many times on this forum, is a completely arbitrary process. Brokers are usually acting on the instructions of the owner who may have an accurate idea of what the boat is worth, or may be completely unrealistic.

 

All you can do is go and look at lots of boats and get a feel for the market - at least you have two years to do it.

 

But, As paul c says, there are lots of folk looking in the sub £25,000 sector, at any time, so sellers won't be too keen to compromise. My feeling is there are, relatively speaking, a lot of buyers with around £20,000 to spend, but get up to £30,000 and it whittles the field down considerably.

 

Another factor is that £20,000 represents "first time buyers" territory ie people who don't have a clue what they are doing so are likely to pay over the odds. This keeps the price of tired boats artificially high, in my opinion.

 

Frankly, especially as you intend to live aboard, I really would see if there's any way you can raise your budget so you can look at £30,000 and above boats where you will find better quality vessels and there is generally more room for negotiation because sellers know there aren't that many buyers with that sort of money.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems like the process punishes the reasonable seller here. If, I based on what I know, I believe my boat to be worth £X that's what I'd put it up for, no discussion unless a survey brought up something I was previously unaware of. Thing is I'd put it up for the right price not some fanciful number out of my head or overprice it so I could get knocked down. I know what I paid for it, how much I may have added in value (although you only get a fraction of that back) and what boats are selling for quickly and what price they eventually go for when they are overpriced.

So in answer to the topic "What percentage to offer" you offer what it's worth to you and if that's 100% of the asking price be prepared to pay that, however, you'd not be the first on here to pay over the odds when you find the right boat, money stops being so important when it come to boatlurvewub.png

K

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As others have said how long is a piece of string ?

Lets look at this from a slightly different angle and ask how you will feel in 2016.

Then you will also be selling your truck presumably to buy your boat and follow your dream do you l have a figure in mind that you are going to ask for it.

 

What will your sale price based on ?

Your purchase price, today's market price for a similar truck, today's price less 2 years depreciation ?

Are there a lot of trucks like yours or can it attract a premium premium price

What will the market be like for second hand trucks be in 2016

If I made an offer 20% below your asking price would I be wasting my time or yours ?

 

The good news what ever the answers are you have time on your side.to plan your budget.

 

Go to brokers a look a boats that don't come into your budget as well' have a good look to see the differences £10k makes.

chose a couple outside your budget and ask how the vendor would react if you were to offer xxx less

 

GOOD LUCK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rather than be formulaic about it you should seek advice and decide what a particular boat is worth to you and offer accordingly. It is true that a broker and seller will price expecting an offer of something less but it is to easy to get caught in a numbers game when what is important is what the boat is actually worth and can you afford to maintain it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you don't ask, you don't get!

Our pair were advertised for £29,500, I said to Glenda, "We'll offer £25,000 and see if they meet us halfway"

They accepted the offer of £25,000 subject to survey.

The survey found some plating needed doing and the cutlass bearing was on the way out, so we got them for £24,000 clapping.gifcheers.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought my cruiser from Boatshed.com this Summer. Advertised price was £8,950 dropped from £11,950 the previous month and they excepted a blind offer (subject to survey) of £7,800. When we went to view her the canopy was much worse than pictured (not a problem as we were going to build a hardtop) so we changed the offer (subject to survey) to £7,200. The survey showed the props were knackered and needed replacing so we finally agreed on £6,750.

 

Not bad for a boat that when tidy can ask for £28k.

 

Just go for it, what's the worst that can happen?? :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally I'd look at lots of boats and see what features you need, like and hate. Then look at boats near your budget, to see what you get for your money. Take your time, If unemployment falls and the market starts to rise boats may have higher values.

 

I certainly wouldn't predict the market strength three years ahead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All good advice i would say,

 

my automatic assumption when buying pretty much anything is that there is at least 10% available to haggle. and most reasonable sellers (of anything) will be prepared to meet you some of the way if you are reasonable and make a good case. e.g if its your first boat and you are a cash buyer thats an immediate advantage over someone who has to sell a boat or arrange finance. If I was selling I'd take a -10% offer from someone able to do the deal today over a possible +10% offer with loads of conditions or ifs/buts/maybes...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never yet worked out whether I'm amazingly good at valuing boats or whether the vendor has told the surveyor what I have offered and they have done me a favour in valuing the boat at that. It's always below asking price because I'm cheeky but I've got it spot on the surveyors valuation each time (this time we were obviously both missing a trick because the damn thing is a rust bucket- but that's another storey).

I bought my first boat for about a third of the asking price, second got about 15% off, and once offered a cheeky 21k for a boat on at 38 and had it accepted subject to survey and me visting for a look but it had no rcd and was awfully put together so I kept my money (and bought the rust bucket instead, will I never learn!).

Anything is worth only what you want to pay for it, offer whatever you think is right- it will either suit the vendor or it won't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting -- what should you offer? depends on whether you really want the boat.

 

When I bought my boat I was happy to pay the going rate and contemplated paying over the odds - it was the exact spec. I wanted, only 2 of this class by a good quality builder, had the engine I wanted and was the length I could fit on my mooring.

 

If I sold it now, I would commission a hull survey, ensure that all documentation and receipts (including the one for the £6750 repaint) are to hand, make sure it's presented to a high standard and priced accordingly - I don't do haggling.

 

I also choose to sell on the bankside, where I can show it to prospective purchasers.

 

Now about the guy who wants first refusal when and if the time comes.....

 

L

Link to comment
Share on other sites

what price are you willing to pay is the question surely. I don't see what percentages has to do with negotiation. Your offer should be based on what you feel something is worth, go in a bit lower than that, if its accepted, great, if not then you have a bit more to play with. If it goes above what you think its worth, then you decide whether you are willing to pay over that. If not, walk away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd turn the question around and ask how much you would come down if you were selling your boat.

Impossible to answer isn't it, without knowing your pricing strategy? Your convo with the broker may have gone like "ok I just need to get rid of it, and I'm being stiffed by the bank on my overdraft so price it to sell, and fast". Or it may have been "I'm in no hurry to sell, let's price it high and see what offers come in over the next three months, then we'll reconsider the price if necessary." And how negotiable will you be if your broker says the phone is jumping off the hook with calls for your boat, compared to him saying this is your one and only glimmer of interest in two months of marketing?

And how negotiable are you on your price for the bloke who has a carrier bag of cash and just wants to take the boat away there and then? And compare this with how negotiable you'd be with the other buyer who is so cautious you can hardly believe it? He wants to agree a price, then get the boat surveyed, he want to pay no deposit until after the survey, and then only into an escrow account at a solicitors that he will nominate but wants you to pay for?

So these are the things you need to try to figure out about the buyer when gauging your offer. The more you can glean about the back story to selling, the better.

 

Was that any help?

 

MtB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting -- what should you offer? depends on whether you really want the boat.

 

When I bought my boat I was happy to pay the going rate and contemplated paying over the odds - it was the exact spec. I wanted, only 2 of this class by a good quality builder, had the engine I wanted and was the length I could fit on my mooring.

 

If I sold it now, I would commission a hull survey, ensure that all documentation and receipts (including the one for the £6750 repaint) are to hand, make sure it's presented to a high standard and priced accordingly - I don't do haggling.

 

I also choose to sell on the bankside, where I can show it to prospective purchasers.

 

Now about the guy who wants first refusal when and if the time comes.....

 

L

Don't bother with the hull survey. Any sensible buyer will commission his own; then he will have recourse against the surveyor if the survey is wrong.

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.