302Sport

I think long term loans work for a guy that plans on keeping something for awhile and has had 10+ years of salaried, guaranteed income. For a guy who owns his own company, sees ups and downs and is not guaranteed a salary every year it is risky.

sleev-les

Agree. Def have that too.....

TDSTYG

credit unions.......its where its at. 4.24 up to 15 years 0 down. right now

soldier4402

to each his own. I know people take that approach and if you have a plan and are disciplined it does give you the flexibility. Just some quick beer math if your boat is 50k you almost pay 80 grand for that boat if you let the loan mature.

Sunrocket24

iTrader: (1)

I did 10 year no money down on my boat 3 years ago (USAA). The loan will not go to maturity as I pay close to double $175-200 every month and the min payment is only $110, but if for some reason I had to make a min payment its only $110. I spend about $300 per month on alcohol and cigs so the boat payment is chump change.

soldier4402

i did 10 on my current travel trailer because I couldnt pass up on the deal but didnt have all the cash at the time. But after the first two years I have been doubling my payments. I still wouldnt do more than 10. But if you can have a lower payment during the summer to help pay for gas it makes sense then the winter pay more. Overall I will probably will not do it again as I think about it its really a bad idea, you also pay a higher interest rate with a longer loan.

THE 288 KID

michigan is where its at for boat loans isnt it!

sprink58

Makes sense to me. Remember...a boat is entertainment...not a commodity. In the end the best we can all hope for is to minimize the down side. When I bought new boats I always had a lot of luck buying factory demo boats at the end of the season. I got immediate equity by showing money down on paper with an inflated purchase price that showed my 20%~30% overall savings as a "paper" down payment. The banks are ok with it as long as they can hang their hat on equity/collateralization some where in the deal and as long as you make the payments you're golden.

What killed us all over the past 5 years was all of the layoffs that left the banks holding the bag for loans gone bad due to loss of jobs and defaults as well as the value of everything going into free fall. I think we will see some continued improvement as long as we don't have something stupid happen with a terrorist attack or an oil embargo. I am optimistic.

soldier4402

Thats one thing people do fail to realize, is entertainment is entertainment, whether you spend x dollars on a boat or going to the movies. But with that said, I have always tried to keep my enterainment at a reasonable price. Also a boat is an asset, and I wont have it forever, and when I get rid of it I want to get as much as possible for that asset.

justin29

I second the USAA comment. I am currently locked in at 4.29 with choice of 1 to 15 yrs. I do alot of buisness with them, house loan and insurance for example. Always had good experience.