Yup pretty much correct on everything you said. I know i have WAY more in my boat that it is worth.

IMHO a 311 that has been decently taken care of with good power should be sell between 20-25000 i would think. I have been on and off about selling mine and to me that is a fair number. These guys looking for 35-40 grand are dreaming

I think TRS 311's are priced ok around a realistic 15,000-20,000 TOPS....
Bravos add 3000.00 overall...

272's unless its SR1 I say no more then 10-12,000

the SR1 pulls a little more...

357 I say good pricing 20-25,000

Damn near every one of these will suck10,000 out of you in first year or two doing everything you didnt think it needed when you bought it, so why overpay??

ALl boats need something and in MOST cases most older Formulas will need bulkhead work/transom

if they dont it will need 10,000 in other updates/ maintainence...

This is just how it is so be in the boat as cheap as possible and if you actually have 100$ bills its a ton easier to bargain...

Good luck!!

I guess it is just me but I am never afraid to "low ball". If a person wants to sell they will tell you how low they will go. A guy that sends you packing after a low ball likely does not want to sell. If you do low ball be there with money in hand, not ok I will be back in a week or two with the money. I can't tell you how many times I have had friends get something under agreement just to have the seller get a better offer a few days later and they loose the deal. My Donzi the guy was asking over 12, I offered him 4500. I had to come up a bit but was much less then 12! The problem with boats is it is so easy to think you are getting this great deal and then the motor blows up. All of the sudden it is not such a good deal. Still a buyers market so offer what ever you feel is in your own best interests. If the seller tosses you out there are plenty of other boats out there. Good chance they will call you back in a few days/weeks to ask you if you are still interested.

Its your money, keep as much as possible. Its not your wife or your mother inlaw, are you really worried about insulting him with a lowball offer?? Do some research, has it been for sale for a while??, is he hurting for money. I got my nova at a fifth of the asking price, the avanti 1/2 asking price. If its been for sale for a year+ his wife is tired of the yard ornament and wants it gone. The worst that can happen with a lowball offer is that he will say no. Don;t worry about insulting him. Your not telling im his momma is soooo fat.... your trying to buy his boat, if he needs he money the marke is in your favor. if he doesn't the balls in his court.

Right, cash talks fast, and the prices I posted are pretty close to reality, of course condition plays a HUGE role on price, if it has 420's and is actually dry pay a little more, if not then grab it cheap because like I said, add 10K to whatever you buy....

I bought an 84 272 in July in very good shape with recently refreshed motors at Lake of the Ozarks with a trailer for a 31' boat. There are pics on "new to offshore thread" I gave $13,500 for boat and trailer! You are right even in very good shape you are gonna drop some cash into it making it your own and general neglected maintenance !!! Not really sure if I gave to much or not? Location is a factor also!! It was only 200 miles away!!! Just don't fall in love with them until after you buy them!!!!

Couple things I have been seeing. Many of the 30-38' boats that are 15-20's yrs old seem to slow down in depreciation. These boats in decent shape are all going for $25-$35K. Many boats of this age have already had new interiors and power atleast once during there life.

I will say that to defend myself, my 357 is a 1993 which there are only 6 built that yr. Most 357's you will find are from the upper 80's (85-89). So the price for the 357 can have a brauder scale than the 272 or 311 which are I think 84-89.

I'm thinking its time to start putting feelers out for this bird. New motors and complete interior upgrade.

IMO,
272 Sr1 88-91 with BBC's 14-22k
311 Sr1 88-91 various power 18-25k
357 Sr1 is atcually least wanted because of it size but pretty much 25k ish

These are Formula's and if they are truly nice they will fetch a good number, and one good thing is these old SR1's still have people looking for them and pretty much have bottomed out, so keep it nice and you will have a good shot at recouping some of your money,

The number 1 thing that hurts these boats is any alteration, pretty much anyone here will tell you anything repainted off colors, or any interior's that someone took a short cut on or thought different would be cool, these are often the low number boats, keep them as close to org as u can and people will buy em,, again IMO:evilb:

Also remember every one of them boats will run 60 mph and thats about it, but they will ride great!