Buying a boat in this Market?
 

Just would like to know some others feed back on buying a boat in this bad market.Starting to look at getting another boat 32 to 36 ft , with twin 525hp, I have 3 boats that I like,
but don't know if I should wait see if prices come down a little.
Becaause with gas prices and the econmy so bad whos going out buying boats like this right now.

we just bought our cafe about 3 weeks ago. we felt we got a great deal.

hard to speculate on decision. the economy wont rebound on a dime, so u should have time to see if you can squeeze a better deal out. for us, gas was the gamble. we are hoping things begin to level out (or decrease) throughout the yr, or our "grea deal" will seem less & less so each yr when operating. Plus if gas prices dont level or drop, you eventually selling the boat will become even more difficult.

my 2cents.

The deals seem random to me. The people that don't need to sell aren't taking low ball numbers. It seems that the only deals are the few people that really need to sell, or the few people that just don't care and want a bigger/newer boat.

I'm guessing that most pre-owned sales hold pretty steady in amount but there are fewer sales.

I don't see the boating market getting any better anytime soon. It's going to be a while before the economy rebounds and with gas prices what they are, and on the rise, things are only going to get worse. I think some of the more high end markets (the 300k +) will do fine since most of the people buying those boats have the disposable income on hand.

I think there are a lot of great deals to be had in the used market favoring the buyer. Prices will come down as the year progresses, but you may miss out on an already good deal if you wait too long.

Find your best deal, and get it before Memorial Day! :D

Clay is right . All it takes is a nice weekend or two to get a lot of people who are on the fence out looking for boats. :D

Even if they don't end up buying, their activity and the potential offers they represent raise the level of "perceived" interest. Also, people who were planning on selling often change their mind and just decide to keep their boat through another season. That's why I was determined to buy in the dead of winter when fewer people (not OSO'ers of course) are thinking about boating, and sellers/marinas/brokers are getting fewer calls.

Get money ready in hand. Find the boats that you want. Show up with the cash in hand and give them an offer. Worse they can do is say no, make you a counter offer, or you go look at another boat. People want to get out. But like Clay said. Once Memorial Day hits, people may change their minds. Still a huge buyers market. You must look at boats, that also have a good resale value, so in the future when you want to change or get out of it you can. Just my .02

Find a good connection with the banks. Be ready with cash in hand. Have some extra money for shipping and cosmetics and you can get boats for a steal.

Wait until fall if you can, better deals then. Economy will take years to fly again, esp the boating market with gas at $$$$ per gallon. You have time.

That means missing a summer of boating....I couldn't do it....