Buying a new boat - newbie question about Repo Auction ?
Buying a new boat - newbie question about Repo Auction ?
I have an opportunity to buy a 1993 16' FourWinns bowrider with 140hp V4
Evinrude outboard on it for very little money (between $2000 - 2500 USD)
- the boat is being sold by an auction place because it was flooded - it
seems to be in very good shape so I assume it was submerged for a short
period of time. Can someone help me and explain if this is worth my
while to buy the boat - what kind of expenses I may face - what kind of
impact has flooding had on the motor, electrical system etc etc...
If it is being sold by "an auction place" then how do you already know how
much it's going to sell for? If my guess is right then you are dealing with
a broker who conducts auctions like this:
http://www.certifiedsales.com/bid.html
While there is nothing wrong with doing this it is not in fact an auction.
It is simply you making an offer to buy that the seller either accepts or
rejects, just like any other boat deal. When they hang the term auction on
it seems to drive people into a feeding frenzy and they often make hasty
decisions so that they don't miss out on the "auction". These guys usually
buy these things at *real* auctions, like insurance company or bank (repo)
auctions, and then make a profit re-selling them. Unless you can get
yourself into a real auction then you are probably going to pay market value
from one of these guys.
That said how do you determine the market value of a boat that's been sunk?
Not real easy to do, probably better to look at it this way. If the boat was
in good condition and had not sunk how much would it be worth? Is the
difference between that price and the salvage boat more than enough to cover
any possible repairs that may be needed? In this case unless you are
confident that you can do all of the troubleshooting and repairs yourself
then the answer is NO. If there is any reason to believe that it may have
been submerged in saltwater (even if you can do the repairs yourself) then
the answer is NO. Unless you can also be sure that the motor received proper
attention immediately after being recovered then the answer is NO.
One more thing, if you were told that this boat would probably go for
$2000 - $2500 and you place a "bid" for $2000 I'd predict that you'll get a
call back within a day saying that someone has "outbid" you. I'd also
predict that the final "winning bid" is going to be somewhat higher than the
$2500 figure. Not because of what the boat is worth but because that's what
the deal is shooting for.