Important Tips For First Time Boat Buyers

8 Broker Tips for First Time Boat Buyers Who Want To Spend The Summer Boating With Family and Friends

After being cooped up with Covid restrictions during the last few years, more and more people are heading outdoors to have fun with family and friends.  It’s no surprise that boating has become a favored activity for families wanting to have new fun adventures together.  The interest in owning a boat has never been more popular.  With that in mind, we have prepared a guide of the most important tips you will need before venturing out to buy a boat for your family to enjoy for years to come.

Congratulations on deciding to buy a boat! The future is ever bright and beautiful as it will be filled with long days of sailing and adventure at sea. You made the right decision. Do know that the whole boating community is warmly welcoming you to our big happy family. As part of our warm welcome, we prepared this post to enlist seven important tips from brokers for first-time boat buyers. Knowing them will ensure that you have a relaxed and hassle-free boat buying experience. Do take note and happy boat-buying!

Expert Tip #1: Be particular with the type of boat that you want

Expert brokers recommend that you dedicate time to reflect on the following before proceeding with a boat purchase:

1. Get to know yourself and the kind of sailing and boating activities that you prefer
2. Get to know your reason behind buying a boat
3. Get to know how you want to use your boat in the coming years — do you see yourself having a growing family? Do you already have a growing family?
4. Get to know the difference between a boat that you want and a boat that you need. You should carefully consider your personal preferences and lifestyle in your choice. If you’d base your choice on your personal preferences and lifestyle, the type of boat that you want may not be the type of boat that you need.
5. Power or sail?
6. RIB or catamaran?
7. Preferred boat size

To help you in figuring out the kind of boat that will suit you and your lifestyle needs, do the following:

1. Get advice from experienced family and friends who sail
2. Go on sailing trips and collect experience
3. Charter different yachts and boats to experience them

Expert Tip #2: Know your budget and financing options

Buying a boat can be a significant expensive. You need to be careful when it comes to overspending. To avoid overspending and financial anxiety, do the following:

1. Do a serious budget evaluation and determine the amount of money that you can dedicate to boat purchase
2. Secure that you remain financially afloat when choosing a particular value that is to be dedicated to your boat purchase
3. Have a definite value to which all decision-making processes will boil down. Any boat beyond such value should not be considered.
4. Stick to your budget at all times.
5. Research on available financing options
6. Research on boat loans
7. Look for an authorized broker that can easily link you to different financial institutions
8. Consider yearly maintenance costs when deciding on a purchase. If your current budget can’t support it yet, it’s best to put your decision on hold and wait until you’re financially stable.

Expert Tip #3: Be aware of legal processes and compliance requirements

Looking for yachts for sale is not a walk in the park. There are numerous legal processes that you need to observe and comply with. It’s similar to buying a home. During the buying process, you’d have to secure that you do the following:

1. Carefully check, read, and understand all provisions on the purchase agreement
2. Fully understand all the terms and conditions on the contract of purchase. Have your broker explain everything to you if you still find yourself confused.
3. Look for proof of clear ownership
4. Clean boat title
5. VAT invoice
6. Certifications

Expert Tip #4: Consider shared ownership

If you want to spend less when it comes to boat maintenance, you can consider opting for shared ownership. With one, you’d share the ownership of your boat with another person or a charter company who will have your boat chartered when you’re not using it. The following are the benefits of shared ownership:

1. Fewer maintenance costs
2. Additional income
3. Discounted purchase price

Expert Tip #5: Don’t opt for a fixer-upper boat as your first boat

Expert brokers highly advise first-time boat buyers to avoid doer-upper boats. Doer-upper boats can cause much stress and headache because you’d need to spend much on extra work. This is something that is not ideal if you’re a first-time boat buyer. You would want to instantly enjoy your boat and go sailing, right? Doer-upper boats are only ideal if you’re a sailing  or boating expert and you already know what you’re doing. Doer-upper boats are significantly more affordable because their sellers know that they need a lot of work.  Boat repair costs can build up quickly.

Expert Tip #6: Duplicate real-time experience during a sea trial

You should make the most out of your scheduled sea trials. If you see yourself sailing with family and friends regularly, you should have people with you during your sea trials. If you expect to be sailing with ten people regularly, have ten people come along with you during the sailing trial. This will ensure that you get to experience how the boat will perform with the number of passengers that you would normally want to have.

Expert Tip #7: Choose a surveyor wisely

Choose a certified, experienced, authorized, and independent expert for your marine survey. An independent surveyor will ensure that your rights and the dealer’s rights are duly protected and equally treated.

Expert Tip #8: Know the actual costs of having a boat

This expert tip needs to be significantly stressed. As already mentioned, the actual costs of having a boat do not end with purchasing. You would have to deal with fuel needs, maintenance costs, and registration fees. Duly consider all when deciding on a budget. Owning a boat is a lifetime responsibility that will require you to shell out money every single year. This is a concept that should be very clear to you before a boat purchase. If you find that your current lifestyle can’t support such, you might want to consider your purchase. You can also consider opting for shared ownership.