This has without a doubt been a banner year for buying boats and water toys at state or local bank repossession boat auctions. Unashamedly, I’ve been a long time boat auction attendee it’s generally accepted that a repossessed or seized vessel sold at auction will deliver a 15-20% discount relative to retail.
That’s significant especially when considering larger yachts retailing over $100K..the savings is worth pursuing. However, in ‘09, the boat auction climate has only served to improve upon that percentage to well over 20%.
Boats auction in the U.S. — especially in the hardest hit(California, New York, Florida, and Arizona) are seeing financial institutions including) credit unions become more aggressive in their re-marketing of ‘non-performing’ assets. SunTrust Banks Senior VP, Don Parkhurst concluded with regards to their repossessed boat inventory within todays climate, “You’ve just got to lower the price to where you can move it. You’ve just got to take the hit.”
The rise in repossessed boats across state lines with most lenders has attracted new boat buyers who can now literally buy the same but later model vessel for suprisingly less than what a new boat buyer would have paid 3-4 years ago for the same vessel. Auction companies like National liquidators and Boat Auctions Direct have noted that with the decline of the U.S. dollar coupled the rise of boat repos has perked the interest of shrewd international buyers particularly from Australia, UK, and Canada who have been taking advantage of this high tide.
So how can you save on a boat this year as well? According to the experts the key is consistently reviewing what’s out there. Regularly attending online listings, classifieds, and dealer liquidations. Only by comparing asking prices and recent sales of similar models of the type of boat you’re interested in can you reap savings of 50% or more. It’s really not difficult or as time consuming if you’re using the above tools.