How To Take Advantage of Banks Buying Your Next Boat
This year has been a banner year for buying boats at state or local bank repo boat auctions. Unashamedly, I’ve been a frequent boat auction junkie it’s usually accepted that a repossessed or seized vessel sold at auction will offer a 15-20% savings relative to book value.
That’s not bad, especially when considering larger vessels retailing over $100K..the savings is worth pursuing. However, in ’09, the boat auction climate has only served to inflate that percentage to well over 20%.
Boat auction in the states — especially in the big four states (Florida, California, New York, and Arizona) are seeing lenders along withre-marketing of bad debt assets. SunTrust Banks Senior VP, Don Parkhurst reports 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 continued escalation in auctioned boats across USA with most lenders has attracted new buyers who can now literally buy the same but later model repo for significantly less than what a new boat buyer paid 3-4 years ago for the same vessel. Boat auction companies like National liquidators and Boat Auctions Direct have noted that with the decline of the U.S. dollar coupled the rise of repossessed collateral has perked the interest of shrewd overseas buyers particularly from Australia, UK, and Canada who have been taking advantage of this high tide.
So how can you get in on the action as well? According to the experts the key is frequently 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 brag about savings of 50% or more. It’s really not much luck as it is smart shopping with the right tools.