Flip That Boat

I was looking at Loren's post under the For Sale section, of the title; E26-1 For sale, and that got me to thinking the question; Can boats like that be fixed up, and sold at a profit? As in a business venture? Or is the labor too intensive to be profitable? One answer to this is; Do boat yards ever buy boats, refurbish them and re-sell them? I'm curious in what people think here as to whether there is a market for classics like Ericson's to be cherried and re-sold. Any ideas? - Chris

Flipping

Chris- I have thought about this too. What finally came to my conclusion is that there really is little to no profit attainable. This is why you see many boats that are donated to charity.
If all the stars and ducks lined up at the same time and plane together you could come out. Here are what I think are musts to even think a profit is possible
1. Someone gives you a turn key boat that might need a little elbow grease.
2. That boat has to be in your neck-of-the-woods
3. It has to have the stick and at least some rags.
4. You really have to be able to move the boat out of a yard to cut storage fees from your bottom line.
5. It must have a working trailer to minimize line 4
6. A clean title
7. Your own surplus of products
8. You have all the tools that are needed
9. The ability to talk your buddies into free labor for many days till they finally catch on to your master plan.
Hell, why go thru that crap, just strip off the good stuff to sell on ebay. Take the lead to the metals guy and cut it up. You will most likely make more money.
All honesty, I think that someday I would try it on a small trailerable boat with the reason truly to be having fun and enjoying working on the boat versus trying to make money. There are too many financial sayings about boat ownership that come into play here. Just my Sunday morning thoughts. Rob Hessenius

"all it needs is Curb Appeal!"

What Rob Said!

Now, I do know of a local cruiser/retiree that has rebuilt a Valiant 40 and a couple of Cascade 36's. While he is converting his time (and doing it at his own pace) into eventual sweat equity dollars, I do not believe that he "pays" himself very much per hour...

He specializes in strongly-built hulls with a loyal (almost cult-like following) offshore voyaging clientele.

I could see doing this with a larger boat, and would put Ericsons and Tartans, and others of that quality on the short list.

The thing about boats under 27 to 30 feet (arbitrary line, admittedly) is that there are so many on the market that it almost always going to be cheaper to find one in a sail-able condition and just go out and use it.

The arguement for restoring a small Ericson would be that the basic boat construcion is solid enough to justify the personal time (days, weeks, etc) that would be required. To look at it another way, if you put the same amount of time into rerigging, a new interior, and a "full Monty" exterior LPU job on an old 23 foot Venture, you still have a weak lay-up hull and deck, subject to constant cracking and flexing.
Somewhat like fixing up an old house, first you have see if that house has "good bones."

Of course, that rebuilt and flipped house will very likely go up exponentially in value... not so likely for most boats... Well, maybe a Swan or Hinkley... maybe.


As to a boatyard.. well, I did exchange several emails with a yard on the east coast that bought s sunk Olson 34 hull after one of those big Florida hurricanes. They indicated that, over time, they were going to source a new keel, rig, and rebuild the rest of the boat. As popular and scarce as Olson 34's seem to be, this might be, IMHO, a break-even project. I dearly hope that they bring this hull back to life, though. And as long as they make a little net profit downstream, it should keep their workers busy between regular short-turnaround jobs.

Best,

Loren



ps: re-read what Rob said about a clean title. Lots of smaller boats have a zillion unknown prior owners and zero proof of ownership -- a few are still warm to the touch.

two surveys

So we bought our boat from ebay two years ago for $8,000.00. Good deal! The PO thought the engine might need to be replaced but all we had to do is rebuild it. However, on the first survey after we bought it, it valued out at $16,000 with the engine rebuild. We put easily $40,000 in upgrades and repairs -- three new sails, new instruments, new cabin sole, new winches, new running rigging, new radios, autopilot, new bottom, etc., etc.
We had to get a new survey for new insurance when we switched companies to get coverage down to Puerto Vallarta. The new valuation? $25,000.00, which is pushing it for a 1970 E-32. Conclusion? Its not a money making operation, but dammit its sure fun to sail.

Jim McCone
Voice of Reason E-32 hull #134
Redondo Beach, CA

I agree with what Jim says--boats are a losing proposition any what you cut it, except for your mental health. And everyone has a vice that costs $$--just ask any golfer, or people who buy cars for $50,000 and then trade in every five years. Whatever floats your boat...

What I keep hoping for in the Bay Area is a pick-and-pull for boats. How nice would it be to pay a few bucks for a salvaged fitting or other small item instead of $40 at West Marine?

$40 at West Marine

Chris - I need you guys to keep spending $40 at WM. Here in WI we have a few boat bone yards. If you ever get to Milwaukee theres a place called Kendor Marine. It pretty much is the bone yard in the Tri-state area IN, IL, and WI. A real adventure. Rob Hessenius