Prepping my used boat for sale, any suggestions to get the most money for it.?

[coastie1160870]

I have a SeaRay, 260 SunDancer, with a 32 ft. 10,000 lbs Galvanized Trailer, It's one four boats I need to sell, so I can buy ONE bigger boat.. Per the Wife..! I know that I need to give her (The Boat) a good wash and polish inside and out, clean the carpet, wash down the wood walls with a good oil soap, make sure the head is clean and dry, all the basic stuff... But what I can do to impress the buyer that this boat is really a great boat, and I wouldn't sell it except.... I want a bigger boat..! She is an older boat,

Mod EDIT: Details removed

 

[jbcurt00]

Welcome to iboats

Sounds like you know what you need to do.

Best of luck.

Iboats has a boat classified section, paid ads, should be accessible from the top right corner of a browser window.

 

[Texasmark]

Human nature 101: If it looks good, it's gotta be good!
102. If you don't want to haggle, don't waste your time publishing an ad. If you have a bottom dollar price, ask enough to give you some haggling room.
103. The more trouble you exert ensuring that you answer all the potential customer's questions, including a test drive, the better your chances of removing the word "potential" from that customer's title.
104. The farther the person has to drive to look at the rig, the better your chances of closing a sale. Usually they come with a pocket full of cash....on fire...."burning a hole in their pocket" as the saying goes and don't want to drive all the way back home empty handed.
105. Cash in hand before it leaves your property, or certified bank draft and call the bank about how to ensure that they won't renege on its authenticity.
106. Expect them to require a bill of sale with engine and boat names, sizes, and serial numbers. Titling states like Texas require that for out of state registration and also requires signed, clear, titles (plural if outboard).Trailers usually just the license plate (TX) which is presented to a different taxing authority (county tax office where buyer resides). If you are in a non-titling state ask the buyer about his/her state requirements. If necessary get that all resolved before they make the trip to see you.

Last but surely not least, clean, fresh engine oil and outdrive lower unit oil. If your trailer has lube zerks or Bearing Buddies, ensure they are properly greased. If your tires are cracked and the pot. buyer is coming a long distance, $500 for a new set of SL tires could seal the deal, installed before he sees it.

That's what's worked for me over the years.

 

[frantically relaxing]

People are funny. I was helping a friend sell his Four Winns 240 a few years back. It was light gray and maroon. Friend had added 3/4" yellow stripe along the paint seams, didn't look too bad. Then he had a yellow bimini and snap-on cover made for it. A couple drove about 70 miles to our boat harbor see it. The yellow stripe was in the ad pics, the bimini and cover were not. They loved the boat in the pics, but the bimini was up when they got there, and the wife would have nothing to do with yellow canvas, period. Even though I assured her my friend would likely drop the price enough to cover 3/4 the cost of new canvas.

Nope. The launch ramp was 50' away, wouldn't hear of a test ride. It was as if that bimini was tattooed on. Husband just shrugged at me, never spoke a word. I'm just glad she didn't see the cover...

Last boat I sold was our '03 Chap. It looked like new when I was done cleaning it up, yet I still gave it to a broker to sell. First guy who saw it wanted it, couldn't get financing. Second guy who saw it came up with what was my bottom-dollar price and bought it. I could've pocketed the extra 10%, but honestly, I don't like selling stuff to strangers. It should be an easy process but never has been... Anyway, the boat looking like new was obviously a plus! Can be hard to pull that off with older boats, but if the boat looks like it's been cared for and not a turd, that goes a long way..

One more thing that can't hurt, talk about the good times! I ran into the couple who bought our Chap, and even though that sale was done & gone, I couldn't stop talking about the good times we'd had on that boat, and how we were going to miss it. They both thanked me for the 'history lesson'... The positive to talking about the good times is, if you're out in the boat enjoying it, you weren't stuck home fixing the thing...

 

[jkust]

On that yellow bimini, I saw an interesting survey that accumulated boat color popularity and yellow was at the very bottom. It was a conglomoration of manufacturers data. I though it was funny your friend put yellow on the boat. Our last 03 Chap had a small yellow stripe along the stern and I used to think how it took some of the class away from a very well done boat. The rest of the boat was blue. Of course you have to be a little more accepting if you are shopping used because they just don't make that many of a given model compared to cars. Unless it was an all yellow boat, if the rest of the list is checked, I'd still be ok. It takes all kinds.
Generally, I can tell in just a few minutes whether a boat is a boat I would be willing to put an offer on. It can not have any wear and tear on the interior at all....which is possible with nicer quality materials that don't wear easily. Hull can have a few dock marks but generally just light scratched. From there I would take a deeper dive. What I learned shopping this past spring for boats is that larger boats seemed to have more dock marks and rash than smaller boats and that very few owners really were enthusiasts and just didn't take the time to maintain their boats or prevent wear and tear. Also I learned that every Sea Ray ever made in the 2000's has a 5.0 no matter the size. I'm only half joking but I can't be the only one who has noticed the five liter phenomenon.

 

[Newbie@boats]

When I was looking for a trophy 2002 model I drove 3 hours one way to look at it the owner made it seem like a gem, I was VERY disappointed when I walked up to the boat right away I knew it wasn't what I was looking for, very little maintence on it and very little care went into keeping the boat clean.

The one I ended up with I walked up to it and was like wow this boat was very well cared for.

I currently have someone driving from 5 hours away to look at my boat for sale and I was very upfront about what they might find wrong with it, I'd want to be informed of anything wrong with a purchase if I'm driving 5 hours for it.

Of course I just washed it, topped off the air pressure in the trailer, and greased the bearings. Made sure it was in perfect running order, and sent many detailed pics of it

 

[jkust]

When I was looking for a trophy 2002 model I drove 3 hours one way to look at it the owner made it seem like a gem, I was VERY disappointed when I walked up to the boat right away I knew it wasn't what I was looking for, very little maintence on it and very little care went into keeping the boat clean.

The one I ended up with I walked up to it and was like wow this boat was very well cared for.

I currently have someone driving from 5 hours away to look at my boat for sale and I was very upfront about what they might find wrong with it, I'd want to be informed of anything wrong with a purchase if I'm driving 5 hours for it.

Of course I just washed it, topped off the air pressure in the trailer, and greased the bearings. Made sure it was in perfect running order, and sent many detailed pics of it

I've been down that road. One of the boats I looked at just wasn't taken care of good enough. The guy asked me to be honest and so I went thought each deficient item one by one with him.

 

[JASinIL2006]

When I was looking for my boat, and when I went with a friend who was shopping for a boat, I was astounded at how many owners didn't bother with even a cursory cleaning. Why would anyone buy a boat from someone who couldn't be troubled the pick up the trash from a boat before a buyer came to look at it?

 

[shrew]

I would make sure everything works. Go through all the little stuff (loose knobs or a cabinet hinge, broken cup holder). People like things to look like it's 'ready to go'. No 'working tv on top of broken console tv' type stuff around the boat.

 

[jkust]

When I was looking for my boat, and when I went with a friend who was shopping for a boat, I was astounded at how many owners didn't bother with even a cursory cleaning. Why would anyone buy a boat from someone who couldn't be troubled the pick up the trash from a boat before a buyer came to look at it?

Reminds me of my younger days when I was going to look at a used car and it was supposed to be rust free. I got there early and as I was pulling up, the guy was spray painting the fender black to cover the rust. I'm convinced that a gigantic portion of the population are just low information types.

 

[Newbie@boats]

Reminds me of my younger days when I was going to look at a used car and it was supposed to be rust free. I got there early and as I was pulling up, the guy was spray painting the fender black to cover the rust. I'm convinced that a gigantic portion of the population are just low information types.

I recently sold my truck and was in the market for a 7.3L Powerstroke diesel, the seller said the body was MINT and it has absolute zero rust on it...got in my truck and driver 2 hours to look at it....guess what? The half doors probably had 1/2 inch of bondo on them and body bed sides were bondo'd and painted. Some sellers are very dishonest.....I try to be the total opposite I buy and sell a lot of stuff, boats, trucks, quads etc and I hate having my time wasted so I try to be as honest as one can be when selling something....and try to help before, during, and after the sale.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Take the time or have a pro detail it properly. There's nothing like the "New boat" smell. I'm not familiar with the details of your boat but you would be amazed how little it takes to remove your wood trims and give them a good sanding and a few coats of Spar Varnish or Teak Oil. Get into the corners and seams of accessories with a soft electric tooth brush. Always do a test clean on a similar item out of view. My best trick and it really isn't to fool anyone is to clean off then spray a coat of WD40 on all the rubber and plastic in the engine compartment, hoses and plastic covers come out like new. Put a coat of car wax on all the glass surfaces. If you have kitchen equipment take them out if possible and clean them like you are preforming surgery in the same room. Top, front sides back. Rent a carpet shampoo machine and do all soft surfaces.

For the sales portion of the inspection go through some deficiencies first, what you tell a customer first is usually forgotten half way through a sales pitch. Getting things back to like new on the boat may be well worth the investment, like a good tune up. There's nothing worse than turning the key and nothing happens or she has to be turned over cold and she doesn't start by just looking at the key. Make sure you get to the boat early and run her warm so everything works and works well, everything. It's as simple as if there's a small radio and TV onboard make sure they work perfectly or take them out and invest a few bucks for new. Have all sorts of cleaning products in storage if you don't already. It shows you take care of her. Clean until you get that New Boat smell. Store everything away like you have OCD. My fenders are marked front, middle, rear and I clean them with 303 or regular Spray 9, those should be your go to cleaners if you don't have a favorite now.

Now that we have the interior in good shape lets get the power buffer out and detail that hull. I use Maguire's products for deoxidizing the hull then a polish, sometimes a wax coat isn't even required depending on the colour. Old graphics can be replaced at good prices now at local print shops.

Good luck.

 

[gddavid]

By the time you finish detailing her and fixing the little deficiencies that would turn a buyer away, you just may change your mind and want to keep it.

My father used to rebuild wrecks for personal use and sell them after a few years. My mom would drive around in a car missing some pin striping or cosmetic trim for a couple of years and we finally finished that stuff up before selling it. (she finally put her foot down and the cars were no longer registered before the cosmetics were 100%)

 

[Wet_Net]

As a buyer, I would be turned away from a boat that has been ran and is still warm. Id want to inspect the fluids and have the owner start it in his normal fashion. If it has an engine issue the owner knows the trick to firing it up cold, which could very well be pumping the throttle like crazy and turning it over for 3 minutes. Or once it fires up he cranks it up to 3k rpm to warm it up to keep it from dying. Not that I wouldn't buy something that has ran before I got there,but I'd be much more skeptical and my offer would be reduced to potentially cover repairs that are hidden by the seller. Then again it all comes down to how I feel about the owner and the stories I hear. A good honest vibe from the owner adds money to my offer. And for sure, clean even in cubby holes and under and around seats on the deck are a plus. And a sea trial is a must. It might run great on the trailer but doesn't run worth a darn under load

 

[roffey]

Wet_Net what would turn you away faster, a worm motor or one that does not start..

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Wet Net, how in heavens name can you tell the engine is warm? Take the cowl off or take the dog house off I guess. Then again when my boat has been sitting in 88F temps I would expect the engine is already warm or hot actually to the touch. If I let my outboard sit for a week it may take a few chokes and cranks to start her. After 24 hours I know all I have to do is fill the ball and she is going to fire right up. So like roffey said what is better? I don't think a seller is going to show a boat he knows will hardly start, but then again it's happened. If it's a baot stuff happens. A customer brought his boat into my pals Marine the other day for something unrelated to starting, fuel gauge wasn't working. Between taking the boat from his place to his shop the fuel pump died.

 

[72fj40]

I'm with Wet_Net, when I look at something with a motor, I prefer it to be a cold engine. One of the first things I do is touch the engine in various locations to make sure it's cold b4 start up. I want to watch it warm up. It will show its true condition while starting and warming up. If the engine is hard starting or doesn't run, then that's something I want to know. My offer would be priced accordingly. It also alows me to detemine what maybe wrong with it. An overly spruced up engine and compartment raises flags for me too. If its used, it should have some dust or wear on it. I look for completeness.