How to Value a Boat
Your life revolves around boats. You take every opportunity to get on the water with friends, you wander through boatyards and marinas, and you search the boating magazines every month. You're searching for a boat of your own, and you think you've found the perfect yacht. The boat has appeared in yacht brokerage listings, and you've tracked it to your local marina. However, you're scratching your head over the price. There must be a way to accurately determine a vessel's value.
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Instructions
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Find the boat in the NADA Boat Guide. Similar to the NADA Guide for cars and other vehicles, the online NADA Boat Guide lists many boat manufacturers and the years of production for each model. In some cases, additional features may be chosen that increase the value. Examples include air conditioning, autopilot, or radar installation. Once applicable features are selected, the NADA Boat Guide provides a suggested list price, along with low retail and average retail prices (see Reference 1).
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Ask a yacht broker to find the value. The advantage of working with a yacht broker is that he should be familiar with a wide variety of vessels. He also has a vast vessel resource library at his fingertips. Using the boat's distinctive hull number, he can look for the sales history of that actual boat. If that information is not available, he can perform regional or nationwide searches for list prices for similar boats. Where applicable, he can also obtain sale prices. Yacht brokers can be found through the Yacht Brokers Association of America (see Reference 2).
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Ask a marine surveyor to assign the value. Marine surveyors commonly perform Condition and Value Surveys for pre-purchase and insurance purposes. These surveys can also be performed without a purchase agreement. Common marine survey steps include the overall assessment, the engine survey, the vessel haulout, and the sea trial. The Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors maintains a database of more than 1,000 surveyors throughout the United States (see References 3).
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Revalue the boat when you add upgrades. After you purchase your dream yacht, you will likely want to add some more "bells and whistles" over the years. These might include new canvas, a galley upgrade, or a more powerful anchoring system for extended cruising. All of these upgrades will increase your vessel's value, and affect your insurance coverage as well.
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