Boat Financing – Do You Need It?
Can you use boat financing to help you go cruising? We financed our first boat to get us out cruising. We had immediate use of the boat and moved aboard and used the rent savings to pay off the loan. When we bought the Lazy Bones:
case 1 – build
Assume you have $25,000.
$25,000 is sufficient to buy the materials for a low cost 30 foot offshore steel boat. Finished inside and out, the boat will take 2000 hrs (14 months) of work and will have a resale value of $50,000 depending on the quality of work.
case 2 – buy
Assume you have $25,000.
$25,500 is sufficient for a 50% down-payment on a finished, low cost 30 foot offshore steel boat with a market value of $50,000.
Live aboard and save 1000/mo rent over 14 months = $14,000
work 2000 hrs at $15.00/hr = 30,000 less tax = $24,000
total = -28,000 + 14,000 + 24,000 = $10,000.
Conclusion
What is the benefit of boat financing and boat loans?
Compare for yourself what it would cost to buy a boat, live aboard, and use the rent to make the payments. If you are renting, rather than simply throw money away in rent, use it to buy a boat. If you own, rent your place out and use this to buy the boat. Once the boat is paid for, these saving are yours to keep.