What is Market Offer vs. asking price on a Mainship 350 Trawler

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Hammer

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2019
Messages
72
Location
USA
Vessel Make
Mainship 390
It's been 15 years since I bought or sold a vessel. So I don't know any longer what the market is for asking price vs. selling price. Trying to educate myself.

I have found a 1998 Mainship 350 in SC that would meet our needs. It appears in good condition, twin yanmars with lower hours, and full electronics, AC etc. No extras such as dinghy, davits etc. Basic canvas. I have not yet had any surveys, sea trial etc.

Asking price is $119,000.

NADA blue book high retail is $69,215.

Based on all your experience, what is the market for a cash offer on such a vessel. I 'm in need of a little advice.
 
Wow, $119,000 for a 20 + year old Mainship ? Honestly I don't think you can buy it for what it is worth. I certainly would not go over the Blue Book. In fact I wouldn't go over $60,000.

There have been a number of threads here recently about asking price vs. offer. I think you should search some of them out, 50% of asking is not unheard of or even unreasonable in many cases.

Will the seller accept such an offer ? Probably not but a dose of reality sounds like it is called for here. Make the offer and wait for a counter offer or for the boat to sit for a few weeks or months.

In the mean time keep looking to get a better idea of the market. You might consider a survey of the Mainship, it could be a real bargaining chip. Some surveyors have access to comparable recent sales.

Mainship is a nice boat but it is not "Top of the Line". IMHO

pete
 
Hammer, welcome! I think soldboat.com is a better source for actual sales prices than NADA. A buyers broker could easily access this data (through Yachtworld) to give you some idea of asking vs sold prices of similar boats in your area.

We used this information when making an offer on ours and the surveyors will typically use this on a conditional survey to establish base value.

That said, condition and the market will have as much or more impact. The same boat in Bristol condition and well equipped will command a much higher value than one in Poor or Fair with basic electronics and limited equipment.

Market demand and supply is also impactful. As an example I've been following Kadey Krogen and Nordhavn values for about five years. KK42's have actually gone up in value over that time. Five years ago you could buy a well maintained and well equipped 42 for about $175K in the PNW, now that same vessel will sell for around $210. Location also impacts values. PNW vs FL prices on those same KK42s show about a $25K premium in the PNW.

Keep in mind, both soldboats.com and NADA are lagging indicators of value.
 
Hammer welcome as well.

Current owner may be a member of this forum...use caution.
 
Hammer said:
It's been 15 years since I bought or sold a vessel. So I don't know any longer what the market is for asking price vs. selling price. Trying to educate myself.

I have found a 1998 Mainship 350 in SC that would meet our needs. It appears in good condition, twin yanmars with lower hours, and full electronics, AC etc. No extras such as dinghy, davits etc. Basic canvas. I have not yet had any surveys, sea trial etc.

Asking price is $119,000.

NADA blue book high retail is $69,215.

Based on all your experience, what is the market for a cash offer on such a vessel. I 'm in need of a little advice.
Click to expand...

Hammer, NADA and BUC are really not that great of an indicators of a boats value. As a broker I just took a look at Soldboats and at $119,000, that boat is at the very top of the mark. I sent you a PM with my number, call me and I can send you the Soldboat report if you like. Having said that, Soldboats is just one factor in negotiating an offer. Is this boat on Yachtworld?

In another thread, I just purchased a 36 Marine Trader at a pretty good price using Soldboats and other factors. Sometimes, it's just in how you word the offer....
 
Pete Meisinger said:
Wow, $119,000 for a 20 + year old Mainship ? Honestly I don't think you can buy it for what it is worth. I certainly would not go over the Blue Book. In fact I wouldn't go over $60,000.

There have been a number of threads here recently about asking price vs. offer. I think you should search some of them out, 50% of asking is not unheard of or even unreasonable in many cases.

Will the seller accept such an offer ? Probably not but a dose of reality sounds like it is called for here. Make the offer and wait for a counter offer or for the boat to sit for a few weeks or months.

In the mean time keep looking to get a better idea of the market. You might consider a survey of the Mainship, it could be a real bargaining chip. Some surveyors have access to comparable recent sales.

Mainship is a nice boat but it is not "Top of the Line". IMHO

pete
Click to expand...

Pete, The only way he's gonna get that boat surveyed is with an accepted offer. Making an offer based on negotiating down from a survey is not always the best approach...
 
Welcome aboard. I agree on Soldboats as a price benchmark. When I am buying a boat I generally don’t knock the boat as in it isn’t worth that much. It tends to offend the seller but I rather put it as I can’t afford that much and put the lower price on me and not on their pride and joy. That way it removes some of the emotions out of the equation.
 
Hello Pete,

Thank you for your opinion. At $114k the Mainship is beyond my budget. At the NADA price it would fit my budget ... I will have to do more research.
 
Hello Sid Clark. Thank you for the information about the price being at the very top of historic soldboats.com. I will reach out to you for the rest of the data ...
 
I may be wrong but I think that list price is the original price of the boat when it was first sold new. I had the same question as you looking at old boats on NADA and think adjusting for inflation, time, whatever that a boat like that new would cost the list price on "the show room floor" back in the day. I was told by USAA that they will lend on the Avg. retail for older boats so I believe that that is the price of what they should be in the ball park of. Anyhow that my 2 cents.
 
In the PacNW, which is just a tad distant from Hammer’s location, the market is a bit different. For any used boat that is clean, a mainstream brand, and perhaps high priced or even over priced, no one could or would make a serious offer at 50% of listing price. Yes, it costs nothing to try - unless you alienate the seller for a boat that nicely fit your needs. I know what my response would be . . .
 
$119,000 might be high, but I would be very surprised at $69,000 as a reasonable number. I'd bet the real number is somewhere in between $90-$100K, and would guess that is probably where the mean average of sales is landing.

The problem is, you can't ignore 10 sales at $90K, and point to one single sale at $69K and claim that the market is $69K. While wishful thinking, that is simply not realistic.
 
Comodave said:
Welcome aboard. I agree on Soldboats as a price benchmark. When I am buying a boat I generally don’t knock the boat as in it isn’t worth that much. It tends to offend the seller but I rather put it as I can’t afford that much and put the lower price on me and not on their pride and joy. That way it removes some of the emotions out of the equation.
Click to expand...

Good approach since I think when many people list something they include emotions and maybe the amount of time and effort they put into it. Banks are going to go by the lend-able amount period. Banks definitely dont care about feelings.
 
Everyone thinks their boat is the best one out there, even if it is slowly sinking at the dock. The Mainship 390 is a nice boat but unless it is a sinker, you will never get one near NADA book value. NADA is about useless IMO. I think that they are going in the 95K+ range.
 
NADA works well...for cars, as there are thousands of sales in a year.

With many boats, however, the volume of sales in a year is so small that it's hard to get a realistic number.

Jim
 
I'm involved in a car forum as well. The idea of book values is unrealistic in both worlds. Sale price is what the market demands. Each regional market is different. Realistically, most folks will tend to buy a boat within a few days cruise of home base. That makes for micro markets. Your home port of FL has the most boats to choose from. If you can manage a purchase several states away, it gives you more markets to explore but not necessarily a shot at a better deal. Soldboats is probably your best bet for real sale prices but realize that FL price will be different from NC or WA for the same boat. Your comment of needing to do more research is sound.If you consider a boat from another state, be prepared with ample reserve funds for repairs far from home. A real potential with a boat that you're unfamiliar with (hidden issues). I'm in a position similar to you and moving slowly, learning a lot. Probably find more boats on the market after fall arrives.
 
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