Our last boat was a Catalina 42, which I had been hunting for, across the nation, for quite some time. The cheapest one I saw was around 100K and a dog.... the nice ones almost twice that.
Then it popped up on YachtcrackWorld. "As is, where is" 65K Call XYZ Bank Foreclosure Sales. I was there the next morning. Lots of small to very small fast boats on their lot. Not a sailboat in sight. This boat was at a commercial boat yard. The sales guy had no idea what he was looking at. And it was quite disheveled, nay grungy. Neglected but did not appear abused. We did get to run the engine, never unfurled the sails. Two hours later I had a deal for 60K.
The surveyor kept shaking his head.... but said:"You want this boat?" I said "Oh yeah" He delicately worded the shortcomings and wrote it up for 75K
The hardest part was financing, as the bank could not seem to get the paperwork with the foreclosing bank straightened out, until I told them "It's YOUR bank knuckleheads, go to the right cubicle and sort it out." The foreclosee appeared to be the former head of anesthesiology at a pretty famous hospital. Based on what I found on board it appears he may have taken a liking to his merchandise.
Then it was really mine.
I put 5 months of every spare minute in it, and close to 25K. Stripped bottom, barrier coat and paint. New electronics. New AC. Upgraded battery/charging system, including a small ac in our cabin which ran off an inverter for 8-10 hours. Added a dinghy. Upgraded ground tackle. Cleaned and waxed and cleaned and varnished. Fixed/replaced all the canvas, which was pretty much toast.. Cleaned the sails and had them repaired. Then we put 6000 miles on her between the Chesapeake and SE FLorida. Had a ball.
Then I sold her for 99K minus commission, almost broke even. During it's survey EVERYTHING worked.
Takes the right boat and the right person.