Market woes got you down?

Don’t despair! By acting smart you can still get the boat of your dreams, even in this tough economy.

1. Keep Your Dreams in Check - Okay, it may be hard to trade your ultimate dream boat for something less, but now’s the time to take a long, hard look at what prestige is worth to you and see where your dreams can touch base with reality. Heavily consider a used boat, or maybe an older model of the boat you want. Think about how often you’re really going to use the boat, and don’t forget about the costs of maintaining the boat. Every thousand you shave off the purchase price makes it easier to secure financing and more affordable to own the boat.
2. Look For Deals - The flip side of a weakening economy is that there are more boats on the market, which, consequently, means better selection for you. If you’re in the market for a used boat, you’re in especially good luck, as many less fortunate sailors may be having to shed their dreams to deal with poor financial decisions. Take advantage of the opportunity to shop around, and use online resources (like eboatdealer.com) to scour listings for the perfect combination of price and features.
3. Get Pre-approved For a Loan - Most boat buyers don’t know it, but you can get pre-approved for a boat loan just as you would a mortgage. This gives you greater confidence when making an offer on a boat, and allows you to get a good sense of what the bank perceives you as being able to afford. And of course, if you’re able to negotiate a better price things just go further in your favor. You can start the boat loan pre-approval process by filling out our quick boat loan application.
4. Pay Off Your Debts - The general advice is “improve your credit score,” but that may take longer than your patience to wait for your new boat. Instead, concentrate your short-term efforts on paying off high-interest debt like credit cards. Not only will the effort help you look better in the eyes of the bank, but you’ll be saving yourself thousands of dollars in interest. Now doesn’t that feel good?
5. Keep Cash on Hand - If you’re pulling the last pennies out of the piggy bank to make your downpayment, it might be more difficult to get that loan. Banks like to see liquidity — cash on hand — after you’ve secured the loan for the boat. Banks are no strangers to the long-term costs of owning a boat, and if you aren’t, then you should maybe revisit tip number 1.

Though hard times have caused plenty of Americans to cinch up their belts, there’s no reason that you can’t still enjoy the pleasures of owning a boat provided you’re aware of what you’re getting into and make smart decisions. Use the tough market to get a great boat that you can truly afford, then get out on the water and forget about the rest!

Find more articles and information like this at http://www.boatmoney.com/articles_tips.asp

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  Last evening we had a listing posted for a 2005 Mastercraft X-Star for $14,500.  Description as follows:

Seller’s User Name: eskrem

Listing Views: 19

Condition: USED

Type: POWER

Price: $ 14500

Year: 2005

Length: 22

Location: Medan, NH31794

Description:

05 x-star was purchased in march of 05 by me the original owner. X-star is in excellent condition at 305 hours.There are many options on a x-star as you can see. The added options are bow ladder that is very easy to use,clarion cd player with 8-8in JL speakers ,10JL SUB,in the boat and 4 -8in JL tower speakers,tower wakeboard racks,4 tower lights,duel batteries, custom towable cover,teak platform, bow cooler built in under front seat, perfect pass, perfect pass is like cruise control on your car,depth gauge,built in ballast in bottom of the boat which is nice because it dosn’t take any of your storage space up,x-star has 90cf of storage,tow pole for skiers or bare footing along with the wakeboarding tower ball up top,many friends bare footed on my x-star, plenty of speed at 50mph,capacity is 12 people or 1,720 Lbs,drive on trailer is nice also with spare tire, bimini top for hot days,snap out carpet ,everything that was bought for the boat goes with it,ropes, bumpers, vest,anchor,tube,pumps,cleaning supplies,and more.The color scheme looks great on the water.You can go 4 to 5 times on a full tank depending on what your doing.Theres nothing wrong with the X-star,just need money to start a new business. I just gotta add you can do everything on this boat,ski,wakeboard,wake surf,tube,or just go out for ride. It’s a good all around boat!

Ironically, we are currently in the market for a wakeboard boat and since we had recently been shopping this sounded like a great deal.  When referencing the value on NADA the average retail value for this vessel is over $53,000 so I inquired.  Here is the response we received.

Dear Sir,

Thanks for your msg.
I appologiz i losse the copy of Document Service this Boat.
I’ll ship it through Sea not in land cause the actualy my located in Medan ,Indonesia.
I can’t give you the hulll number right now till we have a deal and you are seriously to buy my boat.
Yes, the title is clean.

Please let me know if you still interested with this boat, So, we can begin our transaction.
Look forward to hear from you.

Sincerely Yours,
Kevin Permana

On Thu Jun 26  9:18 , XX.XXXXXX@xxxxxxx.net sent:

>Message from eBoatDealer.com regarding your listing:
>2005 MASTERCRAFT X-star,Medan, NH
>
>One other thing.  Can you give me the Hull ID number and tell me if the title is clean, or has a
lienholder.  Thank you.

Are you kidding me?  It goes without saying to use common sense and never wire cash.  We do our best to monitor the site for this kind of activity, but if you suspect something is fraudulent, please make sure to contact us.

Potential sellers should also be aware of this reverse scenario.  There are individuals who try and pass fraudulent cashier’s checks.  Once you receive the check you can simply call the issuing bank to verify.  Talk with you soon.  Happy Selling and Shopping!

Jason

www.eboatdealer.com

I wanted to post an article on tips for placing effective ads as we have had many. By the count rates some are much more effective than others. You can research some of these on our site as reference.

I hope you find the information useful and if you have additional tips and comments please reply with a post so we can help others accomplish their goal as quickly as possible.

To begin a successful ad must have four main components:

1. Relevant Information about the Vessel
2. Photos, Photos, and more Photos
3. Accurate Contact Information
4. Appropriate Pricing

First, include the pertinent information about your boat. Buyers will quickly navigate away if you have too little of a description. You want to make sure and include the following:

1. • Manufacturer
   • Model
   • Length
   • Engine type, size and hours
   • Generator type, size and hours (if applicable)
   • Electronics
   • Covers that are included
   • Hull ID Number (Potential buyers may want to run a check)
   • Any pertinent service information
   • An offer to send a survey (if applicable) and done recently
   • Price

You will also want to write a description of any relevant information. Here is an example of a good description, but the individual excluded much of the above. Since web sites do not charge by lines like paper media put as much as you can.

“Great Cruiser at a Great Price! This boat has a great layout both below and above that maximizes space. The cockpit area provides a lot of open space and seating for 9-10 adults. Entertainment center has sink, refrigerator, ice maker and blender. The large 3′ swim platform provides a large area for accessing the water. The center access to the bow allows for easy and safe access to the large pad on the bow. Full canvas and camper enclosure. The Digital Throttle System makes handling this boat a dream. This boat is loaded with almost every option offered. xxx-xxx-xxxx. Trades welcome, private sellers only. “

The above is much different then the following example, which are you more inclined to view?

“Ford 302 Engine Needs work Sitting for One Year in Water xxx-xxxx Leave Message…”

Secondly, you must post photos! Almost a third of the ads on our site contain zero photographs. The resulting effect of this is about one-tenth the view rate versus the ads with photographs.

When taking photos make sure your boat is clean and the exposure is good. Take them on a sunny day.

If you have an interior again make sure there is ample lighting. Open the curtains/hatches and you could even put some painting lights, or a lamp without a shade to help eliminate shadowing. Think of when you are looking at brochures. You never see a photo where parts look like a cave.

Third, make sure to leave the appropriate contact information. We have had customers’ list boats that have multiple hits, but contact us because they have not received a response. When looking into the issue we discover the e-mail address entered is not correct and they have not listed a phone number. Ideally you want to provide both, but if you do not want to publish a phone number make certain the e-mail field is accurate.

If you do provide a contact number make sure to leave the hours that are acceptable to call along with the time zone. If you have younger children you may not want the phone ringing into the late evening.

Finally, you will want to provide a thought out price. You can research your boats market value through NADA guides online, or contact a salesman at a marina/dealer. All dealers have access to bluebook and an industry standard referred to as ABOS. This information will include average retail, high wholesale and low wholesale value.

The final place to get this information is from a lender. Beware this pricing does not always take into account condition and usage. This is especially relevant in pricing older vessels.

I hope this information was helpful and again, if you have more to ad (no pun intended) please post. Good Selling!

Admin

www.eboatdealer.com