October is the traditional start of the sailing season in the BVI – Boats are put back into commission, ready for the new season or for their new owners, who may have purchased them while they were stored during hurricane season.
As such, this is the perfect month to begin offering your boat for sale if you want it sold this year. Some of the most famous sailboat shows held in major yachting cities internationally—including Southampton, Cannes, Newport and Annapolis—get the community humming with the desire to sail and everyone wants to cruise the Caribbean waters when it gets cold up north. Therefore, this is the ideal time to advertise your yacht where buyers from the UK, EU and USA will see her as a good value buy in ready-to-go condition and set in the idyllic location of the BVI.
There are a handful of ‘fear factors’ to overcome when selling a boat that’s already located in the Caribbean. Buyers from abroad will have heard any number of stories ranging from ‘pirates of the Caribbean’, backwards boatyards and the idea of boat ownership being near impossible. Nonetheless, as you the seller who owns a boat, you already know this isn’t the case. Subsequently, you must convey this to build confidence with boat buyers the world around in order to affect a sale for your boat here in the Caribbean.
There are a few key points that I have come to focus on when selling boats here. First and foremost, a boat has to be seen as an absolute steal of a deal in this market, depressed as it is today, in order for that boat to sell. What makes a boat a steal is a combination of things for any given age and type – some are obvious such as its condition, equipment, and price. Others might not be so clear such as location and maintenance standards.
For a vessel to be seen as a great deal by a buyer, the seller needs to remove the concerns over care, maintenance and potential repairs with excellent presentation of the yacht. When it comes to commodities, people are simple. Show us something clean, de-cluttered and shiny – we will probably buy it. The underlying signal we receive is that the boat has been cared for and that the services to maintain the vessel are available in this region – which of course they are. Another factor is location – most boat sales occur in the BVI with nearly a 1/3 of all vessels sold in the Caribbean each year trading hands right here.
Therefore, for any boat owner who is serious about selling their vessel, it needs to be in the BVI. This connects to the previous point – the BVI is a regional hub for services on yachts including sail-makers, certified mechanics and refinishing and repair specialists of every sort. All of these amenities are based here and as a result boats can be well cared for – as a seller you need to show this by having your boat clean, polished and presentable. You can help convey this by making efforts to de-clutter your boat.
At any boat show, yachts are shown nearly vacant of any item – open lockers and empty shelves, all help to improve the perception of space and comfort in a boat. As such, when the time approaches to sell your boat, carefully consider whether the items you have on-board are related to the operating of the boat and also if they contribute value. If not, remove it from the boat.
I have found that a boat equipped with relevant items to operating it has a greater chance of selling than a boat with every conceivable spare and redundant backup on-board. A boat with every chart for the entire world and enough utensils in the galley to cook diverse international cuisine will seem like it has no storage space, convey an impression of ‘pack-rat,’ which translates as poor maintenance and doesn’t help sell a boat. Essentially, aesthetics of a boat are probably the biggest factor next to location in getting a fast sale for a good price.
As you get your boat in order with a mind for selling this season, this is also a perfect time to address any of the outstanding issues that hinder the boat’s operation. Part of creating a listing for selling your boat is forming a detailed inventory of the specification and equipment aboard. A buyer is going to expect that everything listed is working. In particular, a focus on systems that affect the general safety of the boat and its insurability will be well rewarded in a better selling price or in this market, a sale faster than a competing boat.
Tackling small jobs like servicing the thru hulls so they function correctly, checking the standing rigging and engine for safe conditions, and making sure running lights and basic navigation gear are working, will assist that the price you get offered stays close to the real selling price. When a buyer inspects a boat and finds basic issues needing attention, it can destroy his confidence and result in a reduced sale price or worse, no sale at all.
For the best bet in confirming a good sale price, get a survey done before hand so you know exactly what the boat needs and can tackle some of these more common issues. Like any project undertaken, good preparation is key and will hopefully lead to the best sale price for your boat.
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