in contemplation of big boat restoration --

[ab59]

I am nearly finished with my current resto of my starcraft and will soon put it up for sale locally . I seems to me that most restoration parts cost the same whether they are being used on a vessel that is 20 ft. or 35 ft. , so I am considering buying something in the neighborhood of a 34 ft. fiberglass to restore and sell on my next project . Same amount of time and money to repair but could be tens of thousands of dollars difference in selling price.
There is an auction site on ebay where I see boats worth 50 thousand selling for less than ten thousand and some ( not all by any means ) look like a great opportunity to make some decent money .
I know it's a risk but spending all these man hours and repair costs on a boat that brings a few thousand in reward for my efforts when I could be making 10 thousand in reward for the same amount of time and material just seems like the way to go.
Any thoughts would be more than welcome , good or bad.

 

[Scott Danforth]

if you want to make a small fortune restoring boats.....start with a large fortune

that being stated, good luck. I wouldnt try making a job flipping boats. too much to go wrong. not to mention you really dont make out on the labor side.

 

[AShipShow]

Yea, I learned pretty quick on my current resto that making money wasn't gonna happen... even if you fully restore a boat top to bottom, it's still gonna have the stigma of the year which is a big deal.. people are going to have a hard time spending a lot on an old boat.. that being said, that's my experience, and big boats might be totally different... as could collector type stuff.

that aside, good luck and I hope you prove me wrong... if you don't mind the labor, I find restoring to be fun work.

 

[MTboatguy]

There are only a couple of brands I would consider restoring with making money on and of course my first choice is the old Chris Craft boats, you can actually make money on the old woody boats from the 40's and 50's but be prepared to do it correctly and understand what it takes to restore.

There is no fiberglass no matter what size it is, I would do to make money on, it would have to be something I wanted for myself. I rarely buy fiberglass these days and normally it is always because I want the parts and the trailer to sell of use on my current project.

 

[ab59]

I think about getting stuck with a boat from time to time . I restored and sold a 1977 16' ski barge on my last build just over a year and a half ago and sold it for about 2500 more than I had in it. This 1988 20' Starcraft I am going to list for 12000 when it is time and see what happens. New these are going for upwards of 50000 so I don't think it's really out of line. Nearly all of it is new or rebuilt so we will see. I saw a 1988 16" starcraft Aluminum sell for over 16000 last year but it had a nice custom mural painted on the sides of the hull.
I hope that in the worst case scenario I can at least get my investment back and a little in the black. I have a good margin at 12000 , just a question of what I will accept for my labor . Then on to my next project .
I am no longer working and boat restoration helps me stay off the couch and active.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Assuming you did the rehab in only 100 hours, thats only $25 per hour for your time. Realistically you probably had closer to 250 hours in it....thats $10 per hour

Boats 35' and larger will cost you about $5k on fiberglass work. Then you have two drives, etc, not to mention about $6k worth of interior.

Not to mention there is a glutton of water-ready pocket cruisers and cruisers on the market for about what you would need to stick into it, not sure there is that big of a market. Boats that large are outside the cash in pocket buyers and into those needing financing, banks are not willing to finance older boats

 

[ab59]

Hmmmm, that sounds like good advice so maybe I'll just keep doing what I'm doing . Originally I was going to restore and sell smaller boats to trade my way up to a Starcraft Islander around a 1988-1994 model and keep that for myself. I already know that one boat will not do the things I want to , like fish the Upper Sacramento river where I need a flat bottom and jet setup because of the shallow water up here.
If I were not working on these boats I would just melt into the couch and be stuck there by the couch magnet someone put in there.lol
Really , as long as I'm not losing money on these deals the amount per hour is not really a factor to me as the alternative is much worse. I can only get in a very few hours a day before I'm spent anyway.
If I had not been hit with throat cancer late last year and treatment there of , I don't really think that I would have had more than 80 hrs total in this last project . Im hoping all those kind of dues are paid in full as I've had my share these last 8 years so here's to at least 20 years of good health and even better boat deals.

 

[MTboatguy]

I can really understanding hoping the dues are paid, I was wounded in combat in 1991 and then I fell in 2007 and broke my back, those dues are dang expensive, if you enjoying doing it, then by all means do it, but when I set out on a new project I look at the joy I will receive and not the money I will make.

But I certainly understand your motivations.

 

[sheboyganjohn]

If you are going to do something bigger I would look for the boats that are either classic design or sought after. In my mind that would be the smaller versions of a Grand Banks, Kadey Krogen, or if you are looking more in the power range, like a Luhrs, Hatteras, or a Viking. I personally would have to do a bunch of research to see which models are the hot ones to have in your market. If you can find one that is not cored, because I don't think you want to deal with fixing a cored hull, maybe a superstructure but not a hull.

 

[ab59]

Mtboatguy--thanks you for your service and sacrifice--. I have a few titanium cages in my back as well and had a pound of so of steel rods and screws removed from my lower back years ago so I can feel your pain on that one.
Thanks for your input on this , I have been on the fence on this for a while.

sheboyganjoh--- Funny thing you should mention restoring specific use boats or more popular models as that is what I started out doing . My first restore what a 1977 Ski Barge that was 16' . I bought it because they are popular here when rigged with a jet and are in demand when in good shape.
I kinda forgot that when I bought the Starcraft and bought it because I had once owned a 1999 Fishmaster that I regretted having sold since the day I sold it. I hope that there will be a lot of interest in it as well but it is not really a sought after boat here but with Shasta Lake and a few others near I'm hoping it will be an easy sale.
I think you are right about the niche thing and I will try to stay focused on that as I progress , thanks for your input-----

 

[hvymtl939]

We're looking at going this direction too, but as a boat to keep rather than flip.

We've decided a cruiser will suit our needs better than the pontoon does, and I'm really leaning towards a long term restoration rather than buying one ready to go.

I feel this way, even if it ends up costing the same or more as buying one ready to go, we will be able to extend the expenses over time, rather than as one big up front purchase, and also, we will know EXACTLY what we have, versus the element of the unknown that comes with buying a used boat of any age.

 

[ab59]

Gotta agree with the thought that you will know what you have . If you restore your own then know for a fact how reliable it is and what work has been done on it. There are a LOT of unscrupulous people out there that will tell you anything to sell you a boat ( and just about anything else as well ) so if you do you can be sure.
My brother bought a new pontoon a few years ago and it was nice if the weather was good and the wind stayed down but not so nice when the wind and or rain started up. He had about 8 family members on it one day when the winds started to blow and the chop started , I was in a Starcraft Fishmaster 196 . I watched as we headed to the ramp and I could see water coming across his deck and the look on their faces was not one of someone having a good time . So yep , I would go with a nice Islander or something like it. There seems to be plenty around that need to be restored and at a decent price if you look around long enough.