My first home. A Yacht?

bauss

bauss

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Jul 16, 2010
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Has anyone ever considered simply buying a yacht and just living on it? Depending where you live the price per square foot of living space can be a lot cheaper.

2005 Carver 38 SS (like new)
Theres an example I found simply by looking briefly. Would be pretty badass living on that.

Im curious what benefits it could lead into, considering you would have no fixed address. You could moor in Grand Cayman and avoid income tax? lol

A boat would have some maintenance costs + you would ideally want to buy a moorage slip. But no property tax? Or luxury tax if it is your prime residence I believe?

Has anyone looked into this seriously and cares to share how viable this is?
 


my family has boats so I know a little bit about it. Firstly, you have to pay monthly fees to dock your boat (based on footage I believe) which you need to factor in. Boating is expensive no matter which way you look at it (gas, maintenance, docking, etc..)
 
Garrett said:
my family has boats so I know a little bit about it. Firstly, you have to pay monthly fees to dock your boat (based on footage I believe) which you need to factor in. Boating is expensive no matter which way you look at it (gas, maintenance, docking, etc..)
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ya, you'd have to buy a moorage slip or rent/lease one but thats not a huge deal unless you want baller slips right downtown infront of a city
 
I want to buy a smaller, cheap sailboat and live in that full time some day. Once I defeat the internet and no longer have need of it.
 
The maintenance, fuel, moorage, etc + the depreciation on a boat that size would far exceed the expenses of just owning a house. If you've never owned a boat I certainly wouldn't recommend that one as your first. They are extremely fickle animals and the first trip to a marine dealer for repairs will be a serious sticker shock for you.

If you want to save money you'd be better off buying a nice, used RV trailer and parking it on a cheap lot or sign up to be a camp host at a state or national park for free lot space.
 
Highly recommend the live aboard lifestyle (it goes down hill from here)

Background: Own a 32' Trawler and 40' sailing catamaran. We spend about 6 months out of the year as live aboard mostly sailing in the Florida Keys and Bahamas. Going down to the Turks and Caicos again this season though.

#1 The pics in the CL ad you linked to are file photos. That is not the actual vessel. That Carver at 7 years old in salt water environment will be less than "pristine". Not saying it is a bad deal just be aware. Look up "BUC". It is the blue book of boats to get a baseline worth. The numbers should be based on that specific boat that have sold in the area. However take in mind current economics when considering actual value because times are a changing fast. That BUC # is based on history.

#2 Maintenance: By your op I'm guessing that this endeavor might be new to you. You can't really appreciate man's best engineering efforts vs. the saltwater environment until you own a boat. If you aren't a hands on kind of guy it can get out of hand real quick. You have to stay on top of it all the time. Once you get behind the curve recovery gets complicated, more expensive, and can make your home unsafe. This is not meant to deter you just plan on keeping up with it or paying someone too.

#3 Brokers: Boats are a luxury. These guys are hurting right now and will stand in line for your business. They work like a real estate agent. Put them to work. Have them look for you. Don't fall in love with any one boat keep your mind open. Also remember they will push what they make a commission on which might not be the best fit for you. Use them as information gathers then buy where you want.

#4 Maintenance (again): Repeated on purpose. You really want to get an accurate understanding on what this entails. Go to a few boatyards and see what is going on. The labor, parts, haul out cost for the travel lift, etc. That initial boat purchase price can sometimes be just a down payment.

#5 If you aren't in bed with boats hire your own surveyor when you get down to the deal. Think home inspector. They work for you and will find bargaining points.

#6 Lifestyle: Before marriage = chick magnet. Still every day is a count down to leave terra firma. Ground doesn't move, need mother ocean. If after 4 hours you can still see land it doesn't count. LOL at watches and shoes threads. 100 feet of viz and a spear gun makes you god like.

Ooops #6 off topic. I meant nice boat should definitely buy :)
 
Very interesting insight Uptime,
reminds me of when I was considering to get a boat-house sometime ago. It was like a small little character home that went for 75k or so;
but the monthly maintenance fee was something stupid like 700 bucks.
 
I haven't ever owned a boat, but I've helped maintain steel hulled canal boats that people live on in central London. You are limited in certain ways - power for one.. you don't have any (without a generator or solar panels). Fresh water - you don't have any (without a water purifier). Internet - you don't have any (without an expensive sat setup). Space - you don't have any (which can be liberating for some).

All this could be 'fixed' with a permanent powered mooring, but then as another poster suggested, you might as well just get a camper van.

Most of your time would be spent maintaining it or spending 5 grand to half fill the tank with diesel. That boat has no sail, so you would be paying $$$ to move it anywhere.

It would be cool for a while, but I'm sure that the shine would fade very, very quickly. That, and the fact that that boat, while nice, is hardly luxurious. I was friends with a guy who would crew for some of the super yachts - 200+ ft with it's own helicopter, burning $200k worth of fuel for the week, etc. These things were worth $300+ million. He said that with a crew of 8-12 people, they would forever be running behind the guests polishing every piece of chrome, brass, washing sea spray off the deck, cleaning the bilges, etc. etc. etc. 16+ hour days and 75% of it would be cleaning the ship.
 
Good advice Uptime, I don't think I would have ever gone through with buying a yacht to live on at this stage in my life though it was a thrilling idea. and that CL ad was just an example of a layout id be looking for
 
bauss said:
Good advice Uptime, I don't think I would have ever gone through with buying a yacht to live on at this stage in my life though it was a thrilling idea. and that CL ad was just an example of a layout id be looking for
Click to expand...

If that isn't your game at the moment check out possible houseboats docked in marinas. Renting is an option with this type. Might be a good compromise / introduction? Lots of parties there. Some of them are extremely nice with much more room and comparatively little maintenance.
 
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