2008 44 Sedan Bridge Purchase

I looked at the bottom and hardware the day the boat was unloaded to see how bad the paint was. Not that bad and the bottom was as clean as could be. Shelli has pix.....somewhere in the 500 she took!. Besides, freshwater bugs and vermin cannot survive in salt water.
 
John, congratulations on the new to you boat purchase! She is a beauty! Addionally, I must say I really enjoyed your Month Long Cruise PCB - Key West - 340 thread! Amazing journey!

Me toooooooooooooooooooooooo!
 
Updates - busy week. Radar/KVH mount would have blocked hard top hatch, so, we're having one custom made. Bridge A/C mostly in. Engines ready to roll (full services). Swim platform mounted yesterday - nice rig. During the install of the lift, our former 340 was on the travel lift in the background - ironic, don't you think? They worked well into the night.

Cut five holes today - installed 4 Lumishore Color Changing lights and 1 underwater camera. The lights and camera have to be sanded and then primed. After the holes are measured and drilled, the bottom paint has to be sanded off around the openings. Then, the holes have to be sealed back to prevent water intrusion. Then, the lights can be gouped in from both sides, and then the excess is squeezed out when the two halves are drawn together. Just a phone pic after install - wife took the camera by accident.

In that pic, you see that the camera is mounted at the bottom center on a square platform. It is black Star Board cut at angles to direct the camera down about 20 degrees to not see the lift mechanism, but so we would be able to see deeper in the water and still see the surface back behind the swim platform.

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John- NICE RIDE! we took a peak at her when she was up hear. Love the idea of the Mermaid Cam! Mike
 
Very nice. That platform looks massive.
 
Everybody's ridden on this boat 'cept me. The platform is big, but that pic is like holding a fish near the camera - it's a bit deceptive.
 
John, now all you need is a nice 2008 Yamaha VX1100 3 Seater Jet Ski to go on that swim platform:grin::grin::grin:
 
Wow...just stumbled on this thread tonight. Read the whole thing. Couldn't put the book (I mean laptop) down!!!!

Awesome stuff John. Congrats to you and Shelly!!!
 
John,

GREAT boat. CONGRATS!!! all the way.

How did you reliably get to "average selling prices" to anchor your initial offer? I know Yacht World has a site that tracks their sold deals and sold prices for that but only accessible to dealers and brokers.

Every boat we bid on was a 2007 or 08 44DB with a hard top.

The first boat we bid on was a black hull 2007. We offered average selling price of 2007 44's to start. We were told we "weren't even in the ball park." Apparently after a discussion with his broker, he took the boat off the market.

The next one was a court directed sale. Ad said "Bring offers." We offered average selling price for 2008 44DB's (about 10% below asking). Our brokers got into a heated discussion. No counter. Ad changed from "Bring Offers" to "Low Hours" the next day - We were told to bid 6% below asking to get a counter.

The next one was a nice 2007 that would take our 340 in trade for personal use. The colors of this boat were really odd. We offered average selling price for 2007 44DB minus average selling price for a 2005 340, plus, tax savings back to 44DB seller. His broker said "Really nice offer." He countered about 35K above. We traveled to go see this boat at some point in the deal (can't remember). I came up 8K. He came down some, moderate amount. I came up 7K. We made one last offer before we would have to go make another offer on the 2008 that wouldn't budge. We were about 20'K off. We went to make another bid on the 2008, but were told it was "Under Contract." (I think this was a lie (brokers not getting along.)) Too bad for them - that boat got repo'd 2 weeks ago.

Went back to 2007 with odd colors - we were within 10'K, but, he was done. We had already started with a good bid, came up a reasonable amount, and gave his boat a lot of credit due to taking our trade - we were paying him for the hassle factor being so low with the trade. We weren't going any higher. We walked away.

We flew to Miami to see a LOADED 2007 at a reasonable price. Fresh water maker, bridge A/C, upgraded sound, double electronics... The boat had been used as an apartment for the family/college student in Miami. Had a lot of hours on the carpeting. Great boat. Great family. Didn't make a bid. Back to the drawing board. It didn't look like anything was going to work out. We thought the original, very nice boat (that got repo'd) might end up working out because it was still listed as for sale several weeks after "being under contract."

Found our boat in Chicago after missing it several times. Engines were listed as "Other," not diesel. Note to Brokers/Dealers. If you have a diesel engine boat, don't list the engines as "Other" or it might not sell for two years - like this one. My wife did the search without choosing Diesel and found the boat. I told my local SR dealer. The boat was at another SR dealer. Don't know why he didn't find it. We came to terms on the price with trade in. Had to close in Feb for "New" SR purchase deals.

Tried to finance through our dealer to make things easy, and to give them another chunk of business. This was VERY frustrating. I'm not used to doing business the way this went. Flew to MIA boat show and got financing lined up in one day. It took a week to get my dealer to send the necessary info to the financing agent. We closed on the afternoon of the last possible day after following up many, many times on each step of every aspect of the financing.

I am amazed, like another boat buyer on this forum, that those who are selling boats aren't making things any easier.

I consider almost everyone at my dealer a friend. It is just amazing how many times I have to follow up on every step of the process - even the upgrades. This has been a full time job. I am ready for it to be done. I appreciate everyone's excitement. My reaction is simply that of exhaustion.
 
Jeez John, I love how you are doing this transformation before you ever splash her! Fanfreakingtastic!
 
John,

GREAT boat. CONGRATS!!! all the way.

How did you reliably get to "average selling prices" to anchor your initial offer? I know Yacht World has a site that tracks their sold deals and sold prices for that but only accessible to dealers and brokers.

I was working with a broker. He kept me informed.
 
Jeez John, I love how you are doing this transformation before you ever splash her! Fanfreakingtastic!

Thanks, all. That was my thought too, but, we closed 28 Feb, and now it's mid April...................................................................
 
Re-painted the bottom around the transom to get the lights and the swim platform gear again. Splashed. Purrs like a kitten. And I get to drive from 3 stories up! (Seems so, anyway). Mounted some new speakers upstairs in order to cut bigger holes in order to get arm into arch to through bolt the tv mount. There is a ton of new cables going into this boat.

My old 340 is in the line of boats toward the bottom of all the photos.

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