Any marina owners out there? I'm thinking about buying one

[romanservices]

I'm in the initial stages of looking to see what's available in my target area. I've had a few small businesses over the years however nothing like a marina. Is it worth it?

I've seen some in the 1-1.5M range that interested me, another at 4.7M was beautiful but at that price it's just not going to happen.

Does location matter as much? I've seen some in rural areas and wondered how well they did. Does it make sense to look for something with a residence attached? I've seen a few however the houses were on the older unkempt side. The idea of restaurant facilities on site is also appealing.

Thanks

 

[fwebster]

I am in a private placement investment group and we have made runs at 3 different marinas in the Tennessee Valley/Corp of Engineers Lake system. We found the same problem in structuring deals in all 3 cases. All 3 owners had capitalized everything they did to the marina property. Some of it legitimate capital investment, but the majority of the work done, including such things as replacing rotted picnic tables, adding pea gravel to the parking lot, repairing the dock and re-roofing were still on the books being depreciated over a ridiculously long lifespan. That caused the asking price to be significantly inflated and much higher than the real market value.

We found other investment opportunities with substantially less risk (seasonality, weather, plus any structure built over or floating on water is very difficult to insure) and better upside potential, so we moved on.

Good luck with your search..........

 

[Strypes]

I say go for it! Have your accountant take a look at their books.

We are currently in the process of trying to buy a marina. We looked at their books for the past 3 years.

They are asking $4,300,000.00. We offered $3,500,000.00. We won't make any major changes or improvements for at least 1 year/season. We'll also keep all the current staff employed for as long as they wish. That is, assuming that everything works out as planned.

Waiting to hear back from the owner...

Good luck!

 

[northern]

Look at marinas in British Columbia Canada. Some for sale. There are two types destination and moorage. Destination is May to September moorage is all year with a bit of transient. Seen them as loo was 1.2M. With the US dollar up you pay 75% of the Canadian price.
The transient ones are a 18 hour day. The moorage are 10 hour day, 14 if you want transient moorage.

 

[cod]

My dad owned a marina for almost 30 years. I grew up working there. Actually thought I would take it over one day but pursued a different path which was my true passion. This was from the 70's to the late 90's so things in the marine industry were very different. I remember a customer of his purchased a brand new 31' Searay Vangard. It looked like a huge yacht backing down the street....Anyway, for my father, it was all hands on and it was a customer service oriented business. He worked every single weekend pretty much from March to December. In the Northeast, the season is very short and boaters don't want to miss a weekend due to engine problems. That part hasn't changed. Many times, it's something simple like a dead battery that is a simple fix and salvages a boating weekend. So be prepared for that if your doing repairs.
In regards to price, it's about the numbers. Anyone can ask whatever they want for something but you need to back into the value by taking all your costs and expenses (mortgage or rent, taxes, salaries, utilities, etc) and then take the income (summer dockage, winter storage, repairs, sale of goods, sale of fuels, etc.) and see if the income can support the business along with the real estate. If you pay to much and cannot turn a profit on your investment, it's not a viable business model. Unfortunately, many people find this out the hard way because they have a dream of owning a business. Do your homework........and good luck if you move forward.

 

[FootballFan]

I would have concerns about environmental and regulatory exposure. Your in one of the most heavily regulated areas in the country about what is going in the water in the Chesapeake. Guess you can insure against it... but thinking it would get really complicated around fault and exclusions.

Dabbled in developmental real estate - buying raw land then doing the development work, packaging into parcels, then selling. One property had an old truck stop on the land. Not a good experience.

In Florida - the regulatory environment is horrendous. You want to redo your docks - multiple agencies involved. Costly and very lengthy.

If you are interested in the Marina business - I would lean towards somewhere other than Chesapeake or Florida.

Just thoughts from someone who has never been in the Marina business. Thinking buying apartments around a college campus much better return than a Marina.

Mark

 

[JimT]

As much as I love boating I see owning a marina as a big PITA. Morningstar has bought up a lot marinas in the Carolinas and Georgia including the one I am at. They do a nice job. Privately held so no way to know if they are making any money.

 

[Joel_MD]

My marina experience is limited to that of a customer, but if I was to own a marina on Chesapeake Bay I would strive to be like Langford Bay or Worton Creek. I love marinas like those because they're family-owned and off the beaten path, but have everything that boaters need: protection from nasty waves, full service department, travel lift, annual and transient slips, pumpout, laundry, gas & diesel, picnic area, ship's store, air conditioned bathhouse, winter storage, loaner bikes, and wi-fi that actually works. If you read the Active Captain reviews you'll see most serious cruising people will find a favorite marina and stick with it, in many cases making it a part of an annual cruise. Places like that have lots of anecdotes about the great service and family atmosphere. It's not unusual to read about a marina manager driving someone 20 miles to pick up a propeller, or letting someone borrow a car to buy provisions.

Best of luck with your endeavor.

 

[joeyleggz]

I am part of a member owned yacht club not for profit I will look at our numbers and tell you what it cost to operate our facility with 50 slips ,clubhouse ,travel lift etc. there are many facets to owning a marina in my opinion it can get quite complicated especially running a full-service shop and having a restaurant is just as complicated as owning any restaurant. not sure if I would buy investment property under those variables. In my opinion I think high and dry is the future of boating as there is limited waterfront available offsite storage facilities for boats that will be able to be delivered and retrieved when the owner wants .......food for thought...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fwebster]

Florida challenges aren't just regulatory. In Florida you must least the space (bottom) under your docks and slips from the state and that requires a separate survey covering the docks and slips. The State monitors your use and can make you relocate a 60ft. boat if the lease for the slip it is in happens to cover only 54 ft. We complain about the cost to rent slips, but when you examine the business side of marina operation, the indirect overhead is very expensive.

 

[Creekwood]

I am in a private placement investment group and we have made runs at 3 different marinas in the Tennessee Valley/Corp of Engineers Lake system. We found the same problem in structuring deals in all 3 cases. All 3 owners had capitalized everything they did to the marina property. Some of it legitimate capital investment, but the majority of the work done, including such things as replacing rotted picnic tables, adding pea gravel to the parking lot, repairing the dock and re-roofing were still on the books being depreciated over a ridiculously long lifespan. That caused the asking price to be significantly inflated and much higher than the real market value.

We found other investment opportunities with substantially less risk (seasonality, weather, plus any structure built over or floating on water is very difficult to insure) and better upside potential, so we moved on.

Good luck with your search..........

Accounting balance sheets are worthless in assessing value. Show me the cash flow and a true assessment of immediate capital spend needed and ongoing maintenance capital and that tells you value.

I am still gainfully active in the accounting profession, but if I was ever tempted to run/invest in a business, I would want to ensure it was counter-cyclical to my hobbies. The last thing I would want to do is be extremely busy during boating season. Maybe a ski resort, but not a marina or golf course.

 

[JVM225]

I agree! Last thing I'd want to do in boating season is be tied to an office back at the marina or crawl around someone's bilge.

 

[hakunamatata]

My dockmate owns a marina on a group of inland lakes and his weekends are devoted to the marina as that's when his customer base is the most active. He will come out Friday/Saturday night, but if they want to use the boat, it is usually during the week when majority of his customers are working. His season also usually goes from mid-May to Mid-September as the in the spring he is busy launching boats and in the fall pulling/winterizing/etc. We have another friend who owns a different marina on the same group of lakes and his house is right next door to the marina. Him and his brother pretty much trade off in the summer who is on call should a boat need to be hauled, but I know for a fact he gets bothered 24/7 by marina customers whenever an issue pops up. They definitely have the attitude that they paid for a slip and should be taken care of when they say jump. A buddy and I have talked to the owners of the storage facility we store at about potentially purchasing when they decide to retire, but even though it is seasonal, he has full time mechanics and know he also gets calls/emails all the time when customers have issues. This is probably the one thing that will hold me back as when I leave the office on Friday, or take time off away from work, I am just that, away from work. My team and my boss know unless it is an emergency whatever the issue is can wait until I'm back. I'm not sure I want to give this up either. Good luck with whatever you decide and definitely pay attention to the Cash Flow for the current as well as the past couple of years as that will tell you a lot about the business.

 

[Doc O Rock]

My marina, Belle Maer Harbour is for sale. It is a mix with marina owned wells and condo wells. Frankly, I'm worried about who might buy it, and whether they will keep it up like the present ownership.
http://bellemaerharbormarina.com/

 

[mobocracy]

It sounds like a fun idea to own a business that caters to your hobby, but unless it is profitable enough to be run by someone else (with the owner only making major decisions and not day-day), it sounds like a great way to ruin your hobby.

I work with a golf pro who tells me that the only time he enjoys playing golf is on vacation in February. He gets to "play" a lot during the season, but its all work -- teaching or sucking up to members, and very little time to play recreational golf for his own enjoyment.

My marina (inland lake in near a major metro area) is owner-run and owner occupied and I think he does little boating and is constantly on call, despite having a full-time "assistant manager" capable of doing pretty much anything he does. It doesn't help that he lives on site, although most marina customers appreciate it since it deters theft and vandalism having someone on site all the time. He only does minor maintenance, though, and refers more complex work to a full-service shop/marina across the isthmus road.

I think his setup is actually pretty good. The proximity to a major metro area means he always has a waiting list, albeit of demanding clients. He works his butt off March-October/November, but I think he has a lot of free time on a good income in the winter. And like some other post here, I think during the weekdays its pretty slow and his full-time guy is around, so if he wanted to boat with his family it wouldn't be hard on a weekday.