Hey everyone just thought I would post on here and get a little advice for our wakeboard club at school. <BR> <BR>We were brainstorming possible ways of getting a new club boat next year. Being that we are all college students we don't really have much money to throw around. With the way the economy is I don't think we could convince any company/shop to just lend us a boat, so we decided the best route would be to buy one. We were thinking that we could get a shop or company to sell a boat to us at cost or 5% above (which dosen't hurt the shop or company). Once we recieved the boat we would immediatley put it up for sale. If it sales right away then we make profit and buy another boat from the shop/company thus moving another boat off their line. Now here are the issues that I have discovered so far, if you can think of anymore let me know because I want to know all the "what ifs". <BR> <BR>First, Where does the money come from: The first issue would be how do we get a loan for this boat. I am not an expert in this field but I dont think anyone is going to jump on the opportunity of giving a bunch of college students a $40,000 loan. Although we are an established LLC, not sure if that changes anything. <BR> <BR>Second, Providing the financing for the Down payment: we were thinking we could possible go through the school to get this. Possibly go through the alumni association and hope some alum are willing to help us out. Hopefully we would only need to get this help once because I hope we would make enough profit off the first boat to pay for the down payment on the second boat. We would have members pay a semester fee to cover the monthly payments, so that is not a concern of mine. <BR> <BR>Let me know what you think... peace Brett

Our school did that and it became a pain in the ass to try and sell every year and keep the boat at 100% so it would sell.... <BR> <BR>we ended up just buying an old "ski" boat....use it for a while adds some things, sell, get a little newer, use it for a few years, get a little newer.... fund-raise like mad and then in a 5 years or so be but to using a nice used boat that will last for some time.... <BR> <BR>but than again the pain of selling a boat in Wisco is way less then AZ <BR> <BR> <BR>Fundraising and dues help a lot.

The problem I saw with buying a used boat is that it dosen't have any sort of warranty. It would be nice to know that we wouldn't have to worry about paying for our boat to get fixed. <BR>Yeah I thought it would be a pain in the ass to sell it, but I figure if we put it on the market immediately and keep it there for awhile it would eventually sell. It wouldn't be a big deal if it sat on the market for a year until we sold it, it would just mean that we would use that boat for a year.

My school's team has a ton of guys who ski and are gear-heads so repairs haven't been an issue for us. <BR> <BR>We kinda got screwed with the old team boat just because it didn't sell, didn't sell and then it just kept costing the team more and more and more until when it finally did the better choice seemed to get an older used.... keep it nice, add tower, ballast etc etc and then sell it for ~same price in a year or two, then repeat

I agree with Nick, keep the dues low and run an older boat. Inboards are known for reliability and with some minimal upkeep a used inboard should keep you happy for years to come. <BR> <BR>If you want to go the new boat route the best way is to pre-sell your boat. Typically you line up a buyer, get the boat that fits their (and your) needs on the condition that you use the boat for the season and then they get a wicked deal on it after your use. It's not always easy but it takes a ton of stress out of your life.

I like the idea of finding a buyer before hand, I am sure there would be some complications, but it would make things less stressful that is for sure. <BR> <BR>Does anyone know anymore details about how the loan situation would work out? If it would even be possible to get the money for a new/used boat and what sort of down payment we would be looking at, on lets say a $40,000 boat?

I think you have to put 8% down because it is a recreational vehicle, could change based on where you're at. Go to your local dealer and ask.

I worked at a dealership all summer. If you could get someone to give you a loan you could possibly get the whole thing financed with 0 down. <BR> <BR>I had the idea of buying and selling a new boat each year and after this year I actually just ended up trading mine in because it is so hard to sell anything right now. Find a deal on a new/used boat maybe even a leftover and plan to keep it because theres not much chance on turning one over unless you pre-sell. <BR> <BR> <BR>Goodluck

What you can do with some marinas is you can buy the boat at the beginning of the season, and agree to re-sell it back to the marina at a pre-determined price (Assuming you do not maul the boat, rip the seats, break everything, etc...). This way you only pay X amount per season, and can get a nice, brand new top of the line boat. If you can't afford to do it with a brand new boat, then you can work out a deal with a different used boat at the beginning of each season. Or I would say just try to save up and buy an older boat, you can get older inboards in great shape that you can plumb out for ballast, throw a tower on, etc... and still come in under 27k.

Also look for one of the smaller boats like a 210 or a vride the money you will save in gas is huge. <BR> <BR>I was talking to Mike Schweene and he said if he buys a vride versus getting a vlx for free he actually saves money on the deal after a summer of gas. <BR> <BR>Just something to think about.

damn riley never thought about it like that

Yeah I think a boat like the vride would be perfect. We have a lot of beginners in the club so we would definitely save money pulling them with a smaller boat. <BR> <BR>It would be awesome if a dealership would work out a buy back program with us, but I just don't see what is in it for them. They sell us a new boat at a low price, then they are stuck with having to sell that same boat used. Even when they didn't even make much profit off of it in the first place. Maybe there are other incentives that I am not seeing. I think we will provide great publicity for the shop, and give them great advertisement to several kids that have wealthy parents. So, that is one thing that we could push to the shops.

Brett you've got nothing to lose by going to a dealership and asking them to sponsor your schools wakeboard club. It's great advertising for them. <BR> <BR>you might also want to approach the school for help. if you're an official vlub with the school then there is funding that could possibly set aside for your needs. contact someone at your university.

Brett- because having last year's model used at the end of the season in good condition with minimal hours is a great boat to sell at the end of the year. Additionally, there are other ways that you can work out deals with your marina. You can let them use the boat as a demo boat for customers while you guys aren't using it, and you can even help them out by doing demo days and having some of your better riders offer lessons or something, stuff to help promote the boat and the marina. Additionally, you guys could help volunteer to do some hard labor, marinas always need something done, maybe some cleaning, the launch needs to be swept, re-paint fences, etc...

Also right now a lot of dealerships are selling boats for not too much above cost just to move inventory. Like jr said, go in and talk you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Were will you keep the boat. Will it be trailered to lake. Your ski team keeps one at Firebird.. Their is a kid who goes to ASU that has a 210 at firebird maybe you can work a deal with him. He is a pretty good rider also.

We actually have a wet slip out a bartlett that works out nicely. Who has the 210 gordie? I was thinking about getting a membership at firebird next year but that will make it REALLY hard to sell our boat at the end of the year if we run it in salt water. <BR> <BR>I think we will be going by a couple dealership in the next couple days and presenting the idea to everyone. I will keep you all posted on what we come up with.

Brett, Joe Shipka

Brett whats wrong with the x2 you guys are using at bartlett?

The x2 is awesome, but it is only temporary. We are currently leasing it from someone, and only have the capability to lease for a year. So starting next school year we will need a new boat.

Brett, remember that dealerships have only a certian number of boats they recieve. so selling a boat at 5% over cost doesn't hurt them directly but it takes money out of there pocket. with the way things are now, i second a lot of the comments made. try to find the best deal you can on a older dd and make it work for a year or 2 while you fund raise. getting a loan now is really tough. even though you are a LLC, it doesn't have a credit history which really is the key. i'm pretty sure that you would make the payments but the bank doesn't see it that way. good luck with your boat search, good deals are around you just have to look.