Calling all Co-Owners

Hello all,

My roomate and I have been seriously thinking of purchasing a boat together and we are getting closer to the line. If you have co-owned a boat with another could you please post your experiences? What has worked well for you as far as splitting costs etc? Any tips/advice on what to do or not to do when going into this venture? Good strategies?

I know that there are probably some horror stories from those of you out there, but please keep them down to a minimum... we want to make this a positive experience and we think that we have a strong enough relationship to do so... We've had a boatload (pun intended) of great memories on my boat all summer, and it will be awesome to have that towboat both of us have been dreaming of for the next summer!

Thanks for your input!

PeaCe

Have been partners for 5 years. First with Moomba and now we have Malibu VLX. First rule. Each owner has a seat + 1 on the boat allways. Don't ever say can I have the boat Saturday and you take it Sunday. From there you work out the number of people on boat. Second , everything you buy, your payment and insurance is 1/2 price and that's the good thing. Don't buy anything for boat without checking with your partner. If you can't go and your buddy can don't complain about the hrs on boat. We have 500 hrs on our Moomba and I personally put 400 of those on boat. We both still split the service charges, regardless of who uses boat. We put 5K down on new Malibu, my payment is under $200/month.....Just think new boat for under $200.........it's a sweet deal.

I wouldn't do it. My guess is it's like getting married, all fun and games until it's legally binding.

"I wouldn't do it. My guess is it's like getting married, all fun and games until it's legally binding."

Eric: Appreciate your post, but I'd rather hear from people who have actually done it. According to your post you are guessing, and our guess is probably as good as yours

JT: That sounds good... yes we are looking at what i think is a pretty good deal on an 05 malibu... less than 200 bucks a month does sound like a really good deal... as it stands right now, my boat is regularly taken out by either one of us and we have no problem with that so that's a good thing.

I currently own a 92 MC with a good friend that's getting traded in tomorrow on a new boat with same friend.

I'll echo what JT said. Neither of you would ever exclude the other. I don't care if your boat only seats 8 and you've got 7 playboy bunnies wanting to go out on the boat with you. Ditch the ugliest and take your friend, though that kind of stuff has never been a problem for us. Obviously split all the standard stuff, payment, insurance, maintenance, etc......I'd also say split any repairs even if there is an accident and obvioulsy only one of you was behind the wheel at said time. As for bling type extras, if the other isn't into it, pay for it yourself. I'm a bit of an audiophile and wanted to re-do our stereo which he could've taken or left. I paid for all of the stuff myself and made him help me do the install. It will help the resell value of the boat which helps us both, but oh well, it was important to me. On our new boat, I'm gonna have the dealer take it to a stereo shop for them to do the upgrade and roll it into the payment. I'd also recommend that you both have vehicles worthy of towing the boat. My co-owner hasn't been able to get out of his 350z and into a worthy vehicle yet and that's kind of a whip. Always having to drive and sometimes taking a hit on gas and mileage.

If it's a good trustworthy friend/relative/etc, I say go for it. It makes owning a boat much more affordable. There's no way in hell that I could afford one by myself.

Read my insurance article from earlier this year. Make damm sure both names are on title with the word AND between them. That way it takes both signatures to sell it etc....
Also remember that both owners MUST be named insureds on the policy or one may become liable for the actions of the other and NOT have insurance coverage.

Rick

I shared one with my dad and it worked out good. But I was the one using it the most.

I guess just make sure you cover all the detials. Like the services, any damage, what happens if he his buddies that you don't care for or that don't respect the boat and you don't want them on it, how you would handle that type of situation. We all have those.

The worse part is if he loses his job or get's into some kind of financial hardship. Make sure you have the funds to cover the whole deal if need be.

Only other thing is liability, sounds like you trust him and know about his habits as far as handling the boat, drinking while operating and just general safety issues. You guys will be liable for the others actions if it involves that boat. Maybe carry a larger insurance coverage to protect you both.

lots of good insight so far guys.. thanks a lot!

Rick H: Do you have a link to that article? That area is one which we both have questions with.

Another question I have is about the issue brought up by Jonathan French. If indeed one of us gets into financial hardship, is it best policy to just sell the boat and split the money? Is it really hard to unload a boat like that if it needs to be done quickly? The boat we are looking at is a loaded 05 Malibu VLX..

My Best Advice...


Get a JOINT checking account and have a portion each of your paychecks deposited into this account ( ie 200.00 ). Have the montly payment/loan drawn form this account therfore theres never any missed payments, $$ squables, works great!

Our payment was 337.00 a month and we put 200 a piece every month in the joint account. The leftover $$$ was used on maintence, insurance, upgrades, etc.

-= peace =-
Aaron / Lzy

I co-owned 2 boats with 4 guys over 6 years. It was a great experience and allowed us to own the boat we wanted without breaking the bank. If you have the right friends I recomend it.

Ouch, tough one. That depends on a lot of things. Time of year, your area, the price you have to get out of it, etc. To cut the risk of selling and being upside down maybe you should put a lot of money down, 20 or 30%. Then you should stay ahead of the equity curve in case of a financial meltdown and a forced sell. It will protect both of you.

Also maybe make larger payments. I am sure you won't keep the boat the length of the loan. So at some point you will want to sell. You should gurantee you won't be upside down and have to come up with a boat load of cash to get out from under it. "HeHe Boat Load"

Let's say boat

Boat $50K
Tax & Lic $5K "varies by state"

Total $55K

10% down -$5K

Loan $50 K on $50 K boat.

Depreciate by maybe $10,000 on a forced quick sell after a year or so and you see the danger. You could each have to come up with $5000 just to get out from under it. Hard to do when the reason you are selling is you or your friend can't afford the $200 payment.

I would say don't do it if you can't afford it on your own.

If you can both afford the full load on your own but are just doing it to save money. Then why not, go for it. Above is just some things that could lesson the risk for both of you.

BTW if you run into the problem with the 7 Playboy Bunnies. My boat holds 12, so give me a call and we can all go!!!!!!!

If there is any chance you might have to sell quickly, buy a used boat and let the previous owner take the hit on the depreciation.

BTW, we're upgrading to a larger v-drive just in case the 7 playboy bunny scenario ever comes up.

I co-owned a boat with a good friend of mine and we did nto ahve any problems. When we sold it though, I bought my new one on my own, Not that my friend was a bad partner, he was great. I felt bad at times because he only used it about 10% of the time. The deciding factor for me when I bought the new one was this. When we co-owned a used $20k boat between us we both took good care of it, but the more and more I thought that I do not want to have to explain to my friend or on the flip side be upset at my friend if something that happens to a $40k+ boat. It's mine and I don't have to answer to anyone but myself. On the other hand, several of my friends and I have discussed going in together on a houseboat or some larger boat that we can sleep on. I would own a boat with my again, just not this one. p.s. the only bad experience was when we were trying to sell it. I wanted out so I could buy a new one and did not care that much about a premium price. He wanted to get the premium price becasue he was in ho hurry.

Sounds like many of us are in 90/10 partnerships. My partner rarely uses the boat and had some job hardships, but we are commited to each other in a written contract. It is alwys good to write down the agreement just in case. A few extra words of wisdom: understand how financing works, and be smart about your financing decision. The dealer will automatically try to put you at the lowest payment, but that is dangerous due to the "upside down" situation others have mentioned. Also make sure you have a plan for cleanup, routine maintenance in place. You both need to be clear about washing, waxing, flushing, and covering time commitments.

Chris - San Diego

Aaron Nielsen: Fantastic idea about the joint acct, I think we will try that out.

Here ya go:
http://www.wakeworld.com/Articles/2004/insurance.asp