Expected salary for Hot Boat ??

[Slick]

Not to get biblical or anything, but there is a quote that I try to live by (sometimes unsuccessfully): THE BORROWER IS SLAVE TO THE LENDER. I hate seeing people that live and work to pay for a huge house, truck, car, boat, etc. I bet that monkey could get a loan for any of the afformentioned boats, too. Don't get in over your head. There's a reason there are so many brand new boats for sale with only 30 hours on them. Just my $.02
Slick

[froggystyle]

Hot tip Fastech, buy a smaller boat, become a boat owner, and get to be a great, not good, but great driver. Learn the rules of the road wherever you plan on going. You will piss a lot less people off getting RA or LA (river aware/lake aware)in a 21' boat than a 42'. You will have far more options as to where to go, and a lot easier time towing it there. My wife and I make a good living now, and I feel that a nice boat is a major quality of life issue. We have no kids, and own both of our 2000 and 2001 vehicles outright. You will need a vehicle that is nearly specifically a tow vehicle for a 42', i.e. a $50,000 diesel rig, and that you can only finance for 5 years. If you were to spend your money on a new boat, you can get a loan for 15 years, with good interest rate. I say start smaller, but high quality like RiverDave said. Get a new Ultra, and if things are working out in a year or so, buy a sweet tow vehicle. The year after that, buy a newer Ultra, and then move up to the Donzi whatever. Either way, most guys I know with huge boats, also have a smaller ski/fun boat in the garage. It is just more fun.

[Chestah Cheetah]

The topic that started this thread sounds a lot like something that a lot of people have always thoght about. HOW MUCH MONEY DO I NEED TO MAKE TO BUY THAT BOAT? Here's a better question: How much money are you realistically making, how much do you have left over monthly (if any)? Divide that number by 3 and there's your boat budget. I say 3 because there is a lot of shit that you won't realize that costs a lot of money, and this is a safe number because you will probably use two 1/3's of it for the boat anyway.
Beofore this season started, I was ready to order an HTM SR 24. Had the money and the credit. I thought about it and came to the conclusion that I was not ready to start with that boat as my first. I needed to get experience (RA/LA). I bought a nice 17' Cheetah that I could set on fire and I wouldn't care. I will move up when I'm ready, and you have to be realistic about when you're ready.

[iparky]

http://www.goldenplasma.f2s.com/foru...ies/cool13.gif

[OC PARTYCAT]

Hey FASTECH, If you are going to be making 65K and your wife the same,you dont have anything but a townhouse in NC, dont you think you would be able to aford a 100K boat with creative financing? There should be no question. Even if you bought a house with a 2K mortgage. It all depends on your priorities. At that pay you could afford 800-1,000 p month for a boat"easy" you might be financing it for life but "what the hell, you got the boat, right?

[25 Outlaw 502]

Originally posted by FASTECH:
Hi, I am new here but I need to know what is a good annual salary that a person should make to own a decent used(or new) sports boat, example:BAJA 302, DONZI 28ZX,FORMULA 312, OR PROFILE 29...all between the years of 94'-00'.. an info will be great, thanks.
chris
Chris, lots of interest generated with this question so hear is my .02. Make sure you know how to drive a boat prior to dumping alot of money. If you screw up an run aground, kill a drive or something else that costs big bucks to fix then you will be stuck with a big monthly payment and broken boat. Also insurance is not too bad for a boat until you make a big claim then stand by once again more debt. I am on my third boat 25 Baja Outlaw and love most things about it. I am currently fighting with Baja due to some performance issues but it is solid and very comfortable. I would recommend a Baja but make sure you get something with a warranty. Stupid little things that ALWAYS will break on boats it is just nicer to have someone else crawling around in the bilge to fix. Also I don't know what you have to tow it or if you plan on dry storage. I tow my 25 with a 4runner and I'm very maxed out at that. Only a mile to the ramp so who cares. Anyway 25-27 is probally about as much as most would want to tow on a regular basis. Bonus to towing is cheaper fuel than at the marina by a lot. It is also easier to maintain your investment on a trailer. Good luck!!!!
Larry

[Catatonic]

Sorry O.C. Partycat but I have to disagree with you. It seems that only a few years ago (like 10) I was graduating college as well with the hopes of making about the same as Fastech is looking at: $65,000. Now, I'm a college grad with a Business Degree, a Business Consultant by trade, a hot boater and a Havasu local so I feel that I must pontificate on this subject. Your ***boat to income ratio (or any toy) should not exceed 10% of your monthly take. Let's just say that you do make your 65K that you are hoping for. I'm going to assume that you are a single-income family because I cannot speculate on future marital prospects. At 65K, that gives you a post-tax take home of $4,333.34 (based on a 20% tax bracket). Using the 10% formula, your monthly ***boat "slush fund" is a mere $433.34. With little down on a 15 note and competitive rates, your payment will be around $400 a month. Forget about eating top ramen, you'll be eating dirt with only $33.34 left a month. Of course, this would only apply if you stuck strickly to the 10% rule of expense. Just beware, my first boat was a 22' Advantage Sport Cat for which I paid a little over $30,000. My payment was affordable but I immediately broke a drive along with the motor mounts in the boat. That rang up about a $3,000 bill. Next time out, a road gator got me and blew the left rear tire on the trailer and took off half of my chrome fender. Same trip as that, I lost the hydraulic steering and crashed into a boat full of nuns with orphans. Actually, that didn't happen to me...but this guy I know. You get the point, start small and progressively get bigger. It's not the boat's payment, it's the intrinsic or uncalculated expenses that making boating expensive...and kids too, I hope you're not planning on having any of those.$$$