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Here’s the most time-saving online repo boats source available in the U.S. There are more of course…

Obviously more boat auction sources exist but this one covers about all of them in one fell swoop.

In all I’ve have been searching over six years now and early on came to realize that often a great deal on a used boat can produce more sense of gratification and pleasure than the look and feel of a brand new yacht.

There is no doubt boat auction liquidations will continue to stir up more of these feelings for boat bargain hunters in 2010.

My main search guide has been and maintains to be online auction sources that aggregate and deliver lender repossessed boats, Government boat auctions, and dealer liquidations to its members or visitors. Bank boat repos will quietly come and go and it’s hard to find them all on your own.

The bottom line is if you’re in the market to land a cheap boat for sale, the following site has been my best public boat auction resource available on the internet:

BoatAuctionsDirect.com — It’s the only resource that aggregates and categorizes I think nearly every boat auction resource across the U.S. It’s extremely thorough and also lists everything from small boats to yachts, jet ski’s, rv’s, atv’s, in addition to marine equipment auctions as well.

In all I’ve painfully surveyed about every free and paid ‘gateway’ type boat auction site available on the online.
The above auction site is a monumental time saver.

The year 2009, has been one of THE best years for buying water toys at state or local repo auctions. As a frequent boat auction enthusiast myself it’s typically accepted that a vessel sold at auction will offer a 15-20% savings relative to book value.

That’s not bad, especially when you figure larger yachts retailing over $100,000..the savings can be really be significantNow fast forward to now where boat auctions has only served to up that percentage to as high as 30%.

Boat auction in the states — especially in the big four states (Florida, California, New York, and Arizona) are seeing banks and credit unions more aggressive in their re-marketing of non-performing assets. SunTrust Banks Senior V.P. Don Parkhurst states with regards to their repossessed boat inventory, “You’ve just got to lower the price to where you can move it. You’ve just got to take the hit.”

The rise in repo boats across USA with most every lender has attracted buyers who can now literally buy a late model repo for suprisingly less than what a new boat buyer paid 3-4 years earlier for the same make and model. Notable boat auction companies like National liquidators and Boat Auctions Direct have indicated that with the drop in value of the U.S. dollar coupled with the rise of repo boats shrewd international investors particularly from Australia, UK, and Canada taking advantage of this high tide.

So how can you take advantage as well? The key is consistently reviewing what’s out there. Frequenting auctions, online listings, classifieds, and dealer liquidations. Only by comparing asking prices and recent sales of similar models of the type of boat you’re interested in can you see savings of 50% or more. It’s really not rocket science.

If you have done a search for boat auctions at all online then you’re probably well aware of the often touted boat liquidation sales available from Uncle Sam. Government sources like the U.S. Marshals Service or the General Services Administration (GSA) regularly liquidate surplus or seized boats as well as about any type of forfeited or surplus asset via. internet or via. state or local auctions houses.
What’s usually the case however, is that many of the sources the Government uses to sell off their assets are what I call ‘transparent’ markets. These types of markets unfortunately easily allow bidders to compare the seized asset with a similar one and thereby decide very quickly about how much to bid. And often times more than they should. For example one of the transparent websites you frequently find government boat auctions is bid4assets.com Since there are already hundreds of other non-government yet similar assets being auctioned off on this site to the general public it’s difficult to really get a legitimate bargain since everyone has clear view of the market.
What I’ve tried to do is to locate state and local Government sales events close to home that auction off boats Live, on site and with few bidders. In particular local Police and DEA auction events. The reality is that most don’t realize that each day across the U.S. a landlord, business owner, or some creditor is issued an order from the court directed to the Police department, requiring him to seize the debtor’s asset or property so it can be promptly liquidated at auction. The intent of course for the proceeds isto pay down the creditors as much as possible. Whoever attends these ‘must sell’ one-time auctions (and they come and go all the time) will frequently have opportunity to walk away with an extremely cheap asset.

With regards to finding these Government boat auction sales take a deep breath…you can try and keep up with sales events on your own. Agency websites and newspapers advertise when they are scheduled to occur. However, there are time-saving membership auction database sites that keep up with that on a daily. I’ve found them a real time saver. These sites offer members access to their regularly pruned auction data bases for a nominal, one-time fee.

I have signed on to five of these sites since most tend to focus on a specific broad or deep range of assets. Alternatively, others focus on particular types of auction venues. Strangely many membership sites are simply Government related ..which severely limits the variety of auctions available across the U.S..

In the end the key with any auction is to once and for all pick your particular asset, focus on it by frequently exposing yourself to listings so you can make legitimate comparisons and offers. When it comes to finding a true bargain at any Government auction sale or repo boat auction event, you have to be able to really know when you’ve come across a great buy. And you can only do that by constantly comparing assets so as to recognize an undervalued asset when everyone else just passes it up.