I've noticed that boats are generally more expensive in the Pacific NW
than almost anywhere else. I've compared lots of boats on
YachtWorld's web site. 10-25% higher in PNW. It might even be worth
taking a trip back east.
Boat prices are higher here for a couple of reasons. Climate and geography.
First, our constant overcast filters out enough UV to allow older boats to be
in better shape here where the sun appears only three times a year (and then,
only by appointment or divine intervention). You won't find people commonly
repainting the topsides on 10-15 year old boats in the NW due to gel coat
oxidation. By the same token, our climate allows us to use our boats 12 months
a year with no need to haul out for winter. If a boat has more days of
potential use, people will be willing to pay slightly more to own it.
Second, geography. Once away from Puget Sound, it's a long distance to any
place (in the US) that has any significant number of boats for sale. There are
always a few in Portland, but after that you're almost to central CA before you
see any large market availability. That same geography (even moreso than
climate) makes the Pacific NW one of the most desirable places in the US to own
and use a boat.
Big demand, restricted supply, higher prices.
Most folks who have bought a boat elsewhere around the country and relocated it
here have done so because they had to go outside the area to find the boat they
wanted, rather than the deal.
There isn't much gain to be realized by
trying to haul a boat clear across the country for 10-15% of its value in
initial cost savings. Transportation, taking down the rig or removing the
flybridge and putting the boat back together again, and repairing the damage
done during transit will consume a lot of the savings. The time and travel
expense involved with running around the country to personally inspect the
"final four" will consume the rest.
If there were huge savings to be realized by hauling boats here from all around
the country, there would be a lot more people doing it than the few maverick
specialists who seem to be able to scratch out a modest living in the
enterprise.
A few years ago, my office was on a dock where there was a 50-foot yacht
languishing on the moorings. The vessel was a brand name that it reputed to be
top drawer, and very expensive. Seemed that the owner of the boat had purchased
it in San Diego due to a "deal" he found there, and hired a professional
delivery crew to bring it up the coast.
The delivery captain was in a hurry, and ran the boat way too hard into a nasty
storm. Broke the first and second bulkheads.
Insurance refused to pay because the damage was the result of "abuse". Delivery
captain didn't have a pot to pee in. In the end, the buyer wound up spending
several times what he imagined he had originally "saved" to have the boat
rebuilt in a local yard.
If you really want to find a "deal" on a boat,
there's a local company that cooperates closely with some brokerages in Asia.
They really do have some eye-poppin' deals a lot of the time. It's not
inexpensive, however, to fly to Hong Kong to inspect, sea trial, and survey a
boat. For example, on their web page this morning they have a 42' fiberglass
Grand Banks listed for $117k. If the boat is in shape, that's $50k less than
some others ask for identical boats. (But it needs to shipped across the
Pacfic) I'm sure they have a number of good buys on sailboats as well.
http://www.yachtworld.com/internationalmarine/