Owning slip vs renting

[MakinTime]

Hi guys wondering if any of you own the slip for your boat? We currently rent our slip and have since 2011. Our marina is making a switch into a “Yacht Club” and made the slips available for purchase starting this year. Our current slip is 52’ X16’ and they want $58,000 for it plus $950 a year association fees. Any assessments above and beyond the association fee would be up to the slip holders to pay, (which scares me a bit). I also don’t know what banks would even finance a piece of dock. The problem is if we don’t buy, someone can buy the slip out from under us after our lease is done, which is a bummer because we love our dock neighbors and don’t want to move.

So to you guys that own your slips is there a lot of added expense above and beyond your yearly fee?
Our marina is in ok shape but will need work in the future including dredging about every 6 years as it silts in.

[PJHoffnet]

Wow, that would be tough to lose a slip - right out from under you - as you mentioned. I know of one place in our area with the same system. I suppose if the market will support it, you really can't fault the marina for moving in that direction. Capitalism has positive and negative aspects. Personally, I don't like the system. Long term rental works for us. One year at a time is our marina's plan.

[MakinTime]

Yes I agree with one year at a time, I just wanna pay my bill and boat! Don’t know if the stress of owning a slip and the unknown costs are worth it.

[Viper]

We have a marina in our area that basically started off that way right from the beginning. A selection of slips were set aside for ownership. Worked well for some people while others regretted the decision to buy. The value of your slip is at the mercy of the marina owners. If they let the marina run down, it will affect the value of your slip should you ever decide to sell. That's exactly what happened at this place. It was the place to be for years, a destination for boaters from the whole lake, but the marina owner stopped putting money into the grounds and it slowly went down hill.

I wouldn't go this route for several reasons; just because you own it doesn't mean you can do what you want to/in your slip, you will likely be responsible for a financial share of major improvements/repairs when necessary and have no say in when or how they are done, you probably won't have the control you might think you should have, the marina still calls the shots, if the marina gets neglected it will affect your value, and ownership restricts your ability to be mobile which is one of the great things about boat ownership over a cottage for example.

[tomschauer]

I have never "owned" a slip. Around 1999-2000 when all of the marinas in the mid to upper Chesapeake had waiting lists, some large companies came in and bought several marinas and made them condo where your bought your slip and paid the annual maintenance fees etc. Most of these are still in business, and the marinas are still quite nice, but the cost to own a slip has dropped from the 50k range that you mentioned to 15k and sometimes much less.
There is no protection for the value, it is supply and demand. But they all have a board consisting of slip owners and the property owner, so if the board does their job, they should not let the marina fall into disrepair.
What I found in our area, is the maintenance fee for the condo type marina, after a couple years ends up being very close to the same as your yearly slip rental fee for a non condo marina.

[feeez]

If my marina went this route the dust wouldn't settle for a week I would be out of there so fast.

This kind of reminds me of people buying equity positions at golf and country clubs. The few I know of are looking at their share value degrading to pennies on the dollar and the club is looking for levies for improvements to a apparently depreciating asset.

The parallel I would draw here is that boating and country clubs are for the most part luxury expenditures. Which as we have all seen can go south real quick during economic downturns (remember 2008 - 2009). What would the value of this slip look like the when the next Wall St. scandal erupts?


Cheers
Fraser

[MakinTime]

Thanks for the great input! All of us at our marina do not think this will go far, and it doesn’t sound like to many are interested. I could see this taking many many years to sell most of the 65 slips. But as far as big slips go there is not many and mine is one of the best with views and size so I’m worried it’s going to be one of the first sold, which is really a bummer.

[bud37]

Source of the post Thanks for the great input! All of us at our marina do not think this will go far, and it doesn’t sound like to many are interested. I could see this taking many many years to sell most of the 65 slips. But as far as big slips go there is not many and mine is one of the best with views and size so I’m worried it’s going to be one of the first sold, which is really a bummer.

What would happen if you decided to sell down the road ? Would the slip have to be sold back to the Yacht club or open market ? How did they arrive at the value, wonder who appraised and could your group band together and make offers. We belonged to a club something along those lines, but the slips were sold back to the marina at a set price,( we did most of the work) there were still rentals though.

[waybomb]

I used to rent slips. Glad I do not anymore. Every year the rates go up, and you never real know what jerk will be on either side of you.

I own a number of slips.
2 in front of my place in St Joe - 40' x 18' - came with the condo and is a selling point.
1 at my place on the other side of the state - 40 x 15 - came with the condo and is a selling point.
1 at the yacht club next door - 45' x 25' (for rent if anybody needs one in St Joe! $1800 for the year) Bought it cheap. Very cheap. I am not worried about losing value at all.

Dues the yacht club is $950. Tax on that slip is about $400 per year.

Tax on the east side of the state on the Detroit River is about 400 per year, and monthly dues is $12. Yes, twelve. I rent that slip out.

The two in front of my condo here used to be at $400 per year tax, but now it is rolled into the condo value, and looking at the the new assessment, my tax will actually go down now that it's rolled in.

The reason we bought a slip next door is a river situation. We are about 1 mile or so from the lake, but the way the river flows, if Lake Michigan is way down, the river shoals in such a way I can;t get to the slips in front of the condo, even though I have at least 8 feet in at my slips.
The yacht club is down river, and if it does shoal, the 48 co-owners pitch and dredge. Much more economical to put my boat there instead of dredging to get to my slips at the condo.

Yacht club ownership has it's merits when visiting other yacht clubs as well.

These costs and profit are made by the marina rental units. Cost is the same, or cheaper to own one.

[mjk1040]

Hell you all would be better off pooling ur slip and maintenance cost and buy the marina!