What do you "own" if you own a slip

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mrdeepseafisher

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I am trying to decide whether to buy a slip or rent. We are planning to rent a slip for the first 12 months and putter around the area where we intend to keep the boat just to give us time to get to know the area, but times are hard and I have come across what seems to be a couple of good deals on slips.

Questions?
1. What do you really own when you buy a slip?
2. Do banks finance slips and how long if so?

Any real world experience and advice is appreciated. We are in the Wilmington NC area.
 
I would certainly investigate liability issues before buying one. With today's litigious society, I would imagine the thief who tries to steal your boat who slips and breaks a leg could sue you.
 
I don't have any direct experience, but the "owners" of slips in my area actually have leases. They are complaining that operating costs on top of what they paid for the slip are constantly increasing. So, I'd make sure you read the fine print regarding other costs.
 
Every Dockominium is different. It may be on leased bottom or by state license or very rarely on owned bottom.
Usually they are set up in a condominium format of deeded slip and perhaps parking stall with common elements
like a pool and the main docks. Price, property taxes, utilities and condo fees will be all over the map depending in amenities
and what is included in the common fees and what is metered at the slip.
Also read the rules, they are as varied as there are condo boards and projects.

I own two 50 foot slips, each sells at about 30K today, I paid a lot less. Condo fee is $106 a month and includes power all year and water
during the 7 month season. We have air conditioned washrooms, showers and laundry, electronic gates and security cameras. We also own the bay bottom outright under the project.
Property taxes are $400 per year.
My cost is just over $1600 a year per slip each and my extra slip rents out for almost $3000 for the summer and $750 for in water winter storage.
Liveaboard is allowed for the summer season and only the dockmaster is allowed to liveaboard in the winter,,,, OK for me as I am the Dockmaster.
 
Lee:

You really need to find out the status of the slip. As noted, many are in fact 99-year leases and you have the right to sell whatever remains in the life of the lease. It is no different than a long-term lease of an apartment. The maintenance of the floats and systems as well as liability coverage usually rests with an association, in the same manner of a condominium and you wind up paying a monthly or annual maintenance fee.

Alternately it may be a "dockominium" which is the same as a condominium. You own the right to use the float or pier and to occupy the designated space.

Depending upon the history of marina and its finances but more importantly, your individual credit, banks used to be willing to finance the units. With the current economic climate, I suspect that you would be lucky to finance 60% of the purchase price.

Gene
 
Lee,
I own my slip as well as another I rent.
I own, not a 99 year lease. What I own is the land below the water in my slip ( I think, it may be I own the rights), I own the section of land behind my slip 17' x 6 or 7 feet, and I also own a percentage (based on beam of my slip) of all the common property in my marina. Of course the ownership of the common property is something I can't sell, but just my portion of what I pay for common charges :)

Can't comment on financing because I bought both my slips outright.

My rental slip is valued around 40K, my slip where I keep my boat would be around 60K (very wide beam). If someone offered me 80K, I would not sell it. The million dollar views of the bay makes slips on the dock priceless.

If the numbers make sense, owning may be the only smart money move you make with this hobby :) The slip I rent pays for all the expenses of the slip I keep my boat at as well as puts a few hundred dollars in my pocket. In 8 years of ownership of the primary slip and 4 years on the rental slip, I am up 50K or so on what I paid for both slips.

Do the math, I have seen slips you can buy that make no sense to own.

Good Luck

Walter
 
Like Walter I own one and rent one.
Not financed.
Owning is a great deal if you like the marina and plan to boat for a while.
Not including the rental, my costs are a 1/3 of what it would be if I rented a slip.
Plus it goes up in value.

I think it's a smart move if you plab to be there.

Also, Walter, we don't own the water. Noone owns the water.
We own the land behind our slip, plus a share of common facilties.
We also own 4 poles and a finger pier.
I don't maintain insurance on my slip.
I was told if someone gets hurt by my slip, the marina's insurance would cover that.
 
I own my dock space. It is private property that is too small to build a house on. It is 50' long along a bulkhead on a canal and the property itself is about 25' wide from the bulkhead to the street. I have water, electric, and a nice sized shed that I keep stuff in year round. The neighbors are real nice,. and I have great views of the bay.
The canal is about 3/4 of a mile long (I'm down near the end)and lined on both sides with properties like mine of varying lengths so everyone seems to look out for each other.
There is plenty of space for me to keep my boat on the property during the winter and nobody to tell me what I can and can't do to my own boat. I can do as much or as little of the maintenance and repairs as I want, and when I do use someone else to do stuff I can use anyone I want.
Between summer dockage, winter storage, maintenance, and repairs, I save thousands of dollars a year.
Plus, I get the added benefit of appreciation that you get with any waterfront Real Estate.
Buying that property was one of the best things I've ever done. It cost me a bit more than I would have paid at a dockominium, but it is probably cheaper to keep on an annual basis. I've owned it for about 3 years and have turned down offers for a lot more than I paid for it several times. I bought it right after the economy tanked from a guy who needed to get out of it fast and I had cash so I got a real fair deal.
I wouldn't think of selling it unless I was totally getting out of boating, found out that my kids would never have an interest in using it, or was moving out of the area.
IMHO: Owning is much better than renting. If I hadn't found this piece of property at the time I did I would have seriouslly considered buying a dockominium. In fact, I was looking to rent one of those to give it a try when I came across my property and bought that instead.
 
I am a dockominium owner, since 1995. If you're planning on staying for the long-term owning can be more economical than renting. But you've got your money tied up in what in my area is not a very liquid asset. While the prices have gone up over the years it is common to see a slip on the market for a couple of years before selling. Carefully review the condo documents and take a close look at the finances of the condo association. Do they have a large enough reserve fund to cover anticipated replacement of facilities as they wear out? If not you'll be looking a sizable special assessments when significant repairs or replacements are needed. The condo association will generally have the property and liability insurance coverage but again you need to verify this. I also have the slip included on my homeowners insurance for personal property and liability purposes. Good luck!
 
Ok, Have I found a deal? Today while looking over a rental agreement for a marina near Wilmington NC I took a chance and called the dockmaster at the marina where I am looking to rent.

After talking awhile he said that he probably shouldn't tell me but several of the slips have been repossessed by a bank. He couldn't remember what bank had them but he did provide me with a sales sheet for what the slips were selling for back in 2008. A 70 ft slip was selling for 350,000.00 with prices averaging somewhere between 4000-5000 per foot of slip length.

I did a little leg work and found out that the bank happens to be the bank which my business uses.... so after a few phone calls and tracking down the loan officer who made the original loan to the developer he is willing to let the 70ft slip go for 65K. Association dues are 220.00 per month which accounts for annual taxes and insurance. There are no other association dues or assessments. I only have to pay 8 cents/kwh for actual power used. Does this sound like a good deal?
 
Something is only worth what people will pay for it. So check the recent sales and see what similar properties sold for. Up on our lake, the average 38x13 docks where over $110K in 2006 but now can be had for $70K. There are some perennially on the market for $100K, but if you dig you find they never sell for that price.

Be careful about those fees, my condo fee pays for the condo operating expenses and taxes on the common property, I have to pay for taxes on my docks directly to the town.
 
We had looked into buying a slip here on Long Island. Depending on one's credit, a bank would finance it, just the same as buying another piece of property. We would have actually owned only the land behind the slip, roughly 10' wide by 15' deep. You can't own the water. In addition, annual marina costs would cover electricity and water, use of marina facilities, including pool, showers, and lockers, and winter storage on land. Hauling and splashiong would be extra. A mechanic was available, but I could bring in my own after notifying the office (so they said). I would have to carry liability insurance on the property and separate liability insurance on the boat. When we added all the costs and the thousands which would have to be part of the inital down payment on the mortgage and the other expenses, we decided against owning. I wish we had the opportunity to buy land the way JVM225 did. That we would do. Unfortunately, those deals are few and far between, even with this week economy. I've actually looked for a small parcel of waterfront land which offers dock space and room for winter storage and a small garage. I haven't found any on the South Shore of Long Island where we are. So, it can get expensive and complicated to buy. It's your decision. Hope we have all helped with our opinions and experiences. Hy
 
One thing a piece of land doesn't get you is the marina atmosphere.
I like being in a marina.
I have neighbors, friends, room for dog to run.
It's certainly nice owning a dock on a spigot of land somewhere, but I personally think being in a dockaminium or any marina gets you something more. With that said, you could hate your neighbors and then it's a different story.

As far as value of owning a slip, do your homework. Know their value. If boating hits the skids they could go down.
I look at it this way, they are sitting on very valuable land. So if value decreased to a point where they were almost worthless, the condo board could consider a sale to build real condos. That ideas has floated around at my marina, but I think there is a lot of opposition.
 
I used to work for a very wealthy gentleman here in Palm Beach and he owned 2 slips in a marina. One for his 65' sportsfish and the other for his 105' Broward. I remember the day he was able to sell the last of the 2, it was one of the happiest days of his life, never again he said, the money does not add up and the insurance on them was a killer.
In the marina in Vero where I kept my boat for the first year there where a couple of private slips and one of the owners and I talked all the time, he told me he was required to hold a $10mil insurance on his slip, needless to say he really wanted to sell and just rent.

Cor
 
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