BOAT LOANS AND FINANCING OPTIONS

Buying a boat is a dream for many water-lovers, whether for sport or pleasure. However, a boat can be a significant purchase that is not easily covered with cash on hand. The purchase price range of a new motor boat is between $20,000 and several hundred thousand dollars, while a pontoon boat averages around $35,000. 

For most boat enthusiasts, this is not something they can pay for out of pocket. That’s where boat financing and boat loans come in to lend a helping hand.

Types of Boat Loans

Boat loans are specifically designed to cover the cost of a new or used boat for a qualified borrower. Some lenders offer loans for boats, with special terms and rates, while others do not offer this type of financing, even if the borrower is qualified. 

Like other types of financing, boat loans may be available with a wide range of interest rates, repayment terms, down payment requirements, and other up-front or built-in costs. It is necessary to understand your options before purchasing a boat.

Types of boat loans may include the following:

• Fixed interest rate boat loans with a set interest rate and repayment amount over the life of the loan

• Variable interest rate boat loans with a fluctuating interest rate and fluctuating payment over the life of the loan

• Balloon payment boat loans with a smaller monthly payment due for the majority of the loan term and then a large, lump sum payment at the end

• Personal loans for boat purchases that do not require the boat to be used as collateral to back the loan

• Home equity that uses a borrower’s personal residence as collateral instead of the boat itself, with either variable or fixed interest rates

In addition to these traditional options for financing a new or used boat purchase, there may be specialized boat loans that combine one or more of the features listed above for qualified borrowers.

Any type of boat may be financed, so long as the prospective boat owner qualifies for the new loan. Lenders may have specific requirements for minimum and maximum loan amounts for boat purchases, as well as specific terms for how long repayment can extend. However, just about any boat purchase, including speedboats, yachts, pontoon boats, and water sport vehicles, can be financed. 

Borrowers should note that boat loan lenders may differentiate between used boats and new boats, similar to how auto loans are priced. Because used boats represent more of a risk, loan terms may include a higher interest rate, a shorter repayment term, or a combination of the two. Typically, new boat purchases have the best available loan terms.

See the full article here: Boat Loans and Financing Options

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Hello Everyone! Thank you for following along on our adventure as we sail to new lands with our electric motor and synthetic standing rigging. We are venturing along using only the power of the wind to carry us across the great blue world that we live on!

BOAT LOAN CALCULATOR: ESTIMATE YOUR PAYMENTS

Financing a boat is a big decision. If you’ve used the boat payment calculator and have some more questions, here are a few things worth considering.

What Factors Affect My Rate?

Our boat payment calculator takes into account the interest rate, loan amount, and loan term you provide to calculate your estimated monthly cost. However, the rate and term you are offered will ultimately be determined based on your credit score, debt-to-income ratio, and other financial factors. You should obtain a quote from several boat loan lenders to get an idea of the loan rates you’re eligible for.

What Credit Score Do I Need to Get a Boat Loan?

Boat loans may be available to borrowers with credit scores as low as 500 to 550 but you will pay a higher interest rate. Boat loans with the most affordable terms usually go to borrowers with applicants who have good to excellent credit—generally, scores of around 690 or higher.

How Long Will My Repayment Term Be?

Boat loan terms vary by lender and are determined by the amount you borrow, your desired monthly payment, and your creditworthiness. It is possible to finance costly boats with loans that are repaid over terms as long as 20 years. However, with interest rates being equal, the longer your loan term, the more interest you’ll pay and the higher your total costs will be.

Is a Boat Loan Similar to a Mortgage?

If you are financing a very large boat that could double as a residence, such as a yacht, local laws may mandate your boat is registered with the Coast Guard or with other federal marine authorities. In these cases, a formal boat mortgage may be required.

However, most people using our boat loan calculator won’t need this type of loan. Instead, most borrowers will take out an installment loan. While mortgages are also a type of installment loan, boat loans require much less paperwork and are treated more like a standard personal loan or auto loan.

Does Your Boat Loan Calculator Pre-Approve Me for a Loan?

Our boat financing calculator is for informational purposes only, so entering your desired loan information won’t pre-approve you for a loan. However, you can either get pre-approved or submit a full application to the lenders shown above after entering a few additional pieces of info.

How Long Will It Take to Get My Loan?

The length of time it takes to get approved for a boat loan will vary by lender. Some lenders provide decisions within minutes and funding within a few business days. But it is common to wait for two to four days for a decision, and it can take an additional week or longer to get your funds after approval, depending on the lender.

Calculate your boat loan payments here: Boat Loan Calculator

Here's How to Avoid Excess Baggage on Your Future Travel Abroad

If you’ve ever been on a plane, chances are that you’ve seen a few people opening up their bags and struggling to find a solution because they packed a little too much weight. You never want to end up in a situation where you'd be in their position and you have to find a way to clear out some stuff from your bag in order for it to get into the plane. This article will help you avoid being in such a tough and stressful situation, especially if you're already a little late.

Here Are 3 Ways You Can Avoid Excess Baggage When Traveling:

1. Buy Certain Things At Your Destination

Whenever you're packing, you usually get this feeling to over-pack in case you'd need your extremely large shampoo bottle. Well, an important piece of information to remember is that other countries have these products too, some for an even cheaper price than the one you have. Buying things like toiletries and hair products in the place you're going to end up saving you a few kilograms in your bag, and those make a huge difference. If you're planning to stay for an extended period of time, then you'll need all the weight you can get to pack your clothes anyway.

1. Weigh Your Bags Before You Leave

Getting all the way to check-in your bag before you travel is a really stressful situation when you don’t know what to expect when you get there. You cross your fingers and hope you're not overweight because you don’t know how much your bag weighs after you packed it. Here’s some news, there are multiple ways to weigh your suitcase while you're still at home. Having a handy little device to check the weight of your bag before you actually leave to the airport can save you so much trouble in the long run, especially if you travel frequently.

1. Use a Light Suitcase

If you still carry around an old, heavy suitcase that’s huge and can fit all your clothes when you travel, then you might want to invest in something that does the same thing but with a lot more ease. There are hundreds of new suitcases that have a sturdy exterior shell but are extremely light and easy to handle. The weight of your suitcase itself goes into account when you're at the airport, and the lighter the suitcase, the more you can pack. Any problems with weight always occur with just a few kilograms that could’ve been spared by having a light suitcase.

Try To Use As Many Tips & Tricks as Possible

Avoiding being overweight and having to either pay a fee to get your bag on board or having to unpack things from your big suitcase onto your carry on bag is the main priority here, but you also want to have the freedom to carry the things that you want to take with you too. Avoiding unnecessary weight by combining every single trick in the book will leave you with the utmost comfort when you're packing. You'll pretty much never have to worry about heading there and finding out that your bag is overweight, especially if you know for a fact that it isn’t.

Copper Sink on a Boat

When you think of a boats head, the sink probably doesn’t stand out as a key accent piece. That’s because they are usually made out of some cheap plastic or something that is hidden out of the way where it won’t be noticed. Popular materials for boat sinks are plastic or stainless steel; not because these are exceptionally stunning materials, but simply because they last a long time in the harsh marine environment.

When we refit our head, we decided to take our sink in a different direction:

Copper sink! Pretty!! But will it last? Copper is rarely used on a boat in favor of bronze because copper will corrode away in no time flat! Copper, when exposed to the marine environment will turn into green dust and blow away with the wind. Putting it in a marine head where it is constantly exposed to shower water, waves that come through the hatch, and the dampness of a shower in high latitudes sounds like a death sentence.

We chose to rise to this challenge and see if it could be done! Why? Because copper sinks are pretty! I know that is a dumb reason to try something out, but being a vessel sink, we could always remove it if it died on us and replace it with anything else! This meant that if the test was a failure, we would simply have to buy a new sink; but if the test was a success, we would have a beautiful accent piece in our head!

Challenge accepted! We purchased this sink on Amazon and it arrived ridiculously quickly. We the got it installed in the new head and everything was ready to roll. Let the test begin; slowly.

The sink has now lived in the boat for 5 months and is still looking fine. We have yet to develop any signs of corrosion in the form of green powder, even though we have taken many a wave over the deck with the hatch in the head open. Salt water has been pouring over the copper sink and it has managed not to tarnish!

How? Well, to call this a copper sink would be the same as calling a house “wooden”. The sink is made of copper, but the outer surface is not copper. The outer surface is covered with coatings that isolate the copper from the world around it. This means that if moist air were to rest on the outside of the sink, nothing would happen.

Naturally, over time, these coatings will wear down and the sink will start to pour out green dust of decay, but that is only if we do absolutely nothing to the sink! Metal polish with protective waxes in them will help keep the copper bright while also protecting it from the harsh marine environment.

Our sink has been in use for a while so far and is working very nicely, regret is the last feeling in my heart when I give someone a tour of the boat and show them the head!