PLAN THE WHOLE PURCHASE
The price tag is just the beginning.
A simple worksheet for the boat, the work and the year ahead. Use local quotes for the vessel you are considering.
HOW TO USE THIS PAGE
Build a budget you can defend
Start with the yacht you are actually considering. This worksheet adds your figures; it does not estimate market value or predict what an unknown repair will cost. Keep a separate list of unresolved items so a tidy total does not hide them.
Collect the evidence
Record the date and scope of each quote in your notebook. Distinguish a fixed quotation from an allowance and from work that cannot yet be priced.
Separate the buckets
Put purchase and investigation costs, initial work, recurring annual costs and reserve in their own rows. Avoid counting an engine service both as initial work and again in annual maintenance.
Stress-test the decision
Change an unresolved major item to a specialist’s plausible higher estimate, then review the total. Include any associated storage, haul-out and commissioning. If the revised allocation is unaffordable, resolve the scope before committing.
Put the advice to work
Compare two complete first-year allocations
Illustrative arithmetic only, in AUD; these are invented planning inputs, not Australian market averages or quotations. Candidate A costs $90,000 plus $3,000 investigation, $18,000 immediate work, $12,000 recurring costs and a $10,000 reserve: $133,000. Candidate B costs $105,000 plus $3,000 investigation, $5,000 work, $12,000 recurring costs and the same reserve: $135,000.
| Check | What you have | What to do with it |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase difference | $15,000 | The more expensive listing is only $2,000 higher in this deliberately simplified first-year comparison. |
| Immediate work | $18,000 versus $5,000 | Replace allowances with scoped quotations. Neither figure establishes that all necessary work has been discovered. |
| Recurring costs | $12,000 each | Equal costs are an assumption for this example. Obtain separate berth, insurance and maintenance inputs for each yacht. |
| Reserve | $10,000 each | This is cash retained, not an expected invoice or a recommendation for your vessel. |
The decision: The example excludes finance, depreciation, delivery and unlisted costs. Its purpose is to show why purchase price alone can mislead, not to recommend a yacht or a reserve percentage.
Further reading: YANMAR: planning a repower and choosing an installer ↗. The example is editorial interpretation, not a finding about a real yacht or a professional sign-off.
Follow a complete Buyer’s File →Your first-year cash allocation
Enter your own quotes or estimates in Australian dollars. Enter zero only when you have considered the item and expect no cost. Blank fields remain unknown and are excluded from the arithmetic.
Saved on this device as you make changes.
0 of 10 cost fields entered. The total is incomplete; blank costs are still unresolved.
The reserve is money set aside, not a predicted bill. This worksheet excludes loan interest and repayments, depreciation and costs not entered. Browser data may be cleared; print a copy for your records.