To appraise or not to appraise

[tundrarules]

First, let me say, I hate to see you both give up on your boat project. I do applaud you for moving on. It is almost impossible to find a competent boat mechanic unless you live close to a very large body of water. When you do find one they are very expensive. Maybe you guys can set a future goal of moving close to a lake and buying a boat that is ready to go.

The standard tax deduction is $12,400. Most people don't even meet that mark on taxes. If you do not itemize, talking about a tax write off is useless. Let me assume you do itemize. Let's say the boat is auctioned for $7000. The auctioneers get 30% and the charity gets $4900 Your tax deduction is worth about $1000 back on your taxes. I say sell the boat outright and put $5000 in the dream fund. I am not a tax expert, but this will give you something to think about.

If you snoop around a big marina, you will find people that buy old boats to flip for extra cash. Take a weekend trip this spring to a marina near you and see if you can sell your boat. Bring lots of pictures. Put ads on craigslist in the large marina towns. Move on to the next plan for a boat. I hope you both find a great solution.

[yooper]

To bad the boat tired you out. I would suggest to anyone with a project cruiser to get it running and in the water before working on the cosmetics or fly bridge. From your post I assume that the engines are out of the boat. I don't see the problem in sending your engines out for a rebuild. There are lots of places that can do the work. Just about everyone is within 100 miles from a good rebuilder that can break away from racer and hot rod engines to do a quick rebuild on a couple of old 318's. The great thing about boat engines is that you can hook them up to a battery and a water hose and run them on the shop floor. You should insist on this before they go back in the hold. Get some inspiration from these videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72QwwG5X4XU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG94HRdtJT0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIMakmfIg0g