Partner wanted for houseboat...

I could type a super long post but....

Let's buy a houseboat and enjoy the water. Me 10k....you 10k

Sound interesting? Call me to discuss....Lewisville lake preferred.

Kevin
469-952-7772

Having been in the marine industry for 20 years, I can count on one hand the number of successful boat partnerships I have seen with fingers left over. There are many things to consider. Slip, insurance, maintenance, repairs, furnishing, registration, all of which involve expense, and the list goes on. You'll have to agree as to which items are going to be repaired, by whom and when, and how the repair expense is going to be divided. Shop and boat yard rates are $100+/hr. What if you both want it for the same weekend? Boat repair ain't cheap. BOAT= Bust Out Another Thousand.
Looking at what you are wanting to spend, you aren't going to get much for $20K, and that $20K can easily go to $50K to get everything in working order, repair propulsion, cosmetics, and this list can go on too. Then, after everything is done and it's ship-shape, set aside 10-15% of the original cost annually for repairs and maintenance.
Let us know how this turns out.

What Bob said.....

20K wont buy a pontoon boat ans a tarp. As a big boat owner -$75K - $100K is easily what you will invest

Bob is on the money

Yep, I remember as a kid, my dad went in partners on a boat with a good friend of his. Seems like every time we wanted to take it out something was wrong with it, something we hadn't been informed of since the partner had used it. So my dad always got stuck fixing it, and of course paying for the parts and/or repairs.

My dad kept up with the cost of repairs for a couple of seasons, then flat out refused to fix anything on it the next year. When his buddy approached him about buying him out of the broken boat, my dad presented him with the tally of past repairs he'd paid for and the partnership dissolved with my dad owning the boat outright.

A houseboat might, maybe, possibly, be different. but it couldn't be looked at as some sort of timeshare, because of the reasons Bob cited above. Boats are inherently expensive to own, more-so if you're ignorant to boating or being able to make repairs on your own.

Buy a smaller boat and rent cabins if weekends on the water is what appeals to you. At least you only have yourself to account for (pun intended) in that equation.

Don't do it!

When we lived in Florida every personal watercraft owned was with a partner and not once did we have an issue come up.......oh well!

I wouldn't do it. I hate losing control.

These deals never work out.

My dad gave my his old bass tracker. I sold half of it to my best friend for $500, he worked at a fabricating shop and I knew even though he was reckless and a little irresponsible it was gonna need some fixing up soon. Long story short he kept the boat at his shop, and used it a lot more than I did, but when he did break something he fixed it on his dime (if it was his fault), I chipped in for stuff that was regular maintenance.
We're still best friends today, but I could see how it could ruin a friendship. It was just a cheap boat, nothing to ruin a friendship over.
JP3

Wow....lots of hits on this post. What about a fishing boat, pontoon project? Come on folks...someone want to play?

No thank you. Partnerships with friends are bad enough, could not imagine partnering with some stranger from this site. Out.