Don't take a loan on a boat. Buy from an individual who stored it inside. Get a reputable mechanic to check it out before buying.

If you have $8k to "put down", that's enough to get a fishable boat. You don't need a $20k boat to catch fish. Or save up $4k more and find something in the $12k range if you want something nicer.

I'd rather have an older 18-footer that's been stored inside and no payment than a newer 20-footer that a dealer kept outdoors for 6 months with a big check to write every month.

BINGO

This might not be what you want to hear...... but I bought my house before I worried about a boat. Taking care of momma and the kids was MY priority. Mama loves to fish and in a couple of years, we bought a boat.

However, I also suggest a call to Mike Kernan. He's great people and honest to a fault. He can help you with anything you need.

Mike is a great guy and his boats are nice but the cheapest thing he's got is a 2011 Skeeter and it's
$38,000 with $9000 down. Might be a little expensive for our rookie. Need to find something for cash rookie. Look under boats on here, can't ever tell what might show up.

There's a guy here on boats for sale has a 2001 Nitro 929 that looks GREAT for $9000 or best offer. Check it out on page 2.

Dealers don't have better financing, dealers will not get you into the boat cheaper, and dealers on a rare occasion will have a better idea of what kind of work has been done to a boat.

That said, I would definitely have a dealer like Rockwall Marine look at a boat if you were about to drop 20k - my two cents.

The only thing that is nice about a used bass boat is that many folks are out there dumping good boats to make that step up...you should be able to find a heck of a boat for what you are looking to spend.

thanks guys, I own my house I live in now, we are just going to upgrade later for more kids. "one more" I was lucky enough to buy a small piece of property at an auction for 500 bucks, baught a little older mobile home for 5000, and put 10k into. I'm very fortunate at my age to own my own home. so now I'm focused on a boat. me and Ken A have been talking. if I can do the personal route I'm going to take that.

Ken A. is smarter than the average bear, good man to listen to. He turned me on to some Enron stock years ago.
Seriously, Ken is one of the good guys on here and very knowledgeable about all things fishing. You can trust him for good advice.

An Aggie, A Sooner and a Poke all in agreement. someone pinch me.

Another problem you might encounter is that you spend your cash wad on a boat that's just a bit higher than your comfort zone, and the boat needs a lot of work in a short amount of time. You need to have a mechanic inspect the boat, the cost of the mechanical inspection is well below even some of the more simple repairs like tilt and trim issues or certainly any outboard related issues. Even trolling motor issues can result in expensive circuit board replacement or complete overhauls of the unit. Same goes for the trailer, you can easily replace hubs and wheels but if there's damage to spindles or some structural damage, you could be out more money before you get settled in to using the used boat.

Best thing to do is to find someone on here who's selling a boat, and if that person has a reputation for upkeep, they probably keep service records. Those are very important. Last boat I bought was from a guy who listed every upgrade and change and service he ever had on the boat, since he bought it, over the years. He didn't just do it when he was ready to sell it. With that I felt comfortable that he was a boat guy and the fact that he just bought a newer version of the same boat told me he didn't find anything about his current model that scared him away from the brand.

And like others have said, I don't give credit advice except to say get it fixed before you get involved in anything that has an interest rate.

It's hard seeing brand new 22' bass boats with 10K worth of electronics and 250hp outboards zooming here and there while you're sitting there in a 18' used bass boat with a 150 or lower, but not as hard as watching that brand new 22' bass boat getting repossessed.

I wouldn't go quite that far.....

2 sooners even. that raises the avg iq to almost triple digits.

Just remember these 4 little words before you buy: B (break) O (OUT) A (another) T (thousand) !!