I have a 10 foot aluminum boat currently, but I feel like I am too big and heavy for it, so I am looking to upgrade to something bigger.

I found an aluminum boat (boat only) for sale locally to me that I like, it’s in good condition, and a good price. It’s also really old, like 6 decades old. The seller does not have a title but is willing to write a bill of sale. Is there any way if I called Texas Parks and Wildlife, would they be able to look up and tell me if this boat is currently registered to someone or reported stolen? And if it comes back clean, how easy would it be to apply for a lost title and get it registered over in my name?

Otherwise, I found a very similar boat for sale witha trailer in another state that I may be willing to make the drive to pick it up. This seller does in fact have a clean title in hand for the boat, but does not have a title for the trailer, as their state does not issue titles or register boat trailers. I assume getting the boat registered would not be an issue even though it’s out of state since the seller does have clean title in hand and I could get a bill of sale. The trailer, on the other hand, I could only get a Bill of sale for. How difficult would it be to get that registered to my name in Texas? Could I get it registered as a homemade trailer if push came to shove? I would likely restore and modify it anyways to my liking if I got it.

Ideally, I would just buy a boat and trailer locally that are both registered title in hand, which would make for a very easy transaction and simple registration. Unfortunately, I am picky and the exact boat I’m looking for is fairly rare and hard to come by around these parts. I’ve been looking for close to a year now and haven’t been able to find anything local with title in hand.

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

It is my understanding that most recreational boat trailers in Texas are NOT titled property. I believe that the requirement to title is only for trailers weighing more than 4000 pounds. My Ranger tandem axle trailer isn't titled, for instance, and wasn't when first sold by a dealer to the original owner.

For a boat, get the serial number. Texas has an available look-up to give a prospective owner the status of a hull. I haven't checked that it's available lately, but I have used it in the past. They even have a look-up for outboards (which are titled separately from hulls) by serial number. You may not need to call anyone to get info you desire.

[img]https://www.txdmv.gov/motorists/buying-or-selling-a-vehicle/trailers[/img]