HMMM should I pick this up for $200 if its in good shape?

http://modesto.craigslist.org/boa/328076602.html

If you have the motivation to restore it and its structurly sound, yes, its worth it.

I would hate to see this left at the dump to die. No matter how bad a boat is cosmeticly, i will never promote it to be destroyed.

99% of the jet boats that were made are sellable at about 3 - 5K, looking and running good. It costs far more than 3 - 5K to get 99% of the jet boat projects out there to look and run well enough to get that 3 - 5K selling price. So unless there is sentimental value or value in that particular boat's history, I don't see how any jet boat project is worth it. In my generalizations I'm not including those few boats out there that are different, like my friend's Eliminator that he put 25K into and sold for 11K, or another friend who's probably put 30K in his jet boat and probably couldn't get 5K for it, I'm talking about your average jet boat here. A AFU Hallet is very average.

The more jet boats that are destroyed the more the rest of the jet boats that weren't destroyed are worth. Seen the value of a '69 Camaro lately? I remember a time when you could buy a '69 Z28 Camaro for less than 2K.

My .02 is if you like throwing cash in the trash then buy it, if you don't like throwing cash in the trash, buy a jet boat that's already done.   

This seems to be a split debate as you can see....weigh out your options and go with it.

My Tahiti is getting close to being done. It not about the $$$ its about the love for classic boats and my hobby. I am not in the business of buying and selling boats. just having projects to keep me busy and seeing them resurrected from the dead and not go to a junk yard. When I see a boat in bad shape I try and think of what it looked like when it was brought home  back in the day and all the fun someone had with it and what it can be again.  Its a labor of love

My Tahiti is getting close to being done. It not about the $$$ its about the love for classic boats and my hobby. I am not in the business of buying and selling boats. just having projects to keep me busy and seeing them resurrected from the dead and not go to a junk yard. When I see a boat in bad shape I try and think of what it looked like when it was brought home  back in the day and all the fun someone had with it and what it can be again.  Its a labor of love

Nothing wrong with that. When I was younger (read much less responsibilities) I went through many cars and many thousands of dollars never to be seen again, which was fine for that time in my life. But now, hell no. Restore that '73 Duster with a slant 6 and it'll cost you 20K, restore that '69 Dart GT with a HiPo 340 and it'll cost you 20K, which one are you going to love more? I'd rather spend my cash on something that will be worth something when I'm done. Frock it, buy it, put 25K into it, keep it until your family has 5 in it, it'll be too small, and then sell it for $4K because it was rebuilt so long ago and because run of the mill jets have low resale value's.    You can spend the 25K on a standard issue $200 Hallett project boat, or you can spend slightly more in the original purchase price on a newer open bow jet project which will get you a lot more of your cash back and it'll take that much more to grow out of.     As far as a Labor of Love, remember that love is blind so maybe we should all be rebuilding 40 year old never heard of brand jets and never get a top speed out of the thing because it handles like crap compared to later models.   

I'd at least go look at it . Hallett made some very impressive hulls . They were generally on the heavier side but at the same time they would take what ever you could throw at them . If you did most of the work and really were in no hurry to finish it , those better hulls are worth more when complete . I dont care what hobby your into , You can never make money on your projects . The ones you do are few and far between .

I had a 20' saguaro sit for about a year and a half while I gathered a ton of parts . I ended up being talked out of putting money into it even though it was a splash of a beisemeyer. I had tanks , jet , motor , exhaust , and ton of other odds and ends . I wasn't anywhere near putting it together so I looked around and found a turn key Hallett 210 for under 5k . Not a single hole in the upholstery and the gell was just a little oxidized .

The guy was right , why put money into a hull that isnt going to be worth anything after its done . So here I am backing a truck full of money to my hallett. We all know money is an issue so it's a matter of how time do you have and how much of a project are you ready to take on . By the way , you can sell the trailer for $200 at least .

-beerjet-

... A boat is not an investment..... ...you won't make money on it...

Incorrect.

A boat is exactly like any other potential investment. You can spend 20K on a '69 Malibu 2 door or 20K on a '69 Malibu 4 door and the resale is significantly different. You can spend 500K on a Mobile Home or 500K on a house and the resale is significantly different. Boats are no different.

When you have spent that 20K on that 4 door or that 500K on that mobile home, they will always be a 4 door or a mobile home and have resale value's as such. They will both offer enjoyment, but will never be worth what you had spent.

So I guess if you don't care if you buy smart, don't care you'll never get even close to what you spent, unrealistically plan on keeping that boat for the next 50 or so years, then maybe it's worth throwing that cash away for the enjoyment of throwing that cash away in your 4K boat.

In the examples you made, the margins are too slim to truly be called "investments'. An investor moves his money to where it has the highest return, not just where he hopes he won't get burned. Playing at boats is fine (and what this thread is about), but let's not confuse a hobby with investing.

The intake is worth about $50...

fifty bucks? Show me where the fifty dollar intakes are stashed. I see where you have 4 boats under your belt, but please...

There are people that make a living on buying and selling boats, but not many do it on the old and small crap that we mess with here. It's big boats where there's always a buyer. People with money. People that buy big boats, as a general rule, always have money no matter what the economy is like. THAT is where you can make a good chunk of change turning a boat.

The boat trader, ebay, craigslist and all the other outlets are stuffed full of boats being dumped by people, the average guy, already feeling the pinch of things starting to go upside down, not to mention the price of gas. Now is not the time to try to turn a boat for a profit, I just bought another boat yesterday and the owner came down a bunch to make the deal with me. Stuff is not moving. But now is a very good time to buy a boat because of that. It's a good buyers market right now (it's always a buyers market in the boat biz. When times are tough all builders will bend over backwards to get the sell and you can grind on them to get what you want. When times are good, if the builder you're working with won't deal, there's another one down the street that will...everybody's busy and everybody's happy)

Back to the original question, that thing is worth at least 200 bucks if that's the kind of project you're looking for. But no one has mentioned the shape of the bottom. That's the single most important thing to worry about, not only on this basket case, but any boat. If the bottom's good, the rest is cake. 

Oh yeah, who in their right mind would restore a 1973 Duster with a slant 6 much less sink 20 grand into a post 1971 car? 

Oh yeah, who in their right mind would restore a 1973 Duster with a slant 6 much less sink 20 grand into a post 1971 car? 

I was with you until the "in their right mind" part. I haven't proven I'm not of sound mind with a Duster, but many of my other projects have.

well I am gonna pass on this one. The woman wants a SeaDoo for her and her friends when they don't want to ride in the loud boat . That means I get to gas and oil it and keep it turn key for the bitches and thats just another thing I dont want to do while i am relaxing/having fun at the lake. I was thinking about buying a old school stand up jet ski and watching them try and ride it all day and keep falling down. Is that wrong?? I dont think so.

I was thinking about buying a old school stand up jet ski and watching them try and ride it all day and keep falling down...

lol