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Topic: Pricing rant (Read 1733 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #25 –
Quote from: Dub –
I hear you can get them for cheap 1600 miles away in a barn and owned by a lawyer of sorts.  and dealing with the local sheriff is no problem. Always heard that can be a piece of cake purchase..... couldn't help myself for inside poke.
Actually laughed out loud. If your going to be dumb you got to be tough. But look at all the great stories and memories. Was just thinking, nothing worked, but it still worked out for me/us. We will have to spend a couple hours talking about it around the fire pit someday.good stuff 👍👍

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #26 –
Roadrunners are going to run the road, crap a bunch of us have the affliction but we want no cure. Will be waiting on that sit down. 👍
Dub McBride 1996 270

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #27 –
Interesting discussion. Several years ago, right after the in-frame overhaul, we were at MOT to get the first oil change. While we were there I asked them what our coach was worth. The answer surprised me. They said they would list it for just under what we had just paid for the engine overhaul, and then they would take a large portion of that for their efforts.

Last spring I was contacted by a "serious buyer" who really wanted our coach. He eventually showed up (spring time in Wyoming, only a couple of hours notice, no electricity at the coach) and drove the coach. I've never heard another word from him. Was the price too high? Something wrong that he didn't want to deal with? Who knows?

Later this month we'll be at MOT for annual service, and of course we'll look over what they have for sale. It will be interesting to see what they think our coach is worth when I talk to them about trading for something on their lot.

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #28 –
Quote from: turbojack –


 You have two options, wait for the seller to reduce the price if it does not sell or look at different coaches.




We have the option of trying to convince the owner that the price is too high, though that rarely works.

Our previous coach, I watched his Craigslist ad.  One day, I happened to look at it just minutes after he dropped the price by 1/3.  I was polite but insistent and talked my way into being the first there and I paid his price.

Our FT...  We were so excited to find it that we kept giggling like little kids and talking about how nice it was.  When it came to price, I just told him I was taking it and asked if he had any small mercy on the price.

He told me that my (asking price) offer was not acceptable, and that I had better get back out there, find the faults in the coach, and make him an offer under asking price!  And that I had better be able to justify my deductions.

I did as asked and made an offer a few thousand under the asking price.  He looked at me with a stern face, thought a minute (probably theater).  He asked my wife "Your husband deducted for a can of touch up paint...  Will he REALLY go buy the paint and touch it up?!"  Kelly said "I know my husband - he will."

We shook hands and the deal was done.  There was a pint of touch up paint hidden away in the coach.

I recently listed our CRV towd on Craigslist at a fair price.  Within five minutes I had a serious caller.  In ten minutes, he said he wanted it.  In fifteen I had a $500 deposit via Paypal.  All without him seeing the car.

I have never minded leaving a bit of money on the table.  I have also learned that asking "Is there anything else that goes with it?"  can do magic if everyone is smiling.
Matt B
1998 u-320

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #29 –
We bought our 1999 40' 295 in 2006 from a dealer. I have the original sales paperwork 435k, we paid 86k. We are the 2nd owners. Along the way all things that age out airbags, fuel lines, steering box, brakes, along with all other issues, as well as the upgrades inside  floors, new W/D stack, TVs new furniture. They don't necessarily add a bunch of value, they just have to be done to keep the coach in good shape. The point of all of this is value the books don't add. Additionally book value on 20+ year old Motorhomes just don't work. If you find a well maintained/ upgraded coach that checks your boxes go for it. As others have said these things are not a investment, they are for your enjoyment.  Happy hunting.
Bruce, Linda, and Macy
Zoey RIP 1/20/19
1999 U295 40' build #5400
2017 silver Jeep Wrangler, 1260 watts of solar on top
Moving around the country

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #30 –
Quote from: dsd –
Actually laughed out loud. If your going to be dumb you got to be tough. But look at all the great stories and memories. Was just thinking, nothing worked, but it still worked out for me/us. We will have to spend a couple hours talking about it around the fire pit someday.good stuff 👍👍
Actually a darn good way to get a coach if one has skills and motivation.Can end up with a nice rig with more sweat equity involved that unreasonably high labor rates. A guy could make a buck and I don't know of many way's to do that with ANY RV.
Dub McBride 1996 270

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #31 –
Quote from: Dub –
Actually a darn good way to get a coach if one has skills and motivation.Can end up with a nice rig with more sweat equity involved that unreasonably high labor rates. A guy could make a buck and I don't know of many way's to do that with ANY RV.
We just got lucky. It was filled with many obstacles and now seems like a long hard, hot uphill pull. We have made it to the top and have been rolling down the other side. Yes there will be more issues to resolve but the last 5K was without issue. Honestly I never would of purchased at full price and doubt I would of been happy with less. Without the forum/members literally it never would of happened for us. Im sure there are coaches in storage forgotten about for years like ours was. Literally everything that would of been changed if they were actively in use will need to be addressed and more.
Scott

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #32 –
Many years back we used to go to the baseball card shows and sell,buy,trade,saw it many times,your card that you sold the
"dealer" as a 3 was magicly transformed into a 10 as soon as he got it.
96 U270 BUILD 4810
85 380SL
Drummonds TN.

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #33 –
Scott truly made silk out of a sow's ear..... this was a find that you had to assume needed everything.
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Lynn & Marilyn Sickel
Tollville, AR
1997  U320  40'
2021 Chevrolet Silverado pickup
Motorcader  17257

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #34 –
NADA aside, a Foretravel is a quality motorhome. Whether you buy a new one off the showroom floor or buy an older one that was sitting in (or outside) a barn, it's the USE of it that matters. If what you buy meets your needs and fits your budget, then it's a good deal.
You can do a lot of upgrading and repair work for what it costs to drive a new Foretravel off the showroom floor, especially if you do that work yourself. If you are lucky, you can find a pre-owned coach that is fully operational, has been properly maintained and needs nothing. 
1993 U225 Build #: 4285
500 Watts Solar
Honda CRV AWD
Former 1981 Foretravel Travco
Retired, Full Time Off Grid Snowbird

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #35 –
I agree with everything that everybody said.
One these are depreciating liabilities not assets.
2 nada does not reflect the true value of the coach or the selling prices.
3 it's fairly easy I think to evaluate over time what the particular year make and model coach that you want should sell for. By looking at the classifieds on this forum, by looking at motorhomes of Texas and other large dealers that will tend to sell newells country coaches and foretravels.
4 any other thing too would be to ask current owners what their opinion of an asking price is.... somebody mentioned about how they loved their coaches. I would say that just because you love your coach doesn't mean that you should ask the moon for it. Eventually they all sell. Well you could get a coach that was not taken care of cheap, would you want that,? Never buy a coach unseen. Always have it inspected by somebody that knows these coaches. There's nothing wrong with negotiating a price. You have every right to say I would give you this amount for it. And of course the seller has every right to say no. When I bought my coach 5 years ago maybe? The seller had what I considered to be a reasonable price considering all the upgrades that had been done to it. Looking back on it I don't think I would have changed that. Although I did give him extra for some add-on stuff that in the end I had to replace a lot of it anyway
Good luck in your search.
'99 U320 40 WTFE
Build #5462,
1500 Watts Solar 600 amp Victron lithium
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Hemi
Instagram bobfnbw
Retired

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #36 –
I have noticed that up here in Northern Wisconsin resort areas that a lot of "FOR SALE" signs go out in front of places for sale.
Prices are usually quite high but, if the property doesn't sell this year the sign goes down for the winter and goes back up the next spring. And this seems to go on and on until either it sells or the seller agrees to a drop in price.
One has to determine themselves what they are willing to pay for what they want and what it is worth to them.
Nitehawk,  Demolition Lady, & our NEW master, Zippy the speeding BB cat.
1989 Grand Villa 36' ORED
Oshkosh chassis, 8.2 DD V8
2006 Saturn Vue AWD
 

Re: Pricing rant

Reply #37 –
NADA looks at sales of a vehicle and makes a determination of what they are worth. It includes those coaches that have sat in a back yard uncared for  and not maintained.
NADA does not differentiate between a 99 in running order and never updated and a 99 that has been rebuilt, remodeled, refurbished.
The NADA priced coaches are out there, MOT has no real desire to sell them, they are at "beaters".
The difference between the beater and the beauty will probably be $35,000 asking price and $55,000 spent by the seller.
Forget NADA it's useless because not enough coaches are sold to get a good average, buy a decent coach and insure it for its true value, an agreed value, you agree that's what it's worth and your insurance company agrees to write a check for that amount.
None of us are going to sell our fully functional coaches for a NADA price, so it is not a fair appraisal of what a $300,000 coach is worth 20 years old and looking like it just left the factory.
Happy hunting!
David & Emma Roche
Dino (Golden Doodle)
1999 U270 WTFE 36' Build # 5534
Xtreme "Lights, Stripes & Roof"
Motorcade# 18321
Dayton, Ohio
Towd: Jeep Grand Cherokee
Two Townie Electra Bikes

Life is made to enjoy, the Foretravel helps!