Belinda and I would never really want a houseboat. But the trick here is that legal liveaboards at Gangplank are limited, but you can buy a boat that has its legal status grandfathered in. And once you own a boat with liveaboard status, you can transfer that status to another boat. It seems that the boats that have the legal status are selling for a premium of at least $10,000 over what they would be worth without.
It feels like the old days of "fixture fees" and "key fees" on the lofts that I lived in in New York City back in the mid-1980's.
A Canadian woman is asking for $35,000 for a very small, shabby houseboat with one seized engine. She implied that she'd take $29,000. This thing, without the status, would be lucky to get $5000.
Joe at Gladys Marine has another houseboat, also a liveaboard, much larger and very comfortably laid out. Although a bit rough at the moment, he promises a long list of repairs that his crew will take care of as soon as someone buys it. His price is firm at $45,000. And I'm sure he'll get it.
I don't think that a houseboat is in our future. For our $45,000, we'd rather just buy a 40' project sailboat.
If we had $45,000.
While we are here, I'll mention that I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the facilities are at Gangplank Marina. The bathrooms and showers have been recently refinished, and have marble counters and nice fixtures. More like a yacht club than a marina. Add with parking, washers and dryers, and dogs allowed, and it would be a nice place to live. If you could get legal liveaboard status.
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