buyer beware

[Ryan Wright]

On 5/4/07, davidkerryedwards wrote:
>
> Hence, the market for older Wanderlodge's with some needed repairs will
> probably always be a little more healthy than for refurbished coaches.

Kerry,

I agree to an extent. Personally, I think most people would rather
have a refurbished coach - I know I looked for one that was advertised
as not having any problems. The disconnect between buyer and seller
comes in price: Most buyers aren't willing to pay a premium for this
work.

In my search, I found that people were tending to sell "average"
coaches in a certain price range - what I considered "market price".
Then there were the occasional "refurbished" coaches where folks
wanted twenty grand above "market price". I wasn't going to pay that.
In fact, I wasn't going to pay "market price" for a coach with a lot
of problems, either.

As a buyer, here's how it worked for me: A good coach with nothing
wrong commands full market value, perhaps slightly more. In my range I
identified mid eighties PT-40s and the market value I came to was
about $50,000. Now, I wasn't going to pay full market value for a
coach with a lot of issues. Something that needed major work I might
have paid $35k for, but sellers still thought they could get $50k. On
the flip side, many "perfect" coaches, folks were wanting $80k.

When all was said and done I did find a very good coach with almost no
problems (few things here and there, but they all have those) right
near what I considered to be fair market value. This tells me that
those wanting $80k for their similar coaches are high, as are those
wanting $50k for something that needs $20k worth of work to make it
half as nice as mine.

So, there's my two cents worth.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92
Tri-Cities, WA