A houseboat is a boat that has been built or modified with a house. It is used primarily on lakes and seas near docking areas. Although most houseboats do not have motors to travel far and fast, they usually have improvised power alternatives to move their houseboat from one place to another.
Some people are in favor of using a houseboat as their existing home to live in. And some of these people are families used to living in a houseboat surrounded by bodies of water.
So, what if you are just new to this kind of living situation? It just happened that you are planning to live in a houseboat, a thing that you did not do before. You will need to consider some things before purchasing a houseboat and start living there with that in mind. To help you out, just continue reading these tips about what you need to look for when buying a houseboat.
You Should Know How are You Going to Use the Houseboat
A boat is a broad term; it is like saying you want a car when there are numerous kinds of cars you can choose from. This is the same for boats, in which there are also a dozen kinds of boats you can choose depending on how you want to use them.
So before you purchase a houseboat, you need to ask yourself how you want to use the boat. Would you only like to use it for occasional days during vacation, parties, or long-distance cruises? Or would you like to use it for a full-time living in a boat? These are some of the questions you need to consider before purchasing an expensive boat because it may be too late when you realize that you bought the wrong type of boat for yourself.
Prepare a Budget for Your Houseboat
Living in a houseboat is not free, and you need to prepare expenses, like annual maintenance, dockage fees, and boat insurance. So, as a rule of thumb, you can prepare at least ten percent annually of the houseboat’s total value. Let’s say you bought the houseboat for eighty thousand dollars, then you will need to prepare at least a minimum of eight thousand dollars yearly for the expenses stated earlier.
Find for Houseboat Financing
Financial loans for houseboats are also available out there. You just need to learn their terms and conditions of payments before you enter an agreement with them.
Usually, houseboat financing can let you pay for a used houseboat for about fifteen years if the cost is less than one hundred thousand dollars. On the other hand, if the cost of the houseboat is more than a hundred thousand dollars, some financing can allow you to pay for about twenty years. Brand new houseboats have longer payment terms in financing loans; some of them would offer around twenty-five to twenty-seven years.
Consider the Place Where You’re Going to Buy the Houseboat
You should know very well that a houseboat is meant to be stationary. It means that it doesn’t have a motor to move far and fast. So, if you bought a houseboat from a different state than the place you want to dock your boat, you will have to pay hugely for transporting it. Depending on which state and how far it will be from your place, it could cost around ten to twenty thousand dollars.
Look for Docking Location
Living full-time in a houseboat doesn’t mean that you don’t need to go out there in your entire life. Of course, you will need to go out to shop for food, clothes, and other items. You will need to go to your job or other livelihoods that do not involve your houseboat. So if you are in a houseboat, you should look for a docking location when you need to go out. Or better yet, you need to anchor your houseboat near a docking station if you need to go out more often.
Consider a Budget for Repairs
A houseboat is a vehicle with a house attached to it. So repairs and maintenance will be more frequent than living on a land-based house. For the budget, you need to consider the electrical source, water supply, and ventilation systems. Some used houseboats on sale may look affordable and capable of traveling on seas; however, you need to check for all its facilities how often you’re going to repair them out once you buy them.