Help With Boat Value

I joined this forum some time ago because a neighbor of mine has a real project boat he had asked me to help him with. However, this afternoon I saw an 1982 16 that said it had new sails, trailer and "lots of extras". I checked the hulls over good and they are in excellent shape. No sign of cracks or delamination like on my neighbor's project boat. We are in the Finger Lakes region of NY. Can anyone give me a good estimate on what is a reasonable value for this boat? I sure would appreciate the help.

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Sailing is living.

Check ebay under completed listings, this will give you an idea of what boats have and haven't sold for.

New sails is the key word there. There still is a good $ range left for condition, but based on what you've stated. 1,200-1,800 would be a good buy. I look at it this way: All pre '85 16's are worth $500-$1,000 stock with trailer in good condition. Any extras: i.e. harken blocks, hot stick, epo rudders, new sails. Cut the cost of the add on's in half and add that to your 500- 1000. There are cherry exceptions, of course. I feel ebay is better for sellers than buyers on Hobies. Your best deal will be found in local markets, with a smaller buying audience. The great thing about buying a 16 in this price range is you can sell it for what you paid for it., if you take care of it. The boat your looking at sounds like a good cat to cut a deal on. The best cat, is a cat you can put right in the water. Life's short.

Steve -

If you can find a boat locally for under $1500 that is in good shape including trailer you've done well. I looked around the fingerlakes area quite a bit two years ago before I purchased mine from out of the area. What I found was a lot of high dollar expectations...

Go into it with open eyes and not google eyes

Do the math, does it need or soon will need a new tramp, sails, rigging, glass work, etc? $1,500 plus $2,000 in replacement / repairs = $3,500 for a nice boat. It can be pay me now or pay me later and usually the lessons learned on our decisions generally occur out on the water. Be cautious in your decision making, and good luck!