What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Question about selling an RV

Dreamin9

Active Member
Greetings all,

With 50 years of flying under my belt, many trips and adventures across the US and Canada, 4 different planes, it's time to fold my wings and sell my RV.

-This is NOT AN ADVERT so any requests for info, at this point, will be ignored, sorry.

Factors-
-The weather here in Western NY is starting to get unpredictable with a flight demo iffy.

-I will be starting my A&P/owner assist annual Condition Inspection this coming week. Usually takes 2-3 weeks.

-We will be off to the sunny south early December returning around 4/1 and leaving the plane here.

-The home and used car market has softened, one might assume the same for aircraft in the spring.

When-
-Should I put it up for sale now with weather turning bad and the possibility that the potential buyer might only get to see it opened for inspection?

-Advertise as soon as the CI is complete (2-3 weeks)which might result in precluding a demo flight due to weather?

-Wait until Spring?

Where to market-
-There's the usual sites such as Barnstormers, etc.

-Then there's here on VansAirforce. I could be wrong, but's I think Doug's rules preclude, for the 30 day listing period, listing the plane for sale elsewhere.

Thank for your input,
Carl
 
I am just thinking, if you have made up your mind about selling, why not advertise it right away while you are doing the annual. It may take some time to find a right buyer anyway while you are doing the annual. With the annual, it is not like it can not be flowing as I usually do sections at the time. This might also make a good opportunity for the buyer to come and look under the hood as s/he might want to do that anyway and it will save you some effort of removing access panel, etc. As things are looking, it seems the market is going to get softer and softer.

Just my 2 cents and good luck
 
The rules don't require sole listing, only that you not post links to other sites here.
 
Last edited:
I am just thinking, .... As things are looking, it seems the market is going to get softer and softer.

Just my 2 cents and good luck

Funny you say that. I feel the same way. In fact, it is a bit scary buying an RV at current prices. There is justified feeling and fear that market trends will force capital for purchases like this to soon be diverted to more essential needs of life.
 
Yup.

Saw this same cycle back in the late 80's. PT-17's were all the rage, guys paying top dollar...and then the 1990-91 recession hit, and prices dropped BIG time.

If you're willing to be planeless for a while, might be time to sell and wait, have a pile of cash and wait for the prices to come back to reality. Like the housing market.

But it's always a gamble. The boom might already be fading. Seeing lots of high-priced planes on Barnstormer now staying for sale, fewer and fewer high-priced ones with "SOLD! Thanks Barnstormer! Sold in one day!" signs.
 
Last edited:
I'd advertise now, not necessarily because of market conditions, but because it will be opened up for inspection. Assuming the buyer is interested in some sort of pre-buy, everything is easier, including correction of any items the buyer may find notable.

I don't think the market is slack. I was answering questions from a prospective RV owner just yesterday, at a fly-in. Wouldn't make sense for a investor to pull money out of the markets right now, but there is a lot of cash floating around, and current airplane owners who will sell a current ride to get an RV.
 
Timing

Greetings all,

With 50 years of flying under my belt, many trips and adventures across the US and Canada, 4 different planes, it's time to fold my wings and sell my RV.

-This is NOT AN ADVERT so any requests for info, at this point, will be ignored, sorry.

Factors-
-The weather here in Western NY is starting to get unpredictable with a flight demo iffy.

-I will be starting my A&P/owner assist annual Condition Inspection this coming week. Usually takes 2-3 weeks.

-We will be off to the sunny south early December returning around 4/1 and leaving the plane here.

-The home and used car market has softened, one might assume the same for aircraft in the spring.

When-
-Should I put it up for sale now with weather turning bad and the possibility that the potential buyer might only get to see it opened for inspection?

-Advertise as soon as the CI is complete (2-3 weeks)which might result in precluding a demo flight due to weather?

-Wait until Spring?

Where to market-
-There's the usual sites such as Barnstormers, etc.

-Then there's here on VansAirforce. I could be wrong, but's I think Doug's rules preclude, for the 30 day listing period, listing the plane for sale elsewhere.

Thank for your input,
Carl

Crystal balls that accurately foretell the market are even harder to get than a new kit from Van's. One of those will eventually get easier.


It depends a bit on when the current CI expires, and may depend on the particular RV model to an extent, but in general given your thoughts on upcoming Wx and plans to head south, I would think putting it on the market now would make the most sense. Depending on when you plan to migrate south, you might need to adjust the date a bit.

While I know it happens, it's hard for me to rationalize someone buying a flying A/C without a good pre-buy, which should include a test flight. That goes double for an experimental, even though Vans tend to have pretty consistent flying characteristics unless something went off the rails during the build. If the CI expires at the end of October, Wx after that is problematic, and you won't be there anyway, now is the time to sell--priced at a realistic point. If you reach an agreement quickly, the pre-buy could be accomplished, and if you want to be a nice guy that could be extended to a CI once the transaction is complete. Watching (and helping to a degree) is a great way for a new owner to begin learning the airplane. That would mean delaying the start of the CI to a future date.

Another option would be to preserve the engine, go away, and plan for a sale/pre-buy/fresh CI when you return. That means of course that your capital is locked up for another 6 mos. or so while getting no "benefit". You'd also need to maintain insurance (not-in-motion), hangar payments, etc..., so delaying the sale significantly, even if the market doesn't cool, has costs. An additional challenge would be that the CI would need to be completed before the test flight, which probably eliminates the opportunity for the new owner to begin her/his learning process.

Just my $0.02.
 
My thinking is to list it now and delay the CI until a serious buyer is found.

When I was a buyer, The deal was, buyer pays for an independent annual inspection (substitute CI), seller pays for any discrepancies. This was regardless when the last annual was. If the seller didn't take the deal, I moved on. Granted in a buyers market, one will miss some good deals but it helps prevent the buyer from being burnt.
 
Last edited:
My thinking is to list it now and delay the CI until a serious buyer is found.

When I was a buyer, The deal was, buyer pays for an independent annual inspection (substitute CI), seller pays for any discrepancies. This was regardless when the last annual was. If the seller didn't take the deal, I moved on. Granted in a buyers market, one will miss some good deals but it helps prevent you from being burnt.

I agree list now now and delay the CI.
 
Back
Top