We have been offered a houseboat: built as a traditional sailing fishing vessel, but with an additional engine and a steel hull. It was built around 1933 and seems to be very well maintained (subject to technical due diligence). According to the seller and pictures provided, it is fully seaworthy. The hull was completely overhauled in 2016.
Judging from the pictures, the vessel’s interior looks very pretty. It features a living room, a kitchen, a master cabin and an additional cabin described as children’s room, with bunk beds. It also has a very small “bathroom”: a toilet, a tiny shower, and a tiny sink.
Speaking of tiny: everything is very small. I don’t have a detailed floor plan, but I estimate the living area to around 40 sqm (430 sqft). We are a family of three (wife, me, 1.5y daughter), and while we think we could make do in such a tiny space (as have others), especially in cold rainy weather I suspect it might feel cramped. Another factor is safety for our little one, since she might fall overboard and drown. She would need constant supervision on deck and possibly a life vest at all times she isn’t “indoors”. As things are now, we have a small fenced garden we can let her play in without having to keep both eyes on her all the time.
Financial facts:
- Purchase price is around €120.000
- The existing moorage (pretty much down town of a fairly large town near us), including utilities (electricity and water) is €270 per month. Our current rent + utilities amount to around €900 per month. We would give up our currently rented house.
- On top of these monthly costs, I expect costs for insurance and maintenance. These I haven’t estimated so far, but I will find out with the seller. Also costs for diesel will need to come on top, for the ship’s engine and also for heating in the winter months.
- We currently have assets (ETFs and cash) of around €130.000, and no debt.
Another fact worth mentioning: Neither of us has a sailing license (which, over here, is mandatory for sailing it), but both of us have some limited sailing experience on yachts and as occasional deck hands of larger clipper ships. To sail it, we would have to get the license (one-time expense of around €1.000 and about a year of courses and exams) and/or ask my FIL who used to be a commercial captain to attend.
My questions:
- Has anyone here ever lived in a house boat? Please share your experience. What was it like? Did you have children on board?
- Is it wise to pour almost all our investments into a boat, which likely doesn’t show price appreciation like “real” real estate does, but rather gets older and depreciates, and needs a lot of maintenance? If something happens to it that is not 100% covered by insurance, we might have a problem.
- What amount of maintenance can we expect? We’ll need to check with the seller but I’d appreciate any additional third party opinions.
- Are there any other costs related to owning such a boat other than those mentioned which we haven’t yet thought of?
- How can we arrange the safety of the little one about going overboard?