Marine Finance

What we finance

Private sales are the norm here, and they're fine

Most decent second-hand boats and skis sell privately, not through dealers. That puts people off because they assume finance won't cover it. It does.

What we handle: paying the seller directly, checking whether there's money still owing on the craft, confirming the HIN matches, and sorting the payout if there is one. What you handle: picking the boat.

The one thing worth doing yourself is a proper inspection before you commit. A marine survey on anything substantial is money well spent — we can finance the purchase, we can't tell you whether the hull's sound.

The seasonal thing nobody mentions

Boat and ski prices move with the calendar. Late autumn and winter is when private sellers get realistic, because they're staring down a summer of storage fees on something they're not using. Spring is when everyone wants one and prices firm up.

If you're buying in the off-season, finance approval sitting ready is a genuine advantage — private sellers take a buyer who can move that day far more seriously than one who says they'll “look into finance”.

Approval typically holds for a period once issued, so getting it done before you start looking is worth it.

From listing to launch: the whole sequence

The private-sale checks you've read about above slot into a longer sequence. Here it is end to end.

On timing: the finance side runs in days, not weeks. Conditional approval typically lands inside 24 to 48 hours, and settlement follows quickly once you've locked the craft in. The slow parts of a boat purchase are usually the survey booking and the seller's schedule — so start those early and let the money run alongside.

• Approval first. Send us your budget, we price it across the panel — starting with a credit check that won't affect your credit score.
• Find the craft and send the listing. We start the ownership and money-owing checks straight away.
• Get it checked mechanically. A compression test on an outboard is cheap and tells you plenty. A sea trial if the seller will do one — most genuine sellers will.
• On anything substantial, book the survey before you commit, not after.
• Sign the documents electronically. We pay the seller and clear any payout.
• Transfer the rego — and remember the boat and the trailer are separate registrations in most states. Both need doing.
• Insurance active before the hull touches water. On a secured loan, lenders generally require comprehensive cover from settlement anyway.

Hours, not years: how to read a used boat or ski

Engine hours are the odometer of the marine world, but they read differently. A ten-year-old outboard with 400 logged hours and a stamped service book is a better proposition than a five-year-old one with 80 hours and no record of a service — engines that sit unserviced deteriorate faster than engines that run.

The service rhythm to look for: outboards want a service every 12 months or 100 hours, whichever comes first. A seller who can show that history is telling you how the whole boat was treated. Ask whether it lived in salt or fresh water too — a freshwater life is an easier one.

One more check worth knowing about: modern outboards log their hours in the engine's computer, and a dealer can pull that report in minutes. If the hour meter on the dash says 150 and the seller gets cagey about an engine readout, that tells you something too.

Lenders read it the same way. Age, hours and condition together decide which of them will write the deal, which is why a well-kept older hull can be more financeable than a neglected newer one. Send us the listing and the service history and we'll tell you where it lands.

What the boat costs after the ramp

Mistakes that sink boat purchases

Repowers, electronics and upgrades

A new outboard can cost half the value of the boat it hangs on — a repower is a genuinely big purchase, and it's financeable on a boat you already own. Same goes for a trailer replacement when the old one's rusted past saving.

Electronics have gone the same way: a serious sounder, GPS and radio package is real money now. Bought through a dealer with the boat, it can usually be bundled into the same facility rather than hitting the card.

The maths worth doing first: if the hull is sound and suits you, a repower often beats changing boats — you know the boat's history because you own it. If you're weighing that up, ring and we'll price both paths.

Structure-wise, a repower finances over a term matched to the engine's working life, not the hull's — an outboard serviced on schedule has a long one, and the finance should fit it rather than drag past it.

Jet skis, specifically

Skis are their own market. They sell almost entirely privately, they're registered like boats, and the hours logic above applies double — a ski that's towed skiers and biscuits every summer has worked harder than its years suggest.

On the money side, a near-new ski clears most lenders' minimum loan amounts comfortably. An older, cheaper ski might not — and if it falls under the line, we'll tell you straight and point you at the better route rather than force a bad fit.

Two admin items first-time ski buyers miss: most states want a personal watercraft endorsement on top of the standard boat licence before you can legally ride, and the ski and its trailer are registered separately, same as a boat. Sort the licence while the finance is running and nothing holds up the first weekend.

Ski-and-trailer packages finance as one deal, which is how most of them sell. Send the listing with the hours and the service history and we'll have an answer back quickly — conditional approval typically runs 24 to 48 hours.

What customers say

Questions we get asked