Dare I chime in....... Last year I was looking for a pocket cruiser and was looking at that 'other' boat. I was fortunate to live in MD and the boat show was in town. I was spending my day looking and dreaming, when I met Walt Wood, who operates one of the sailing schools on the Chesapeake. I told him I was looking to purchase a small sail boat that I could fit into my garage. I mentioned my current plans and he encouraged me to consider the 'M' boats before I put down any cash. I went home, logged onto the net and began my education. To make a long story short, I ended up talking with Bob Eeg who sent me plenty of photos of 'other' boats in compromising positions. After our conversation and the information I was gaithering, I was sold on the Montgomery 15. Now where to find one within my budget. Price is important, and you get what you pay for. I didn't have deep pockets, so I bought what I could afford knowing I would have to spend more $$ and time fixing her up. I puchased a boat in KY for $3800, sight unseen. I had it delivered to MD and have spend the winter tinkering with her. I won't go into all the details, but I will say this. My initial cost + time + material + labor = $6000 and climbing! So, the moral of the story is.....if you buy low and don't mind spending the time working on a project boat fine..........but don't think you are going to get something for free. If I could have found a 'Excellant' Monty, in ready to sail condition with no extra work needed, I would have paid the $6000+, as we all know, they are hard to find. Either way you're going to pay. Remember, you get what you pay for. Skip M-15 #201 Brandy -----Original Message----- From: barbaram@csufresno.edu To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Thu, 22 Mar 2007 7:16 PM Subject: M_Boats: The value of a Montgomery I took a peak at the MSOG for sale list and found two M15's currently available: a 1983 for $3750 and a 1991 for $7900. Both are reportedly in excellent condition. I recall paying around $6000 including trailer for my M15 new in 1984. $4000 might be a fair price for my boat (if I were selling, and I'm not.) Not that any of that is relevant. I think there are just a lot of people looking for a deal, and people do not expect firm prices to be firm. The way around this is to list higher and have a firm price you have in mind to agree to. Makes people feel like they got a deal if they can bargain you down. A pet peeve I have is people (i.e., my siblings or other peers) saying things like, "I wish I could have afforded to buy a sailboat." Hey, people, I was broke for a long time after buying mine! I chose that way to spend my money, you chose other ways. My way, I ended up with something solid instead of just memories of a nice vacation or expensive shoes that wore out long ago. But it isn't like I won the lottery. Bobbie _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.