After the Boat Show: What Sellers Should Do in November

The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show closed on November 1. For sellers, the show isn't the finish line. Many buyers who walked the docks went home with a short list and a lot of questions, and they keep looking in the weeks that follow, in Miami and Fort Lauderdale and along the rest of the coast. If you were thinking about selling and didn't list before the show, November is a good month to do it properly.

Here is how I would use the next few weeks.

Learn from what you saw

If you walked the show, you saw how boats like yours were presented: how they were detailed, how they were photographed, what was on display and what was missing. Use that. Make a short list of what the best-presented boats in your size and style did well, and be honest about where yours stands today. It is the most useful comparison a seller gets all year.

Get a number based on completed sales

Asking prices at a show tell you what owners hope for. A written market evaluation compares your boat against similar boats that have actually sold, then adjusts for refits, engine hours in context, equipment and how she has been kept. Buyers who spent a week comparing boats know the difference, and a boat priced to the market gets their attention.

Prepare with time, not in a rush

Without a show deadline, there is time to do things right: a proper detail, small repairs, canvas and cushions, a clean engine room, then professional photos and accurate specs. If a larger item needs attention, we decide together whether to address it or disclose it and price it in. I coordinate trusted local vendors in South Florida so you aren't managing every call yourself.

Launch for the season

A listing that goes live in November, with an honest number, good photos and a file that is started, is in front of buyers through the winter season. Through Luke Brown Yachts, the listing goes out through the firm's marketing channels and its network of 50+ brokers, so co-brokers whose clients are still looking after the show can find her.

You don't need to decide everything this week. A conversation about your boat, where she's kept and your timing is enough to start. I work across South Florida, Miami and Fort Lauderdale, from a home base on Key Biscayne, in English or Spanish.

Thinking about selling this season? Start with a complimentary market evaluation, or message me on WhatsApp at +1-305-741-0240.

— Enrique Dillon
Dillon Yachts · Partnering with Luke Brown Yachts