Boats are no longer are luxury, for many it is now a necessity. There are those who live in boats and those who use boats to make a living. This therefore makes boats a great investment thus the need for one to weigh certain issues very carefully when shopping for one. Some of the tips for boat shopping include choosing a boat that is right for your purpose and visiting many boat dealers as you possibly can.
Choose the right boat. Narrow your choices to a short list of boat categories and make short lists of features that you require, features that you would like, and features that you want to stay away from. Take a look at our Boat Selector tool and find the boat that will be right just for you and your family.
Visit a boat show and choose the right dealer. Once you have narrowed your category choices down, then the real fun begins. It’s time to go shopping. Visit a local boat show and board as many boats as you can. Consider all available options. See a list of boat shows in your area. Remember, you are interviewing your dealer as well as searching for the perfect boat. You want to find the right boat-brand-dealer combination. Ask similar questions to each dealer to compare apples to apples. You may not know the exact boat that you want yet, but you know what kind of experience and service that you want to have, so don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions. Discover Boating also recommends buying from Marine Industry Certified Dealers. Find a certified dealer in your area.
Sourced from: http://www.discoverboating.com/resources/article.aspx?id=134
Boats offer a great solution when housing becomes expensive. If you cannot rent it on land why not own a floating home? People do not like thinking out of the box but for something buying a house boat6 solved all their house issues.
Emilie-Kate Owen was just another young first-time buyer who couldn’t afford a home in London when she stumbled across a solution – a boat. “Until 2006 I was living with friends but then wanted some space on my own. I couldn’t afford to buy on my own and thought about shared ownership but the places on offer were pretty intimidating. Then I spoke to a young guy and he said he lived on a boat – suddenly it clicked,” says Owen.
The eight-foot-wide barge is larger than anything she could have bought on her own at twice the price in the same area. There’s a bedroom with an adjoining loo, a large 18-foot-long reception and kitchen, a spare room and plenty of outdoor space, too.
Every floating home is referred to by the public as a boat house but actually there is a name for every floating house. Some of the house boat models are full hull, catamaran, barge, planing, pontoons, trailerable and displacement.
PONTOON
The Pontoon Houseboat style is extremely popular, since it provides stability, practicality, and is reasonably priced. Very common model of house boats.
FULL HULL
The Full Hull style is also an extremely popular model, since it provides stability, practicality, and storage space below the floor.
PLANING HULL
The Planing Hull style is also an extremely popular model, since it provides stability, practicality, speed, and storage space below deck.
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DISPLACEMENT
The Displacement Hull style is a slightly less popular model, however it is well suited since it provides comfortable ride in foul weather, and an excellent hull style for fuel efficiency.
Sourced from: http://www.all-about-houseboats.com/houseboat-models.html