She's Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
better learn how to face it
She's Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
pay the devil to replace her
She's Gone...
Hall and Oats
After good and faithful service, we have sold our Monaco Diplomat and she left this morning for her new home in Oregon. We trust this will not be our last coach, but not for a while.
For anyone giving thoughts to selling, I have a couple of observations. The choices are sell, trade, or consign. Take away trade...for us. We briefly considered consign. Contacted that well known operation in Texas. Their phone pitch (obviously being read) was not encouraging. Their follow-up email gave us an estimated selling price 20-25% below what, after all, we asked. No doubt had they seen the coach (we drive it to Texas-no) their suggested selling price would have been a bit higher. And of course they get the 10% off the top. This is not to diminish that operation. If you want it sold, I have no doubt they do it well and quickly, but if want to maximize your "take", maybe not the way to go. It was not for us.
Lesson 1. How much do you want to Net?
Our out-of-state buyer came from Craigslist although we only placed the ad in the Phoenix market.
Lesson 2. Seems many people think this geography is a good hunting ground.
We got nothing from one of the popular (often mentioned here) internet selling sites.
Lesson 3. Who knows?
Our coach was spotless. DW worked for three hours on an already "clean" shower. I made the battery box look newer than out of the factory. Every item in the coach worked or we were upfront about it. Maintenance was up to date and very recent. Documents were presented.
A little sidebar story; I had sent pictures to our buyers and some comments, one of which was about the battery box being spotless and how it was just one of many ways to judge the care and maintenance of a coach. When looking at our coach the husband tells me of another coach they had just looked at and the wife went straight to the battery box which did not look good...and that was that...they were gone.
Lesson 4. Make it what it is. If it's above average, be sure to make it look that way and operate that way.
According to our buyers, they "bought" our coach when they drove up. This man is a master mechanic, owns his own business, and was smart enough to know his wife would be the final decision maker.
Lesson 5. If Momma aint happy......
I think it would be inappropriate here to give the dollars, but let me share this. We priced our coach in tune with the market, just below NADA "average" and stated we would not consider an offer at "low". (Maybe that should be Lesson 1A) In the end we sold at less that 5% off our asking price. We were more than pleased. And I will share this number and would be curious to any response. Depreciation for our '05 which we bought in '07 was $12K and change a year. Probably paid too much in '07 but I'll certainly take what we sold for in '12.
Our storage condo is 55' deep. This aint over.
Don Parrish
See you down the road. I'll be in the toad for a while.
When we sold our Foretravel we consigned it. Like yours, it was absolutely spotless and it sold within two weeks. We really didn't want to mess with test drives, etc., but we could have probably netted more had we sold it ourselves.
I sold a TT on Craigslist in one day.
2000 Born Free 24RB Class C
6.8L Ford V-10 Engine, E450 Chassis
2002 Honda CR-V toad
Roadmaster Sterling A/T towbar
VIP braking system
Eddyline Merlin kayak
Good information Don. I especially like the part about being upfront with buyers as that is something a dealer can choose not to do, especially on a consignment unit. I like the idea of buying from a private owner but you have to know what to look for. A clean battery compartment is a good start but crawling around underneath is very important also. As I am in the process of selling my 05 dynasty, I have done the same things...keeping it clean, up to date in maintenance, etc. I have chosen not to use craigslist due to all the scams and brokers you have to deal with. Congratulations on your sale and I am sure someone got a quality and well cared for unit.
2005 Monaco Dynasty Diamond IV 42'
04 F450, 6.0 auto, 4:30 rear; BrakeSmart; 50 gal aux.tank, 01 HR Presidential 35CKS, 3 slides, axles flipped; TrailAir Pinbox. pin weight 2760. Total gross TV and 5th: 24,060 lbs.
Congradulations. Your pre-sale work was what made the difference. Lots of used coaches on the market and you have to make yours better than the coach for sale down the street. Selling a coach is no different than a house. Location helps but presentation is everything. Makes a huge difference in how long the "For Sale" sign is in the windshield.
2006 Hurricane 31D aka 'Moby' the Whale
FCC(SW) US Navy Retired 1980-2003
Stella my Navigator
Bogart the All American RV Dog
and
Cocoui waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge
Congrats on the sell! Key messages I picked up on are:
1) Solid maintenance - Keeping current, and documents to prove it
2) Pride of ownership - Taking care of a unit, not only makes your enjoyment while owning better - but also paves the way for when you do need to move on.
I would encourage anyone that is hesitant to use Craigslist, to give it a try.
I sold my coach in a REALLY tough place (Alaska) in less than a day.
I too had heard the tales of scams, and spam, etc. As a result, I debated for several months whether or not to list it.
I dropped subtle hints on the board here, tried several listing sites, I got more spam from them than Craigsist. When you list on Craigslist, your email address can be hidden, and you don't need to list any of your contact info, they will forward email to you from their annonoumous email address.
I got only one message that did not look legit, I just deleted it without reading. If you are thinking of selling, it is definatly the way to go.
2007 Monaco Knight 40 SKT.
06 Jeep Wrangler.
Roadmaster Sterling All Terrain Tow Bar.
US Gear Unified Tow Brake.
FMCA F393302
artkt wrote: I would encourage anyone that is hesitant to use Craigslist, to give it a try.
I sold my coach in a REALLY tough place (Alaska) in less than a day.
I too had heard the tales of scams, and spam, etc. As a result, I debated for several months whether or not to list it.
I dropped subtle hints on the board here, tried several listing sites, I got more spam from them than Craigsist. When you list on Craigslist, your email address can be hidden, and you don't need to list any of your contact info, they will forward email to you from their annonoumous email address.
I got only one message that did not look legit, I just deleted it without reading. If you are thinking of selling, it is definatly the way to go.
And use a disposable email for your replies and correspondence.
I 2nd the Craigslist route. It's easy to use, free, etc. It has the best potential to get top dollar. If you don't mind the thought of several people coming out to look, and perhaps them trying to haggle, Craigslist is wonderful. I think it is only natural to haggle, so I don't take it personally.
4 whopping cylinders on Toyota RV's. Talk about great getting good MPG. Also I have a very light foot on the pedal. I followed some MPG advice on Livingpress.com and I now get 22 MPG! Not bad for a home on wheels.
FYI: Prospective buyers may not be targeting any particular geographical area to search. We have used www.searchtempest.com to search the craigslist entries all over the USA for items. It also returns ebay.com results in the same search.
If you're looking for a good deal - especially on a high quality coach - then this method gives buyers (and sellers) a good idea of what's out there at what price.
Don Parrish wrote: She's Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
better learn how to face it
She's Gone Oh I, Oh I'd
pay the devil to replace her
She's Gone...
Hall and Oats
After good and faithful service, we have sold our Monaco Diplomat and she left this morning for her new home in Oregon. We trust this will not be our last coach, but not for a while.
For anyone giving thoughts to selling, I have a couple of observations. The choices are sell, trade, or consign. Take away trade...for us. We briefly considered consign. Contacted that well known operation in Texas. Their phone pitch (obviously being read) was not encouraging. Their follow-up email gave us an estimated selling price 20-25% below what, after all, we asked. No doubt had they seen the coach (we drive it to Texas-no) their suggested selling price would have been a bit higher. And of course they get the 10% off the top. This is not to diminish that operation. If you want it sold, I have no doubt they do it well and quickly, but if want to maximize your "take", maybe not the way to go. It was not for us.
Lesson 1. How much do you want to Net?
Our out-of-state buyer came from Craigslist although we only placed the ad in the Phoenix market.
Lesson 2. Seems many people think this geography is a good hunting ground.
We got nothing from one of the popular (often mentioned here) internet selling sites.
Lesson 3. Who knows?
Our coach was spotless. DW worked for three hours on an already "clean" shower. I made the battery box look newer than out of the factory. Every item in the coach worked or we were upfront about it. Maintenance was up to date and very recent. Documents were presented.
A little sidebar story; I had sent pictures to our buyers and some comments, one of which was about the battery box being spotless and how it was just one of many ways to judge the care and maintenance of a coach. When looking at our coach the husband tells me of another coach they had just looked at and the wife went straight to the battery box which did not look good...and that was that...they were gone.
Lesson 4. Make it what it is. If it's above average, be sure to make it look that way and operate that way.
According to our buyers, they "bought" our coach when they drove up. This man is a master mechanic, owns his own business, and was smart enough to know his wife would be the final decision maker.
Lesson 5. If Momma aint happy......
I think it would be inappropriate here to give the dollars, but let me share this. We priced our coach in tune with the market, just below NADA "average" and stated we would not consider an offer at "low". (Maybe that should be Lesson 1A) In the end we sold at less that 5% off our asking price. We were more than pleased. And I will share this number and would be curious to any response. Depreciation for our '05 which we bought in '07 was $12K and change a year. Probably paid too much in '07 but I'll certainly take what we sold for in '12.
Our storage condo is 55' deep. This aint over.
Don Parrish
See you down the road. I'll be in the toad for a while.
Well that's all really good advice man thanks for the share.
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