Vlog 81: Share and Share Alike
Cast your mind back to the videos I did about buying a narrowboat and you may recall a brief mention of “share ownership” – that’s what this vlog is about. How do you own part of a boat, who else owns it, and how does the system work when it comes to using the boat?
I’m really head over heels with this concept. As an American who has free travel with the airline, this could be ideal for the wife and I. I’m also thinking about retirement in five or seven years, it could make sense to own a four week share then. Thanks for this one David, truly you have given me something to seriously consider.
I think in the right circumstances (and yours do sound just the thing) then it’s an excellent idea.
Hi David
An excellent vlog as usual but I thought it failed to cover two issues.
Firstly, you only mentioned ‘managed’ shared boats which use companies like BCBN. There are many private shared boats where they do not use a management company but are responsible for all the admin and maintenance issues them selves. This saves money and quite a few shared boats took this option when OwnerShips went belly up a few years ago and some owners lost money. There has to be a good legal agreement and at least some owners who know one of a boat from the other but it seems a valid alternative. A subject for a future vlog, perhaps.
Secondly, to give share owners new experiences of different parts of the canal system, many syndicates change base every two or three years. This seems like an excellent idea. After a few trips you know all the routes around Yelvertoft (for example) and so a move to Overwater or Anderton would widen horizons. Another subject for your future vlog.
Jeff
Hi. Yes this was a management company boat. I doubt I’ll do another vlog about it, I think the general concept of shared ownership is explained reasonably in this vlog so I leave it to the interested viewer to then explore any further options. Cheers
Hey, … i just wanted to say thanks for a great video, which for me covered all of the top questions, in an excellent presentation. I am hoping very much to become a share owner, and have found BCBM to be very approachable and helpful. I have my eye on the gorgeous Little Dawn, a shorter narrowboat, which i think would be perfect. Fingers crossed, that i can one day take share ownership! Thank you again, for a great introductory video, Warm Regards, Davie xx
Thank you. Very pleased it was useful to you. Have fun on your boat!
Potential sharers should look carefully at just what they are paying their money for: not all schemes in the past are a full share of ownership (see http://canalworld.net/forums/index.php?/topic/90187-boat-buyers-bewaremysterton-mystery/&page=2 for example) and this can lead to problems when difficulties crop up. You may find that what is described as shared ownership is partly like timeshare that is you only own the right to use the boat for a certain number of weeks. I am not an expert and I know folk who were most content but it is an area where good legal advice is paramount.
Fair enough – good legal advice is paramount with all expensive purchases and contracts.
Good video, I’d wondered how ‘shares’ worked. You see them advertised so much but with no explanation of how they worked. To be honest I’d assumed, probably, like most people that they were a new take on timeshares.
Thanks for clearing that up !
Glad it was useful! Cheers