Selling Tips

[FlyWalt]

Good Morning,

I have the opportunity to purchase a deceased friend's F33A Bonanza from his estate. While my heart is very heavy at this prospect I also take it as an honor to care for his bird as he took great pride in his airplane and his aviation life.

With that possibility I would like to ask the group for tips on selling your airplane without a broker. I have sold one airplane in my past. Since maintenance was in tip top shape, I had a deposit within two weeks of advertising her on barnstormers. 

In this case, 231LR has had tip top maintenance done by MSC's for the past 5 years and 4 months that I have owned her. The only exceptions would be the 2013 and 2014 done by local shops closer to my home base. 

The main weakness of the aircraft is that we have an original interior that is in ok shape for me. But it will not win any awards with someones wife.

Thank you in advance,

Walt

[KSMooniac]

Just post it here for starters...this crowd should recognize a good plane and you might find a buyer quickly here, or one of us might recommend it to a prospective buyer.

I'm curious, though, what the F33 offers to make you move from a K?

Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

[rbridges]

Someone buying a K should be a fairly seasoned pilot.  They should be able to recognize a well maintained aircraft even with original interior.  If it's priced fairly, it should sell without too much trouble.

Just my two cents.  I love pics.  I like seeing what's in the panel and how well the paint is looking.  Having pertinent info easily found in the ad is nice i.e. TTAF, SMOH, etc.  I also hate "call for price".  That's just me, though.

[Hank]

To me, "Call for Price" means the seller isn't interested . . . Too many prospects can be ruled in or out based on price, without having to call every single seller. This goes for cars, planes, houses, etc. I chose my last Realtor by figuring the percentage of advertised homes in the local rag with prices shown, and used the one with the highest results. Told them how I selected them, too. 

[gsxrpilot]

The things to look for in a 231 will be... (assuming no corrosion, good maintenance, airworthy, etc)

1. Engine time?
2. Wastegate added?
3. Intercooler added?
4. Useful Load?
5. Which Autopilot? (Does it have a Flight Director, Vertical Speed/Altitude pre-select, approach coupling?)
6. WAAS GPS?
7. And then all the other Mooney stuff like tanks sealed, pucks recent, etc.
8. Paint and Interior is always at the end of the list for me. It's a very personal choice and I'd rather do the paint and interior myself if everything else is done and done right.

[steingar]

1.  Wash it, wax it and detail the interior.  Clean aircraft sell faster than dirty ones.

2.  Take good photos, and lots of them.  More the merrier.

3.  Scan the log books.  I don't think you need all of them, but the entries for the last few years might be a good idea.  Folks ask, and its a lot easier to just hit "send"

4. Post it everywhere you can.  You never know where your customer will come from.

5.  Be prepared for tire kickers, for folks asking your bottom dollar and everything else.  You're the salesman.  Act like it.

Good luck.  I hate selling aircraft so much I traded mine for my Mooney, I might have got a 5K hit in the process.  Worth every dime.

[Ben E.]

Just now, steingar said:

1.  Wash it, wax it and detail the interior.  Clean aircraft sell faster than dirty ones.

2.  Take good photos, and lots of them.  More the merrier.

3.  Scan the log books.  I don't think you need all of them, but the entries for the last few years might be a good idea.  Folks ask, and its a lot easier to just hit "send"

4. Post it everywhere you can.  You never know where your customer will come from.

5.  Be prepared for tire kickers, for folks asking your bottom dollar and everything else.  You're the salesman.  Act like it.

Good luck.  I hate selling aircraft so much I traded mine for my Mooney, I might have got a 5K hit in the process.  Worth every dime.

I agree with all this, but I can tell you as a prospective buyer, I want to see scans of all the log books.  It gives a good idea of recurring issues, shows the extent of damage history (or supports the owner's claim that there is none), time since last recurring maintenance (e.g., magnetos), etc.  Scans of the last overhaul documents are also very helpful because it tells you exactly what was done.  

[Andy95W]

If you post the pertinent spec's here on MooneySpace, you'll probably get a lot of good advice regarding what it's worth.  Then add 10% for negotiating room?

[carusoam]

Do what the pros do the best you can...

• photos
• details
• logs scanned

It is a real job to sell a plane. If you are fortunate, the buyer resides here and knows what questions to ask.

Check in with AAA to see if their service offers anything interesting to you.

Mooneys are selling.  It may not take too long.  If it does, AAA may be your solution...

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Best regards,

-a-

[Oldguy]

You can rarely have too many photos, especially of the engine and panel. Scan all of the log books, each type (engine, prop, air frame) into different files. If there are a lot of pages, be sure to compress the files or break them up into multiple files less than 20 MB, if feasible. Also scan in the last annual invoice, if possible. Don't always need to send it, but have it handy. List all of the avionics with pertinent info (GNS 430 WAAS, KT 74 ADS-B Out, etc.). List all times - engine, prop, air frame. List all mods or improvements (retractable seat belts, intercooler, JPI 830, etc.) added after the plane was manufactured. Listing any damage history and where repairs made would also be good to have in the listing. Final suggestion: wherever you list it, please, please make sure you have the same price in all of the listings.

The goal is to make it easy to fall in love with and buy it. Making it hard to contact you or difficult to negotiate and buy will drive off lots of interested buyers. I should know - I spent 3 months trying to get a builder to take a check from me to build a house he supposedly wanted to sell me. I gave up last week and found what I wanted, made the offer and got all of the paperwork done in 5 days. Make it easy to buy and it will sell. Quickly.