Considering selling my Mooney M20J

[DingyHarry]

I have a 1978 M20J that I am considering selling. Not sure what the best way to go about this. Never sold an airplane before. Located in Raleigh, NC if theres anyone nearby that may be able to help. I’ve been flying her regularly but I’ll be moving to a larger city and I don’t see any economical way to hold on to her. Shes been hangared all her life and I don’t want to break that tradition. Thanks in advance for the help. 

[Bob_Belville]

The easy way to sell your plane for a fair price is to call All American in Texas. They are the premier buy/sell/brokers for Mooneys.

They can take all the pitfalls out of the process for you. Contact Jerry at Spring Branch TX. 

https://www.allamericanaircraft.com/Default.htm

[chriscalandro]

I will assume you bought your airplane at some point. Selling it is very similar, but in reverse. 

[epsalant]

When I was trying to buy a plane, I was very shocked that I would call up some brokers and never have them even answer my call. I was shocked that someone making a huge commission would be so lazy and not serving his customer.

So I bought my first plane through an individual and sold that plane myself I bought a new one again not going through broker....

I'm not saying all brokers are like that. I'm just saying if you get a broker they do get a hefty commission so make sure they're going to work for you and earn it.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[PMcClure]

Some people may be more comfortable working with a broker, but it is not necessary. Start here:

https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/aircraft-and-ownership/selling-an-aircraft

Check Controller, Trade a plane, etc... to see what models like yours are selling for. Price it right and it will sell. 

Brokers I spoke to wanted 15%  and I didn't see any value for me. Again, for some people and some brokers, it may be worthwhile. 

If this is a lot of money for you, use an escrow service so you know you have the money before the buyer gets the plane (or accept wire transfer before giving up the plane). 

[Davidv]

Out of curiosity, what kind of haircut does All American typically give if you wanted to sell it them?  For example, let's say the "real" fair market value of your plane was $200,000, what % lower would All American pay for it? (if they buy planes at all or just broker, I don't know their model).

[aviatoreb]

1 hour ago, PMcClure said:

Some people may be more comfortable working with a broker, but it is not necessary. Start here:

https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/aircraft-and-ownership/selling-an-aircraft

Check Controller, Trade a plane, etc... to see what models like yours are selling for. Price it right and it will sell. 

Brokers I spoke to wanted 15%  and I didn't see any value for me. Again, for some people and some brokers, it may be worthwhile. 

If this is a lot of money for you, use an escrow service so you know you have the money before the buyer gets the plane (or accept wire transfer before giving up the plane). 

I sold my Diamond DA40 by a broker in 2008.  It was well worth the 5% or so (from memory) he took.  He really took the large fraction of the work off my plate, negotiated the price up in a way that was very favorable for me, and probably more than paid for his own commission, and generally handled talking to all of the otherwise many tire kickers.  I would do it again.

Edited March 17, 2020 by aviatoreb

[PMcClure]

6 minutes ago, aviatoreb said:

I sold my Diamond DA40 by a broker in 2008.  It was well worth the 5% or so (from memory) he took.  He really took the large fraction of the work of my plate, negotiated the price up in a way that was very favorable for me, and probably more than paid for his own commission, and generally handled talking to all of the otherwise many tire kickers.  I would do it again.

That is what a good broker does! To me it really depends on the situation and person. One broker asked me for 15% to sell my plane!

[aviatoreb]

10 minutes ago, PMcClure said:

That is what a good broker does! To me it really depends on the situation and person. One broker asked me for 15% to sell my plane!

15% seems high but I don't know what the going rate is.  However, 15% seems higher than I would be willing to go considering my previous experience.  5% is well worth it to me. 

15 or maybe 20% seems more like the hair cut I would expect to take if I were selling it immediately to a broker who is buying it directly from me for cash so that I could just sell it and be done with it NOW.  Anything less than that experience and 15% seems like a lot.  And I would not be so impatient myself to go after such an experience,e but I do see there are valid reasons to go that way.

Edited March 17, 2020 by aviatoreb

[Davidv]

It would seem that a large percentage of people on this forum who are active are more than capable of selling their plane without a broker.  It involves taking pictures, listing it on the various sites, and then answering phone calls.  Almost everyone here has the knowledge of their aircraft to answer any informed technical question.  The broker seems most valuable for someone who may not fly often, doesn't spend a lot of time researching maintenance and other issues of their aircraft, or literally has no time to take phone calls, meet people at the plane, ect...

[aaronk25]

At 5% I’d do a broker, however I have a feeling that a 50k airplane would be at a different rate compared to a 175k airplane.

Anyhow Just remember to get the right broker, as you will be contracted (married to) the broker for a given period of time. A bad broker can be a real pain


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Bolter]

My experience with selling cars directly, I also create a new email account just for this purpose.  Make it something like your Tailnumber@gmail and you can give it to the new owner after the sale.  You want your ads to be seen, and your contact information will be picked up by all kinds of search engines and crawlers.  Avoid getting onto new spam lists.  You could even consider a throw away cell or getting a Google Voice number (still free?) to forward to your phone.  

typed while wearing my tin foil hat, -dan

[kortopates]

10 minutes ago, Bolter said:

My experience with selling cars directly, I also create a new email account just for this purpose.  Make it something like your Tailnumber@gmail and you can give it to the new owner after the sale.  You want your ads to be seen, and your contact information will be picked up by all kinds of search engines and crawlers.  Avoid getting onto new spam lists.  You could even consider a throw away cell or getting a Google Voice number (still free?) to forward to your phone.  

typed while wearing my tin foil hat, -dan

^ Great advice!

[KB4]

Post a couple ads, Barnstormers, Controller, Trade a plane. And save the Broker fee as @epsalant said.  Only thing broker will do for you is post ads himself.  If your are on MS you can post an ad.  Price it right, she will sell just fine without a broker. I see broker fee appropriate where they are hunting down a specific bird for you that may be difficult to find, or actually showing the plane to a prospective buyer in a town which you no longer live, but plane does. 

[Guest]

If this site is the number 1 spot for Mooney activity, I’d make your donation, take a bunch of pictures and post them here.  Have an accurate list of the installed avionics and options.  Scan the logs and have them ready to forward to interested parties along with complete AD and SB compliance lists.

Clarence

[larryb]

I bought my Encore through a broker and sold my J with the same broker. Flew in with the J  and flew home with the Encore. For me the 6% fee was well worth it.  I am away a lot and really didn't want to deal with scheduling visits with buyers. I also didn't have to worry about where to store the old plane when the new one was in my hanger. Tons of logistics problems solved. 

I did find brokers do not want to buy the plane from you to re-sell it. Just too much risk of an expensive problem found. 

[RobertGary1]

I've never sold a plane. I usually have loaned them to friend and they've wrecked them. However, one thing a broker does well is vet potential buyers. You don't want to have some mechanic you've never seen tear your plane down for a prebuy, the buyer walks away (or ghosts you) and the mechanic has a lien on your plane. One broker I spoke with has a contract the machanic must sign releasing any right to put a lean on the plane before they start. He encourages them to get money up front from the bujyer.

Unfortunately I think there are people out there that are much more talk than action; and I bet a lot of them are perpetual airplane "buyers". Of course you also get the guy who thinks that a 40 year old plane for $100,000 should be in the same shape as his brand new BMW for the same price.

-Robert

[KB4]

46 minutes ago, larryb said:

Flew in with the J  and flew home with the Encore

What's that going from 911 to a Lambo?  Must have been a great day. 

[brad]

Bought and sold through All American Aircraft.  Well worth it.

[dzeleski]

I bought through All American, Jimmy was super helpful. Wouldn't hesitate to give him a ring if I was ever going to change planes. Its also convenient that they are now apart of Maxwell, which makes the inspections easier.

[gsxrpilot]

I bought my first Mooney through Jimmy at All American. I sold it here on MooneySpace in a week. I bought my second Mooney direct from the owner as by then I knew a lot more about buying and selling airplanes.

All American is probably the only broker I'd do business with. Jimmy is a true Mooney expert and also a market expert. He moves a lot of Mooneys through his hangar because he has the largest Mooney network, and they're priced right.

[carusoam]

selling a plane has similarities to selling a car and a house....

If you know your price and can write a good description....

List it here... may take a donation to activate that skill...

There was an interesting MSer driven site for selling planes called wingswap....

+1 on using AAA/Jimmy for pro support for selling/buying Mooneys...

 

Ever sell a car or a house?  
Do you want to take on this role?

We have entered interesting virus/economic times...

Good luck with your decision.

Best regards,

-a-

 

[Bravoman]

 Before listing with the broker I would try listing it yourself here and on Beech talk and barnstormers, etc. 5% is about going rate for a commission to brokers on planes. This brings to mind a conversation that I had recently about selling and buying  residential real estate. I have never given up 5% on the purchase or sale of any homes that I have had, and I have owned about 8  houses. There is always a creative way to chop that significantly down and save huge  dollars.  The Internet is making the old broker models obsolete. 

[Bravoman]

4 hours ago, carusoam said:selling a plane has similarities to selling a car and a house....

If you know your price and can write a good description....

List it here... may take a donation to activate that skill...

There was an interesting MSer driven site for selling planes called wingswap....

+1 on using AAA/Jimmy for pro support for selling/buying Mooneys...

 

Ever sell a car or a house?  
Do you want to take on this role?

We have entered interesting virus/economic times...

Good luck with your decision.

Best regards,

-a- 0o o what we are being 

 

 Anthony your statement about entering interesting virus/economic times is the understatement of the century. We have entered a time when every new flu and illness  will cause a shut down of the economic system. I believe that this is in large part driven by the press and the instantaneous news  cycle. And of course the press has an agenda. We all have to ask ourselves  whether this so-called pandemic is worth the destruction of an economy, not only here but worldwide, the loss of businesses, and working  people losing their security and livelihoods. From a risk utility analysis I would strongly suggest that the  projected loss of life  is a rounding error  in the grand scheme of things, when you consider other illnesses, automobile accidents, and everything else.   I have a nephew who is the general manager of one of the largest bar and restaurant groups in New York City. He told me that if this ridiculousness went on for more than six weeks, probably in excess of 50% of the restaurants in New York would be gone for good.  This is just an example of the ramifications of all of this. Food for thought. This, of course, is not directed at you but your post made me sort  of boil over as to what we are currently being subjected.

[Mooney217RN]

a fool and his Mooney are soon parted.