State of single engine prices - Thoughts?

[MikeOH]

10 minutes ago, Echo said:

What did you pay for your run out F?

What are you willing to pay for a run out F?

[Echo]

Sold BOTH of my Mooney's for more than I paid for them.  $30k is not stopping me from purchasing.  I refuse to overpay when I will likely have to input another $30k because sellers think 500 hours on a major 30 years ag equates to low time and value.  Bull$&*# to that.  Unrealistic sellers is why planes sit in hangers, often waiting until death for a sale to take place.  Brokers and individuals that say "whatever it sells for" are part of the problem.  By all means improve your short bodied Mooney to Bob B standards.  I won't be buying.

[Echo]

I don’t buy air cooled Porsche’s now either. Market is silly and unlike Short body Mooney’s the fleet is large. 

[SKI]

I think supply and demand have a lot to do with prices as well. They're not making any new airplanes that the average guy can afford and the supply of affordable older planes is shrinking daily. Think about how many get wrote off due to crashes and corrosion issues. Are planes currently overpriced, I believe so but it's whatever the market will bear and that's the truth in selling anything. I believe it'll take a huge crash for prices to drop 30-40%. I think 15-20% may be possible in the next few years. I'm thinking about upgrading from my Cherokee and when I get serious about it I'll pony up and pay wherever I'm comfortable with. Don't forget a dollar is worth more or less to different people and there's lots of people with lots of dollars. 

[Schllc]

I agree with the opinion about the purchase price being irrelevant to a point. 
An airplane is a discretionary purchase, and it typically makes little to no financial sense whatsoever. But…

Isn’t that what we work for?  To buy things for our pleasure and enjoyment?  
At the rate planes are being damaged they get more scarce everyday. 
Historically they (single engine pistons)are not assets that depreciate, and this isn’t conjecture or opinion. 
Even at adjusted dollar value, most are selling for more that they did when new. 
They are more like large boats in that they cost more to own and operate than to purchase, and as long as you can survive a downturn and keep the plane maintained, your chances of losing money on the sale price, compared to purchase is slim.  
I like to get deals as much as anyone, but at some point I want what I want.  

I have a real good friend who is a lifelong bachelor and was a firefighter in New York. 
He lived in this tiny co-op in New York and I made him a piece of furniture for a gift one year. 
When I visited him to deliver it I noticed how tired and run down his little kitchen was.  
I asked him if he wanted to let me help renovate it for him. 
He thought about it for a minute and said “nahh, I only have 12-14 years left here”.  
I love to tell this story to clients because, in retrospect, what it taught me is that quality of life means different things to different people. 
I look, I shop, I research, I understand what prices are doing and when I see the one I want I buy it.  I try not to overpay, and I don’t get overly hung up on getting the best price ever.

Having it to enjoy is what that delta is worth. 
To each their own. 

[MikeOH]

@Schllc

That was a damn fine post!

 In hindsight I wish I had purchased sooner than I did. I wasn’t hung up on getting “a good deal” price wise, as much as making sure I didn’t buy a wreck…educating myself took way longer than it should have.

[Echo]

I have a potential plane that is all I need. Owner lost medical, but is moving slow as he is paid up on hanger through June and is coming to terms with closure on a chapter. I get that completely. I overpaid once, but all worked out. If it doesn’t work out I enjoyed over two decades of ownership.  Blue skies