How to Finance a Boat

Financing a boat is just like financing a car.

While it might sound daunting, boat loan financing is quicker and easier than you think to arrange. You can even leverage the Boats For Sale personal finance team to generate a personalized package to suit your exact wants and needs. With today’s record used boat market making it a challenge to land the boat of your dreams, it’s best to get a loan approved before you do any serious shopping.

Identifying a Target Loan Amount

Enter just three values into our boat loan calculator to decide on a purchase price.

Once you’ve identified the boat type by browsing our boat listings, you can hone in on a boat make and year, which will land you in an average price range. You can also use our boat loan calculator, one of two ways: first, you can put in your desired monthly payment and loan term years to identify your price range. Or, you can put in the desired purchase price to generate your monthly payment based on the loan term years.

Now that you’ve landed at your purchase price, you’re ready to apply. Fill out our boat financing form. Boat loan financing can be done in several ways:

• Get a boat or home equity loan or line of credit to buy your boat
• Get a loan directly from the dealer you’re buying from (which doesn’t work if you’re buying from a personal seller)
• Get a personalized loan from our Boats For Sale team who shop loans from a variety of lenders to lock in your ideal rate and terms

If you just want to see how much boat your current situation can afford, you don’t have to identify a target price at all.

How Financing Works at Boats For Sale 

Because we work with a multitude of marine loan lenders, our team is on top of the various finance packages available.

Click “Apply for Financing” on the Boat Loan Financing page. Fill out our quick and secure, encrypted form with your basic information. You can include as much detail as you’d like in the comments section of the form, including desired price range, terms and/or loan length. One of our finance specialists will contact you by end of the next business day to gain even more details, so they can hone in on the right options for you. After that, we will follow up with you in another two business days with your options. Once you confirm, we’ll get you loan approval to present to the seller. Our team will take it from there, arranging directly with the boat seller to provide payment, and we’ll do so once they hand over the keys.

Finance a Boat
Applying for a boat loan is just like a car loan, but so are the factors lenders take into consideration.

What the Lender Considers

Any of those helping you arrange for a loan will consider several factors. These are the most important.

Credit rating. Your rating should be above 700 to get the best rate. Though lower ratings are not impossible, interest rates will get significantly higher once you drop below the high-600s.

Debt-to-income ratio. This calculation factors in all your installment loan payments versus your monthly income. Lenders have ranges they like you to fall in, where there isn’t a high risk of default. They use this ratio which to calculate your maximum monthly bank loan payment.

Job and home stability. Lenders want to see steady employment and residency. While you don’t have to own a home, a long history of on-time mortgage payments and good equity in the home will work in your favor, as will a long history of on-time rent payments.

We don’t just want to provide you with a one-stop online boat buying shop—we want to provide you with the most competitive offer, too. Financing isn’t only a way to hold onto your liquid assets, it may afford you a boat that might otherwise be out of your reach. And if you end up buying your boat elsewhere? You can still use the loan our team lined up for you to buy a boat and take those steps to Instant Boatification.™