Finance
Your Bass Boat
It's never too early to think about it. In fact, you should
think about financing at about the moment that you're considering buying
a boat. This article is meant to provide you with knowledge about the
"nuts and bolts" of boat financing and to give you that edge
when shopping for a loan.
The
Basics:
Get comfortable with your credit score and the amount that
you're looking to borrow.
These two factors along with the model year of the boat that you're
buying are what determine the interest rate of the loan that you will
undertake. Also, have a pretty good idea of the boat's book
value. Al Shields has provided the link to NADA
Guides on the Boats4Sale pages and that is the valuation guide
that most lenders use. Aside from knowing what a lender will use
to valuate a particular boat, NADA will assist you in the sale pricing
of the boat.
The best rates and terms are available
to applicants with credit scores above 720, financing later model boats
2002 and newer. However, there are very favorable rates and terms
available for boats model years 2001 and older. It all hinges on
what you want to accomplish with your loan provider of choice.
Specialty boat lenders typically have
extended loan terms designed to keep your monthly payment low.
Loan terms of up to 15 years are available dependent upon the amount
that you borrow.
The
Programs:
Russo
Marine
specializes in fixed rate, simple interest loans. These are
the safest play when financing a boat. Interest rates can be
volatile as they can change from day to day. While not likely to
change on a daily basis, it's best to lock into a fixed rate.
Simple interest means that you can pay
towards the principal without being penalized for those principal
payments. However, sometimes banks employ a pre-payment charge in that
if the principal balance is paid in full before a certain period; you
elect to pay a charge for that.
Russo Marine's lenders do not have large pre-payment penalties; our
banks charge $200. or less and some have no pre-payment charge at
all. Effectively, pre-paying principal will ensure that you're
going to pay less interest throughout the course of your loan.
100%
Financing:
Keep your cash in your
pocket. Russo
Marine offers 100% financing
to well-qualified applicants purchasing model years 1999 and newer. You
can also include for state sales tax, registration and title fees.
Pre-owned
Boats:
Purchasing a pre-owned boat is a great direction to take. The
deals are out there just waiting for you to scoop them up!
When you make the decision to purchase a pre-owned boat you'll want to
think about transferring ownership into your name. Every state has
different laws and requirements as to what's needed to do this.
Here's where Russo
Marine comes in:
We guarantee title transfer on every private party and brokerage
sale. If the boat you're purchasing is financed presently, we
ensure that it's paid off.
We prepare the necessary documents for the state that you plan on using
the boat and remit the appropriate tax and fees along with those
documents. And, we don't charge any fees in addition to our
closing costs to do so.
The
Process:
We make it easy, smooth and
seamless from the start.
The process begins with a telephone call or Internet inquiry. With
basic information such as the year, make and model of the boat and the
amount that you're looking to borrow, one of our representatives can
provide you with rate, term and payment information. We'll also be
able to tell you what to expect as far as title transfer and state
registration fees.
When you're ready to apply, you can do
so by fax, email, online or right over the telephone.
If applying over the telephone you can expect a response from a bank in
about two hours.
Russo Marine will not submit your application on multiple lenders.
This protects your credit score by limiting the amount of inquiries on
your credit report.
When you're approved it's merely
gathering information from there. We arrange loan closings by
overnight courier or if you're local to one of our offices, you can stop
in to close your loan with us.
We're here for the boating public. We're here to get you out on
that lake or river to land that trophy. We're here to make boat
financing easy.
With Russo
Marine you'll
get...."Financial Services from Boaters...not BankersŪ"
I'm glad that I happened across BassBoat Central.com. From
what Al Shields has described, you're a great community and I sincerely
look forward to helping some of you onto the water.
Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Terry
Sterling
Russo Marine Financial
8166 Shore Drive
Suite 2C
Norfolk, VA 23518
Russo
Marine Financial
tsterling@russofinancial.com
Toll Free Phone: (877) 899-8166
Fax: (757)583-1714 |
