BananaBelt Boats & Yachts Expands to Meet Market Demand, Increases Sales Facility Size by 300%
Aug 16, 2016
Expanded dry land operation will have capacity for 140 motor yachts in one location
BananaBelt Boats & Yachts has announced a major expansion and name change. The company will be expanding its dry land facility by 300%, to six acres from 1.5 acres, allowing it to accommodate 140 motor yachts for sale in one location. The ground breaking on the new facility is scheduled to start Sept. 15, and should be completed by early Oct. With the expansion will come added staff of four new brokers and two service staff to serve the new customer base. The company also recently changed its name to BananaBelt Boats & Yachts from BananaBelt Boats to better reflect and emphasize the company’s target market of motor yachts from 28 feet to 70 feet.
“It’s a market-driven expansion,” says BananaBelt Boats & Yachts owner Amy Ripley Thornton. “Currently we can accommodate only 40 yachts and on a weekly basis we have to turn away four to five vessels. This expansion will allow us to change that and serve those boat owners who understand the value and benefits of showing their yachts in our dry land facility. Because when your boat is out of the water you no longer need to worry about losing bottom paint or zincs, this means lower costs while your vessel is up for sale. It’s also much less expensive to store a boat out of the water then in water, and more environmentally friendly too.”
Like the current sales facility, the expansion will have stairs and a walkway around all the boats which allows buyers easy access on and around the vessels. Additionally, from this perspective, buyers can see the topside and bottom of each boat, something which is not possible when boats are in the water. “Being able to show buyers the hull shape and condition of a vessel’s bottom allows us to instill more confidence in perspective buyers,” says Thornton.
Unique to BananaBelt Boats & Yachts brokerage services is their Pre-Survey Systems Assurance Program which is offered at no additional charge to sellers. The company’s technicians go through all the systems that surveyors and mechanics look at during a survey and correct the small issues that can become red flags when surveys are done. This allows survey issues to be identified and either corrected or presented to the buyers ahead of the final surveys. Consequently, boats go through survey faster, easier and less expensively than with other brokerages. The technicians also take oil samples of main engines ahead of the mechanical inspections so sellers and BanananBelt Boats & Yachts are on the same page with the condition of the engines of a vessel.
“Sellers love our Pre-Survey Systems Assurance Program as it takes away much of the stress of the survey and really differentiates us from other brokerages that don’t have our kind of service capability,” says Thornton. “With clean oil samples we can demonstrate that the engines – which can be up to 70% of the value of the vessel – are ready and able to perform for the new owners.”
Currently BananaBelt Boats & Yachts is accepting early registration for brokerage representation in their original facility as well as the expansion and offering an early sign up bonus incentive of a free set-up haul out, a $150.00 value.
About BananaBelt Boats & Yachts
Open seven days a week, BananaBelt Boats & Yachts has been selling boats and yachts in Anacortes since 2000 and is a Certified Professional Yacht Brokerage. For the past 10 years we have been the largest pre-owned motor yacht broker by-volume in the Pacific Northwest according to soldboats.com and yachtworld.com. Check out all of our listings at http://bananabeltyachts.com/ or call for more information on brokerage representation.
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