Best way to determine fair market value...
Hello out there! Still narrowing things down. What is the best way to determine fair market value? 2000 Northern Lite $14,900 - Nada states this was 15,085 new and lists current retail at 3900-4...
Forum Discussion
Here is an old but fairly good write up on the subject:
RV Fair market value
Sometimes I can figure out new MSRP. Then I figure a good price new would have been 20-30% off of that. Then I start knocking off a certain percentage every year.
I'll compare that to bank loan values as was previously mentioned, as what a bank is willing to risk on the RV has a bit more reality in it than standard book values.
Another silly trick RV dealers will use is to click off all the options in NADA and then present you with that price. Watch out for this. The same people will run the same calculation without checking any boxes to figure your trade. I will use NADA as another data point but taking it with a grain of salt.
Finally I will compare what's for sale in the region of what i'm looking for and similar units, and for older and newer units. You can use these as price data and as bargaining points to the seller. I'll also "watch" these listings and see how long they last. <30d on the market tells me stuff is moving. >90d is a problem with pricing. I'll use craigslist (which is a bit harder for tracking) and looking at completed listings on ebay.
It takes work but I'll combine all of the above to make an offer or to be able to spot a deal when I see it. It's how we bought our last 5er.... I knew of the model for years, what it cost new and what I believed it should be worth. When time came I picked it up in a short sale. I played two dealers off of each other who had almost the same unit.
Luck = Preparation + Opportunity
RV Fair market value
Sometimes I can figure out new MSRP. Then I figure a good price new would have been 20-30% off of that. Then I start knocking off a certain percentage every year.
I'll compare that to bank loan values as was previously mentioned, as what a bank is willing to risk on the RV has a bit more reality in it than standard book values.
Another silly trick RV dealers will use is to click off all the options in NADA and then present you with that price. Watch out for this. The same people will run the same calculation without checking any boxes to figure your trade. I will use NADA as another data point but taking it with a grain of salt.
Finally I will compare what's for sale in the region of what i'm looking for and similar units, and for older and newer units. You can use these as price data and as bargaining points to the seller. I'll also "watch" these listings and see how long they last. <30d on the market tells me stuff is moving. >90d is a problem with pricing. I'll use craigslist (which is a bit harder for tracking) and looking at completed listings on ebay.
It takes work but I'll combine all of the above to make an offer or to be able to spot a deal when I see it. It's how we bought our last 5er.... I knew of the model for years, what it cost new and what I believed it should be worth. When time came I picked it up in a short sale. I played two dealers off of each other who had almost the same unit.
Luck = Preparation + Opportunity
