Florida Houseboats - 1st time buyer, financing and loans for house boats

by Karen
(Cin Oh)

I'm thinking about buying a houseboat in Florida, and am wondering about financing or loans for house boats?

This site is great, and I have learned a lot. I want to live on the boat. I am looking in the Panama City Florida area.

My daughter is off to college and I'm tired of the cold weather. I don't know anything about buying a houseboat, but will a bank finance a boat?

Thanks Karen.

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Reply - Answer
Well Karen, congratulations on your decision to possibly buy, and live on a houseboat.

You didn't mention what your houseboat buying budget was, but generally speaking banks will finance houseboat loans. Different banks, different conditions and criteria.

Now, if you're just staring out, I would recommend you take the following steps before putting an offer on a boat.

1) Go down to your local marina, and see what's for sale, and speak to the local boaters.

2) You should take a Boating Course. The Power Squadron is a good starting point.

3) If you want to buy a boat, make any houseboat offer conditional on a marine survey.

4) You should read the beginners Houseboat Buyers Guide on buying older houseboats.

5) You'll find some helpful information and tips on houseboat loans, and loan approvals.

6) You can use the site search function to search our hundreds of information pages.


Before you buy a boat, do some research on dock or slip availability in the Florida area, and be sure to secure a dock slip or marina that allows for liveaboards before purchasing a boat.

Another alternative is to look for a houseboat for sale, that is presently being used as a live aboard already. Here are some articles to get you started:

Houseboat Living in Florida - any Houseboats For Sale

Any Houseboat Liveaboards in Florida

Any good houseboats for sale in Florida

Tips on Used Houseboats For Sale in Florida


And if you do end up buying a houseboat, do takes some pictures, and share the buying a houseboat experience with us here, as there is many others just like you that would love to hear about it.



Lastly, hopefully some of our readers will share and post comments about their buying their first houseboat experiences. Feel free to use the "Click here to post comments." link found near the bottom of this page.


Thanks again for sharing, IAN from all-about-houseboats

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