Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes Selling an airplane

Also, what about not placing the price in the ad? I am of the opinion that you need to put the price in the ad if you want anyone to inquire about that ad.

When I am looking to buy, if the price is not there. I do not call.

Another thing you may want to consider is offering an Owner Assisted annual with the sale. With the buyer being present. That way there will be no surprises down the road.

Bill
Grants Pass, Oregon

Pictures are nice, of course, but what it really comes down to is price. If your asking price is reasonable for the condition of the plane and the current market, your plane will sell quickly. Almost anytime something is taking a long time to sell, it is because the price is too high.

What I would like to know, is if you were going to sell your airplane, what would you do to...

I have sold several airplanes (not as many as Baron Thomas, but more than Tripp) and every one has been different. I will tell you that selling to a first time buyer is much more difficult than selling to a knowledgeable buyer. No offence to first time buyers is intended. The first time buyer is unsure and a little frightened by the process. It does not matter that they are paying less than they would for a used SUV or higher end car or that they are purchasing what would be almost an antique if it were a car. It takes a lot more patients to sell to them.


1. Maximize the price you will actually sell it for. For example, does listing it on Barnstormers bring a higher return than say Trade-A-Plane?The only thing that is required to sell an airplane is finding a buyer who is willing to pay the price for the airplane.

Sandy makes a very good point about presentation. Lipstick sells! Include enough high quality pictures to get the prospects attention. Have more pictures that can be sent to the prospect if they express genuine interest. There are a number of aircraft sales websites, many of them are free or have very reasonable rates. Most, if not all, offer the ability to include pictures, by all means include pictures that answer the questions that you would have if you were the buyer.

Surprisingly I get fewer inquires from ads in Trade-A-Plane, and they are usually the most expensive ads, than from AOS, Barnstormers, etc. ,


2. Decrease the time it takes for you to sell it? I know that lowering the price will do that, but what other options are there?
Place a realistic price on the plane and be sure to put it in the ad; a lot of folks will skip ads that are not priced just like they do the ones without pictures. Add a little to the price so that you can “trade down”, most folks want a “deal”. If you are willing to come down a little it makes them feel good.

To Jim’s point about exposure; advertise in as many places as you can; the wider the audience the better your chance of selling the plane.

Be honest about the condition of the plane. The quickest way to queer a sale is for the prospect to get any bad surprises.

A trick that I have used with good effect is to scan the airframe and engine logbooks, burn them to a CD and advertise that the log books are available for the prospect’s inspection. That lets the prospect know that you have nothing to hide and their mechanic can peruse the logs without your having to worry about loss. When the prospect comes to look at the pane that part of the process is complete. I also include a boat load of detailed pictures on the CD as well as a copy of the FAA’s registration, 337 disk (also include Acrobat just in case they don’t have it)

Stay away while the pre-purchase inspection, if any, is being done.
Answer all questions immediately and honestly.

Something often overlooked is to spread the word locally. Your thought about a brochure is a good one and it gives you an excuse to fly to surrounding airports.

3. How do you keep from getting inquiries that are a waste of your time?
I don’t know the answer to that one. The only thing that I can think of is to include something like “Only serious inquires” in the ad. But that runs the risk of putting off someone who might be a buyer.

With something like a 150/152 you are going to get tire kickers, no way around it. It doesn’t take time to recognize them and courteously disengage.

When I was selling the SportHawk I had many calls simply inquiring about what a 150/150 was and how to go about doing a conversion. I tried to nicely tell them that I was not in the consulting business but trying to sell a really nice airplane at way less than they could make the conversion. That usually ended the conversation.

If the first thing that the caller ask is how much you are willing to come off of the price ask them to make an offer. You will learn a good deal about their intentions form their answer. (Happened many times when selling the SportHawk. I never did get an offer.)

4. What about using a broker?
I have never used a broker. Perhaps in exchange for their cost they may be able to decrease the time to sales. You will pay a pretty good price for their services and that will decrease your net on the sale.

Some tips that may be helpful:

Have a sales contract stating the terms and conditions for the sale written up before you start. When a prospect becomes a serious potential buyer send the contract to them and get it SIGNED.

Guarantee to deliver an AIRWORTHY airplane. Let the buyer pay for a pre-purchase inspection and if they find issues that make the plane un-airworthy get them fixed. I have also agreed to turn the per-purchase inspection into an annual by dealing with all inspection items not included in the pre-purchase. (If that is in the agreement I wouldn’t come off the price as much.) Make sure that you are not going to fix any item that is not related to airworthiness. It is to the seller’s benefit to deliver the airplane with a singed off annual form a liability stand point.

Be sure that the plane is as clean as a hounds tooth, inside, outside, tail cone and engine compartment, for the pre-purchase inspection. A dirty plane shouts poor maintenance.

Make it known early that you will accept only cash or a wire transfer for payment. Casher’s checks and money orders can be forged. Why take the chance?

Transferring funds in exchange for a bill of sale and signed registration is a hassle if the transaction is not a face to face deal. You can use AOPA’s escrow service or if you have a good relationship with your bank you can take the documents to your banker to hold. When a wire transfer for the sale is deposited in your bank he/she sends the paper work to the buyer’s bank.

I hope this helps!

Wayne,
I did some digging around and found a sample letter of agreement for the sale of an airplane. The formating is a little funky but you will get the idea.

________________________________________________________________

LETTER OF AGREEMENT

_________________________
Date

Where as ____________________________(hereafter called seller) wishes to sell a used aircraft, described as: make model year N number serial number, hereafter called the aircraft,
And _______________________________(hereafter called buyer) wishes to buy the aircraft it is agreed:

Buyer will pay seller the amount of $_____________(cash, certified funds, wire transfer) less any deposit tendered.

Buyer tenders a nonrefundable deposit in the amount of $_________ to seller in consideration for seller removing the aircraft from the market for a period of ____days , beginning upon the date of this agreement.

Seller warrants the title of the aircraft to be free and clear of all liens recorded or unrecorded and any and all other legal encumbrances and will defend buyer from any and all calms against the title of the aircraft.

Seller warrants that the aircraft is in airworthy condition. If any condition rendering the aircraft to be un-airworthy seller will at his option cause the condition to be remedied or return the full amount of any deposit.

The above stated warranties are the sole and only warranties as to the condition of the aircraft and/or its associated system. other than those stated above. There are no other warranties of any kind, stated or implied.

The aircraft will be subject to a per-purchase inspection, to be conducted by an FAA certified mechanic of buyer’s chousing at a location of buyer’s chousing. Buyer will pay all cost of the inspection as well as any cost incurred to reposition the aircraft. While the aircraft is in the custody of the Buyer’s agent for the purpose of the pre-purchase inspection Buyer will be responsible for any and all damage, in any form, to the aircraft.

The title transfer for the aircraft will be at ____________________ no later than ____days after the date of this agreement. After title transfer Seller will no longer be responsible for the safety or maintenance of the aircraft. Buyer will be responsible for transporting the aircraft from said location to the destination of his/her choosing, upon transfer of title.


_______________________________ _____________________________
Seller Date Buyer Date

Very good information Wayne. This post is a keeper. I sold my Challenger 2 on barnstormers last year, sort of. I had it listed with a very good price, but no pictures as my computer skills were lacking. No calls. Finally in checking all the ads I saw a guy in my State advertising to buy one. He bought mine, for the asking price, but had missed my ad completely because I had no picture. Delivery was the key to that sale. He couldn't fly it until he got training. There is always the airworthy question too. By agreeing to fly it up to deliver the plane it satisfied both his concerns. Jim

I have noticed some bulletin board pin=ups of airplane sales were faxed to the FBO and the desk clerk pinned them on the bulletin board. You miss out on making trips around to airports, but it saves 100LL.

Bruce

Excellent reply Wayne. It is exactly what I wanted for this thread.

I would guess that the higher the quality/value of the plane that is being offered for sale, the greater the benefit would be to get some professional quality photos taken of your plane.

If I were to decide to sell my plane, here is what I have have learned so far...

1. Clean it really really good.

2. Get all of my documents in order, and scan the documents that are pertinent for the sale to my computer.

3. Get some great quality and detailed photos of my plane.

4. Burn the information to CDs for mailing to serious buyers.

5. Develop a website that you can link to ads, with lots of detailed pictures and information.

6. Browse different trade publications to get a fair market value of my plane. If you really can't see yourself selling, don't waste buyers time with seller's remorse.

7. Take any item you are not including with the sale of the plane, out of view of any buyers. Once you have your cash in hand you can offer that stuff on the cheap. If you don't, they will want it included in your price.

8. Mention that you are selling your plane to those in your local area first. This may save you a lot of time and money, since the buyer may be at your airport.

9. Place an ad in any and all publications, and include a price that you can come down a little on, and include lots of pictures. Link a website of your plane in the ad.

10. When the ads come out, make sure they are correct. A digit off on a phone number can be the answer to why no one is calling.

11. Have any agreements in writing, and use an escrow service such as AOPA.

12. In your ad and when you talk to buyers, don't make your plane sound like it is better than it is. I always feel better about an item I go see, and it looks better than what was described by the seller.

What else am I missing?

Date and TIME of sale.

Now, every chance you get, forget everything you learned from this thread and DON'T sell your airplane.