Saw this on barnstormers. Jeez, I almost have his offer price in the STC and engine alone. I realize you rarely get your money back out of projects, but I can't imagine he'll find what he's looking for on his budget...

WANTED: SUPER STINSON • $30,000 • WANTED FOR PURCHASE • Nice O470 108-3 wanted. Prefer to stay under budget of $33K but will go higher for recent documented work/value added or really fist class "needs nothing" bird. Metal or fabric, must pass close airframe inspection for corrossion and sub- standard repairs etc. No bondo and no surprises please. Engine OH documented as it should be. If you are going to display for sale at Oskosh let me know I may be there too. Send specs, w/b. history, pics etc. Serious buyer making a top 3 list to go see.

As I recall, the asking price was $40K for the Super Stinson in Washington that someone here on this site just bought, and I thought that was a damn good deal. $30K.... somebody's dreaming.

Someone else listed one today for about $40k, but it's all metalized and not near as nice as the one Nate just bought.

Vick wrote:Saw this on barnstormers. Jeez, I almost have his offer price in the STC and engine alone. I realize you rarely get your money back out of projects, but I can't imagine he'll find what he's looking for on his budget...

WANTED: SUPER STINSON • $30,000 • WANTED FOR PURCHASE • Nice O470 108-3 wanted. Prefer to stay under budget of $33K but will go higher for recent documented work/value added or really fist class "needs nothing" bird. Metal or fabric, must pass close airframe inspection for corrossion and sub- standard repairs etc. No bondo and no surprises please. Engine OH documented as it should be. If you are going to display for sale at Oskosh let me know I may be there too. Send specs, w/b. history, pics etc. Serious buyer making a top 3 list to go see.

Maybe I should make an ad on Barnstormers like this...

WANTED: PACER • $15,000 • WANTED FOR PURCHASE • Nice O320 PA-20 or PA-22/20 wanted. Would really like to have the 160hp but would settle for a 150hp in pristine condition. Seaplane doors, skylight, big tars, trimmer gear, and O-360 w/Borer a huge bonus! Serious buyer, plz send pics!

Haha, that just makes me laugh reading it!

that's what happens on free sites. I love when they post crap for trade and think it worth an airplane



TRADE FOR AIRPLANE. 1974 Ford Pinto will trade for IFR four place 200+mph airplane, must have low time
send pics to [email protected]

If their "offer" is accepted by some desperate seller, then I guess it won't he so crazy after all. The only ones complaining are us guys sitting on these heaps that we've sunk so much money into.

If you think this guy is bold/nuts/offensive then you ought to take a look at the recent real estate market. >:) I've been seeing a ton of listings priced 20-30% below their previous sale price. Good for me but I feel bad for these homeowners. Makes my plane devaluation seem insignificant.

You're on the mark Zane. My old 108-3 Super Stinson was listed for sale for $38,000, with floats and wheel gear, and I don't think the new owner had any takers. And it was a pretty decent bird. I saw another 470 powered Stinson for sale for 40K with lots of new stuff on it, and it was on and off Barnstormers for the better part of a year. The funnier ads are the ones where they are asking $110,000 for a 180 on floats or $70,000 for a Super Stinson on floats. Lots of sellers are hung up on what they have into the plane. Cash is king right now. Russ

1SeventyZ wrote:...
If you think this guy is bold/nuts/offensive then you ought to take a look at the recent real estate market. >:) I've been seeing a ton of listings priced 20-30% below their previous sale price...

I agree... here in the southwest 50% down is not uncommon, specially amongst spec homes that were built 2-3 years ago and have yet to sell. In my area there have been several homes that were built to sell in the 300K + range and have sold (mostly short sales) for under 200K.

On the airplane end, I can think of more than one C180 selling in the 35K range...

While his method of delivery may lack tact, he probably will find more than one person to bite on his offer....

I think one will never find a better time to buy a 180. It's like somewhat hit the reset button and we're back to 1980. Quite honestly, plane prices(and houses) in the last 10 years really started to lose any relationship to reality - mostly due to "cheap money" syndrome. For most of us these are toys that were built 50 years ago and sold new for $10K or less. What were we thinking paying $100K plus for them? I believe the Stinson shopper will get what he wants at his price. While I'm the world's biggest Stinson fan, they have always been about half to two-thirds the value of a similar equipped/time 180, and with the 180 market in a tailspin the Stinson's will be driven even lower. The beauty of the free market. Russ

Boys you better wake up to the new changed economy.
Look at the stock market, drilling regs ( future availibilty of go juice ), and I could go on and on but this would go to hot air.
There are fewer new pilots to buy the planes we have sunk mega bucks into rebuilds, stcs, etc etc...
Enjoy your private flying now and if you have a plane to sell just know that now you will only get change for it...

I have a pal in the used car biz. He says it doesn't matter what the book says or how much the owner has invested. It is only worth what someone will pay. Airplanes are no different. RB

On the opposite end of the spectrum are the people that think they have a real gem and they are trying to sell for double what it's worth and refuse to negotiate. I just spent 4 months looking for a Classic Mustang for my wife. We finally found the right one for the right price after looking at 10-15 overpriced heaps. There were guys trying to sell rusted out coupes with tired engines for 10K!!. We bought ours for almost half that with a fresh motor and trans, fresh paint, new interior, all new suspension, disc brake conversion, ect ect. I recently sold my ultralight and had to let it go for about 30% less than I would have liked to but like everyone has said.. if you really want to move it get ready for a kick in the nuts.

A C-180 for 35K? Where? Folks say its a buyers market, but the prices are still up and I've seen the same airplanes for sale for the last 10 months.
I have broadened my search for a four seat taildragger and have looked at a lot of other makes and models with no luck. There are some great airplanes out there that are probably worth what they are asking but not what I want, but there are also a lot of high priced polished turds out there in this buyers market. That Super Stinson was a good deal and went quickly because it was priced to sell. I'll keep looking and pull the trigger when I find the right one.
I recently sold off all my vintage cars for a fair price to me and the purchasers. I was like everyone else in pricing them, I started high with no action and then dropped the price 15-20% and sold them immediately. They were happy and I was happy.
Now I'm going to dump that into an airplane? Maybe it should go into therapy instead?

Dogsbody, there are people who will sell at their price, and people who need to sell. You just need to find the later. That's why I like the Stinson shoppers approach. He said what he wants and what it is worth to him. Now he doesn't have to deal with the dream sellers, just the serious ones. A 1960's vintage 180 with floats, skis, wheels, etc sold here for $60,000, it was a decent plane and didn't go that quick either. You're in the drivers seat.

If my wife said we needed to sell the plane and I did not agree, I would not argue. I would put the plane on the market for 15K over what it was worth. She is happy that the plane is on the market and I am happy cus I can keep the plane.

Now on the other hand. if I need to sell the plane cus of medical and wanted to go light sport, then the plane would be priced to sell.

Tim

I fully appreciate that something is only worth what someone is willing to pay, and more power to this guy if he finds a seller that is willing to let a well sorted Stinson w/470 go for $30k. Decent stock 108-x's generally still fetch 20-30k, even in this market I would expect a clean Super Stinson to be closer to $40k.

In the meantime, if you know of an airworthy 180 selling in the $30k's, please forward the contact info

I've been sort of shopping for a little over a year now. In the past few months I've actually had enough change to call on some of the more "used" of the bunch. You know, the ones that aren't so pretty, but seem to be mechanically sound...a flying fixer-upper. Some of these have been listed for many, many months. They'll say price reduced but all they did was knock a few bucks off of it...and I remember cuz I'm constantly watching the ads so I can learn more and more about the current values. So I've talked to a few that are asking too much and they don't budge. Funny enough, a few months later I get an email or a phone call back about one I called on and they're finally willing to budge....but usually still not enough. And I agree that a plane for sale is only worth what a buyer will pay. I see ads daily that are clearly priced above the market...and you can look at the next few ads and see that there are better planes for less...they won't get what they're asking, simple as that.

I comletely agree with Rhyppa. My own experience shows that to be true:
I bought a 1974 Maule M5-210C. When i first saw it, he was asking 45K. It sat on the market for quite a while because it had mutliple damage incidents, one being a major incident. On the good side it had a complete rebuild in 1995, good fabric, little over 500hrs on the engine and just over 2500 hrs on the airframe. Plus it had what i considered to be an almost perfect avionics setup. So he finally dropped it down to 40K. After a prebuy uncovering some things that needed to be done(Annual , prop overhaul, mag overhaul), I bought it for 36k. He had the annual done without a charge to me. I found out, when i picked it up, he was having hip surgery and needed the money. So be patient and you will find a good deal and a seller that needs to sell.




The panel

-Kneel

kneel wrote:I found out, when i picked it up, he was having hip surgery and needed the money.

And to be clear...I wasn't the seller! Muhaha! Thanks for your tax dollars...that paid for my hip surgery last month....I get copies of the bills....WOW!!!

The ad is a little corny, but not unrealistic. I got a heck of a deal on my super stinson and Nate got a great deal on his super stinson. It's just a matter if timing and some cash sitting around. The world we once lived in has changed and nothing seems unrealistic now days.