Houseboats for Sale: Getting a Home on the Water

Buying a houseboat has become increasingly popular as baby boomers retire and look for alternatives to the traditional options of retiring to a community or buying an RV.  There are houseboats of all shapes and sizes, from ones that are meant as more or less stationary dwellings to motor powered houseboats that can travel to different areas on the water.  Besides whether to buy a new or used houseboat for sale, the prospective buyer also needs to have a good idea of what they are looking for, both in terms of mobility as well as size and use.  Do you want a pontoon houseboat?  Do you need your houseboat to be trailerable?  Are you looking for a cheap houseboat, or perhaps the opposite- a luxury houseboat?  As there are many used houseboats for sale on the market at this point in time, there is little need to buy new unless for one reason or another you feel you must have a houseboat that has never been used.  There are advantages and disadvantages to each choice that will be discussed in this article.  A good way to get an accurate sense of the type of houseboat you would like to buy would be to try renting one, or several.  This way, you can get a feel for what you like and don't like in a houseboat or floating home and which features you feel you would have to have.

One good reason to buy new is that there are many types of new houseboats for sale, including models that never existed before.  These may have features that are very useful and may be worth the price if you can afford it.  More financing options will generally be available for new houseboats, and better warranties are to be expected when buying new.  Oftentimes making additions will have to be done after buying a houseboat, though options are usually available. 
If you buy used, your range of choices is considerably increased.  That's because for the price of a new houseboat, you can choose from old houseboats that may not even be seaworthy to almost-new models that may have seen almost no use.  Such boats may be in virtually the same condition as a new houseboat, but will cost far less. 

For those who would like to spend just a few weeks a year on a houseboat and for whom it doesn't make sense to actually buy a houseboat, there are shared ownership options which operate on timeshare principles and there are also timeshare houseboats as well.  Such options offer houseboat vacationers the best deal, generally, as they will pay far less than they would for a houseboat of their own, yet have access to a houseboat that offers great amenities and is well maintained, and this at the times that they want it.
Perhaps you know that you want to live on a houseboat, at least for part of the year, and don't necessarily have a specific place in mind.  There are a few places where houseboats are very popular and some houseboat communities even exist.  Sometimes, it's possible to move into a houseboat in an existing community much like one would buy a house on a street.  Prices for such a home range from $250,000 to $1,000,000 plus, depending on location and the houseboat or floating home.  One very well known community of floating homes is in Sausalito, California, which has over 400 floating homes in its waters. 
Other popular houseboat locations include Lake Powell, located in the stunning desert of the Southwestern United States between Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.  Lake Powell features over 2,000 miles of shoreline surrounded by desert canyon, with warm water and constant sunshine.    There are many houseboats for rent here, which makes it a good place to try houseboating.  Because there are so many houseboats here, you may have a good chance at finding a deal on Lake Powell houseboats for sale.
Lake Mead is another desert lake, located between Arizona and Nevada.  This lake also features canyons and lots of sunshine, and is part of the Colorado River system.  Here, it is possible to rent a houseboat starting at around $500 USD on up to double that, depending on the size of the houseboat which can range from 50 feet to 70 feet in length. 
Of course, Lake Cumberland, which is considered the birthplace of houseboating in the U.S., must be mentioned as well.  It is located in Kentucky.
Besides these locations in the United States, there are houseboat areas and houseboat communities across the world in countries rich and poor.  Hong Kong has a community called Aberdeen Floating Village, the Netherlands has its famous houseboat community in Amsterdam (with some of the most expensive prices in the world), India has its Kerala houseboats, and Kashmir has its houseboats on the high elevation Lake Dal that are very popular with tourists.
If you aren't completely sold on the idea of getting a houseboat, or need to convince a significant other to make the leap to owning one, consider that with a houseboat, you can be close to nature and various hiking, swimming, and exploring attractions.  It is also possible to move on a whim to a new mooring in many cases, like when you can't stand your neighbors or when you just want a change of scenery.  What other home of this size can you do that with?