It’s actually a great time to sell an aircraft—especially a turboprop. Demand for Beechcraft King Airs is high, although demand didn’t dip to the lows experienced by the light and mid-sized jet markets. While these jet markets are starting to show some signs of rebounding, prices of these longer-range aircraft are staying pretty flat. That may or may not change, but it’s something to consider if you may be upgrading in the next year or so.
From a buyer’s perspective, there are a few things that will make your aircraft more appealing than others on the market. Here’s what you can do to prepare.
- Well-documented maintenance: Make sure the maintenance records are up to date. We highly recommend using computerized maintenance tracking. Most buyers will ask for this before they even make an initial offer.
- Well-presented aesthetics: Hire someone or take good high-resolution photos. We usually take the exterior photo outside of the hangar and ensure that there’s not a distracting background. Cockpit photos should be taken with avionics illuminated and no papers on the clipboards. Cargo areas should look big (i.e. be empty). The interior photos are best taken with all the lights on in the aircraft but no harsh shadows from sun coming in the windows. Double check that the seatbelts are aligned. Blankets, pillows, magazines and tissue boxes should be out-of-sight. We’ve removed peanuts from photos using Photoshop, but not everyone likes to do that!
- Well-organized books: Check and double check that the logbooks and manuals are all in the same place and in reasonable order for someone to review them. We recently had a sale fall through when we began our logbook research because there was an 18-month gap. The buyer dropped his offer by 20% and eventually walked away from the deal. The owner, who wasn’t aware of the missing logs, waited six months for another acceptable offer.
- Realistic pricing: Do some research to understand how much your aircraft is actually worth on the open market. Just like real estate, this is based on comps and features. You’ll also need to take into consideration time remaining till component overhauls are due—and the costs associated with that maintenance.
Of course, we recommend using a professional broker, as they bring a lot to the table, but that’s a topic for another blog…
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About the Author: René Banglesdorf
Charlie Bravo Aviation is an aviation consulting company that specializes in worldwide aircraft sales and acquisitions. René Banglesdorf serves as CEO, and Steve Gerlinger heads the Rotorcraft and Beechcraft King Air sales departments from the company headquarters in Austin, Texas.