What's my RV worth ?

[N395V]

Frequently the questions...

What should I pay for this RV?
What should I sell my RV for?
What's my RV worth?

...come up in various threads followed by a vigorous discussion of what they are worth and why. Some opinions are reasoned and based on evidence and others are quite speculative.

Below is a list of every RV offered for sale today on Controller, Trade a Plane, and Barnstormers. There are 15 pages of RVs for sale on Barnstormers. The prices, unless noted are ASKING PRICES.

I have been looking at these sales ads daily for years and have a few observations.

Those prices considerably higher than the pack usually have a reason ie, OSH grand Champ, mega dollar avionics etc. On many of those where the reason is not apparent I have called the seller to ask how the price was derived at. The most common answer.."I built it and that is what it's worth".

Those prices considerably lower are usually distress sales, older higher time planes, or those in poor condition.

RV4s and RV8s move quicker than the others but very few are selling at this time.

The asking prices have not changed much over the last 2 years.

The higher priced planes in each category that have sold have usually been bought by an acquaintance of the seller or purchased by a discriminating buyer who has looked at lots of planes and decided this one was worth what he/she paid.

There are 2 RV 12s (almost complete) and the asking prices are listed.

I attempted to get a comparison list of light sports to see what that market looked like but there are so many and they are so different and my knowledge of them so limited I gave up.

[Rob Weiss]

Good question. Part of my future pitch to my accountant/spouse to dive in to an RV is the value of sweat equity. I wouldn't exactly call it an investment, but if I spend $150K to build an RV at least hopefully I can fly it for a while, and sell it later for at least that, hopefully more. Esp if I lose my medical for some reason.

BTW, I saw two SR-22s on the ramp at Oakland County Regional airport here in Michigan and swore they were RV-10s before I got a closer look. The Cirrus' look nice with a lot of features, but one review I read seems to indicate they have issues, too.

Rob
Inactive Piper guy looking to get back in to the game.

[Ron Lee]

You really need to normalize them to a certain configuration eg, CS prop, new engine, glass panel, IFR, dual axis autopilot, etc.

Then the price spread "may" become less or the typical price may come closer to an average value.

[N395V]

I agree Ron. Throw out the obvious highs and lows then normalize for how equipped, age and hours and you should be ab,e to arrive at a reasonable market value. Unfortunately not all the advertisments list everything.