the last time I was on a boat was 20yrs ago when I spent two months sailing the caribbean.
ever since I have been missing life on the water. I am currently paying rent in philadelphia, pa obviously a harbor town) and am seriously considering turning that wasted money into ownership of full time life on a houseboat.
I know I can afford the houseboat itself, but I am trying to figure out what my budget would be.  
how much would it cost to keep the fresh water tanks full per gallon?
how much do marina fees average?
is electricity usually included in the marina fee, if not how much does that average?
what is the average per month for insurance for a used houseboat purchased for under $50k?
I am not worried about maintainance costs as I can do, or learn to do most of that. and I can figure fuel costs as well.
any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.
thanks

Welcome aboard!

I have never incurred a cost for water at any marina, it is usally free. Pump out costs dollars sometimes, never at my home marina.

Marina fees vary, $200 - $1000 per month for a 40 foot vessel, depending on where you moor. I do not know about Philly, call a marina and find out, and determine if live a boards are welcome. The trend these days, are NOT, in many areas.

Electricity is sometimes included and sometimes metered. Mine is metered and averages $50.00 to $60.00 per month if the boat is at the dock full time and A/C runs all the time.

Maintence costs can nip you in the butt, even when performed with your labor. Do not think they will not. WORRY ABOUT IT, if you plan on maintaining a sea worthy vessel. I have seen some Houseboats that need to be towed from marina to marina and are strictly for live aboarding and not for cruising.

Insurance is unknown by myself in your area, the area does matter. There are many avenues of insurance, do not just go with one quote, go with 10, at least, if you can find that many.

Boating is not cheap, as stated here before many times:

Boat stands for:

Bring
Out
Another
Thousand

and many times that can be multiplied by the length of the boat.

But: Once bitten, forever loved.

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Banana Tom

Edited: 09/14/2007 at 09:49:54 PM by BananaTom

thank you, BT. that was very helpful.
I am surprised that water is free, since you have to pay for it in your house, but good to know.
Perhaps, I shouldnt have said not worried about maintanence costs, its just that I already do that sort of thing for my rental house anyway because I like it, so the costs will transfer.

I will check out the rest. thanks. 

Rookie - if you don't mind a little commuting you should check out the northern end of the Chesapeake.  I have a holiday mansion there in a marina that welcomes live aboards.  If you keep it in Philly you have to dodge garbage bags on the Delaware to get anywhere.  In the Chesapeake you can fish and swim within five minutes of the marina in a secluded cove.  For me the trade off was do I want to drive to my job and live where I love, or live near the job and drive to where I love?  Commuted an hour each way for years and loved coming back to the bay.  So much so that I finally got a job near home!

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1995 Holiday Mansion 3914 on the Upper Chesapeake Bay

Ches, whereabouts is this marina? I get a fair number of inquiries from people looking for liveaboard areas in the Northeast. The only one I knew of was Sea Village Marina, near Atlantic City - but they're mostly floating homes, that aren't powered - and their slip fees aren't cheap by any stretch of the imagination!

Edited: 10/04/2007 at 12:28:22 PM by Head Master

As stated I know of no marina that charges for water. I too would like to know where that marina is.

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The pirate