# Yacht.Loans

> Boat and yacht loan calculator with balloon, tax and insurance, plus lenders' published terms, survey and USCG documentation steps.

Yacht.Loans is an independent website. Contact: the form at https://yacht.loans/contact/.

A free, read-only MCP server for AI assistants runs the boat loan calculator and returns state boat sales tax rules, published lender terms and Coast Guard documentation fees at https://yacht.loans/mcp; setup on https://yacht.loans/developers/.

## Pages
- [Work out the boat loan before you make an offer](https://yacht.loans/): Work out a boat or yacht loan before you make an offer: payment, balloon, state sales tax caps and insurance, plus lenders' published terms.
- [About Yacht.Loans](https://yacht.loans/about/): Yacht.Loans is an independent boat and yacht financing information site, not a lender. How we research, date and correct what we publish.
- [Boat sales tax by state: rates, caps and exemptions](https://yacht.loans/boat-sales-tax-by-state/): Sales and use tax on boat purchases by state, including the caps and reduced rates some states set, with the statute or tax agency for each.
- [Contact Yacht.Loans](https://yacht.loans/contact/): Send Yacht.Loans a question or request. We read every message and reply by email.
- [Boat loan calculator for AI assistants: MCP server](https://yacht.loans/developers/): Connect Claude, ChatGPT or another AI assistant to the free yacht.loans MCP server: boat loan payments, state boat sales tax, lender terms and USCG fees.
- [Disclosures](https://yacht.loans/disclosures/): Yacht.Loans is not a lender or broker and makes no credit decisions. Who pays it (no one listed here), what the calculator does, and the limits of the data.
- [Guides from Yacht.Loans](https://yacht.loans/guides/): All guides from Yacht.Loans, newest first. Boat and yacht financing, worked out before you make an offer.
- [Boat and yacht loan terms lenders publish, compared](https://yacht.loans/lenders/): What banks, credit unions and marine lenders publish about boat loans: rates, terms, minimums, down payments and boat age limits, with dates.
- [Privacy policy](https://yacht.loans/privacy/): What Yacht.Loans collects when you visit or contact us, why, who it is shared with, and how to reach us about it.
- [Ask about your boat or yacht loan](https://yacht.loans/quote/): Send us the boat, the price and the loan you have in mind. A person replies by email. Not a loan application; we don't check your credit.
- [Terms of use](https://yacht.loans/terms/): The terms that apply when you use Yacht.Loans, including what the information here is and is not.

## Guides
- [Balloon boat loans: how the payment and the final balance work](https://yacht.loans/guides/balloon-boat-loans/): A balloon loan figures payments over more years than the term, so a lump sum is due when the term ends. A worked example with every assumption shown.
- [Boat insurance for a boat loan: what lenders require](https://yacht.loans/guides/boat-insurance-for-financing/): Truist requires physical damage coverage with a loss-payable clause in its favor. What lender pages say, what to ask your agent, and the calculator.
- [Boat loan down payment and credit score: what lenders publish](https://yacht.loans/guides/boat-loan-down-payment-and-credit/): NMLA lenders typically ask 10 to 20 percent down. Published score floors: Trident 600+, Southeast 575, Truist none for secured loans.
- [Boat loan interest deduction: when a boat counts as a second home](https://yacht.loans/guides/boat-loan-interest-deduction/): IRS Publication 936 (2025) counts a boat with sleeping, cooking and toilet facilities as a home. The second-home rules and the $750,000 limit.
- [Boat sales tax by state: how the caps work, with examples](https://yacht.loans/guides/boat-sales-tax-guide/): On a $600,000 boat, Florida's 6% state tax would be $36,000 but caps at $18,000. Caps in NC, SC, MD, NJ and VA, worked through.
- [Buying a boat with a loan, step by step from offer to closing](https://yacht.loans/guides/buying-a-boat-step-by-step/): The order of a financed boat purchase: offer subject to survey and financing, deposit, survey and sea trial, title or USCG documentation, insurance, closing.
- [Coast Guard documentation and preferred ship mortgages explained](https://yacht.loans/guides/coast-guard-documentation-and-preferred-mortgage/): Boats of 5 net tons or more can be documented (46 CFR 67.5) and carry a preferred mortgage. Eligibility, filing, NVDC fees and forms.
- [How long can you finance a boat? Published terms up to 20 years](https://yacht.loans/guides/how-long-can-you-finance-a-boat/): Longest boat loan terms by lender, from 180 to 240 months, and what 10 versus 20 years does to an example $400,000 loan.
- [Marine survey for a boat loan: what lenders need from it](https://yacht.loans/guides/marine-survey-for-a-boat-loan/): Navy Federal requires a marine survey on every used boat it finances. How to find a SAMS or NAMS surveyor and what the lender reads in the report.
- [Used boat loans: age limits, surveys and an unsecured option](https://yacht.loans/guides/used-boat-loans/): Truist takes boats up to 10 or 15 model years old, Trident about 20, and DuPage caps 2019-and-older boats at 60 months. Plus surveys and unsecured loans.