What is the market for a specific airplane?
The market for a given airplane is certainly not what an aircraft buyer may see on Controller or even AMSTAT or JetNet because there are airplane owners that advertise their airplanes with no real intention of selling and there are those owners that would love to sell their airplane but are hesitant to make their desire public knowledge.
The first group, the owners that advertise their aircraft as being for sale but do not really want to sell, may include those whose financier or accountant or board of directors or wife has said the airplane must go. These owners love what the airplane can do for them, i.e.: on demand mobility, access to remote regions, and the security of private travel. These are among the many reasons those owners don’t want to give up their airplanes.
To satisfy the ones that say the airplane must go, those owners typically put the airplanes on the market with price tags that are far beyond what ready, willing and able buyers would pay. Or, they make the airplane so difficult to view that the prospective buyer gives up and moves on to another airplane.
No matter the reason, the presence of the airplane among those that are legitimately for sale distorts the market. Only a serious broker that is constantly researching the market will identify and discount these hollow offerings to form a clearer vision of the real market.
The opposite side of the spectrum is those owners that would love to sell their aircraft -- only quietly. These owners may be going through some business hiccups, a divorce or just in need of cash for an investment. They prefer that their customers/clients, business associates, peers or competitors not know the airplane is on the market. They fear the appearance of the airplane in the marketplace can be construed as a distress signal.
Aviation Advisors Int'l has implemented a special service. We offer corporate jets and turbo props that are off-market but offered for sale on a discrete basis. Potential buyers are pre-qualified prior to Aviation Advisors Int'l. releasing any specific information about an aircraft. This service is especially appealing to high net worth individuals and others that prefer to keep the sale of their airplane a private matter.
Although these airplanes are definitely a market segment, they too frequently go undiscovered. This is yet another instance how a dedicated, professional broker provides a value added service. An aircraft buyer searching on his own or through someone claiming to have aviation market expertise (without ever doing the constant market research required) will never find the opportunities in this “quiet” area of the market.
Sorting out the aircraft market that anyone can see and integrating the market that is shrouded to form a clear understanding of the real market is the defining test of a competent, professional broker.