Selling a GA airplane is not like selling or trading in a used car. But, you can sell your airplane safely and professionally if you lean into something you’re already familiar with…checklists.
But first, the usual disclaimer. This isn’t legal advice, and I’m not an attorney. I’d feel comfortable giving a friend the following information, but run it past a real lawyer before acting on any of it.
A good broker is essentially a project manager, marketer, gatekeeper, and therapist. The one you want is knowledgeable about the specific type (or willing to learn quickly) and where the market is currently.
They’ll handle advertising, phone calls, “Is it still available?” emails, and shoo away tire-kickers who only want free rides. They often already have a network of buyers, other brokers, and shops that can shorten the time-on-market. Most importantly, they can help with realistic pricing, contracts, escrow, and seeing trouble coming before you do.
Of course, the broker will want a little something for their trouble in the form of a commission from the sale. And, you’ll still need to do at least some work in the form of supplying and verifying logs, answering their pre-listing questions, and, importantly, making sure the broker you choose is reputable.
You should seriously consider using a good broker if you don’t have time (or patience) to manage a multi-month process, if you simply don’t like negotiating, or if you think there’s any complexity over your head, such as old liens, export considerations, LLC ownership, or a substantial damage history.
The pros include not paying commission to a broker and having control over the messaging, interactions, and pacing. In comparison to selling a $900k Baron with glass, selling a 20-year-old Cherokee is usually much more straightforward.
On the other hand, you’re a marketing, sales, support, fraud detection, quality assurance, accounting, and possibly legal team of one. You will be responsible for screening tire-kickers, spotting scams, and managing money safely. Be ready to draft a purchase agreement, arrange escrow, answer endless questions, and schedule pre-buys.
But if you choose to go it alone, you don’t have to be completely without help. A realistic middle ground can be achieved by getting a pricing consultation from a broker or appraiser, talking to AOPA Legal Services or another aviation attorney, then running the sale yourself.
Let’s get the hard part out of the way first. Your airplane is not as special to buyers as it is to you. The market does not value your opinion, care how much you have “in” the panel, or what your next airplane costs.
A sane asking price comes from looking at recent sales of your make and model (or listing prices, at least), the engine and prop times (and their calendar ages), how relevant and supported the avionics stack is today, and the honest condition of the paint and interior. Put all that together, and you’ll land on a fair, defensible number that makes every subsequent step of the sale dramatically easier.
Serious buyers are not buying an airplane; they’re buying their next “baby,” and it had better be good. They want to know, “Where has this airplane been, how has it been treated, and what am I in for in the first couple of years?” Your job is to make the story clear, boring, and trustworthy.
You don’t need cinema-quality video (though it doesn’t hurt), but you do need honest, competent photos. Before the camera comes out, clean the airplane like it’s never been cleaned before, removing personal clutter, ancient charts, half-used oil jugs, the headset graveyard, etc.
Fix cheap, obvious items like missing screws, loose plastic, and dead bulbs. Then, take the airplane out of the hangar into good light and take clear pictures of all four exterior corners, side shots, panel, front and back of interior, and cosmetic flaws (yes, really). For an added touch of flair, fly a lap in the pattern while a friend snaps pics of the airplane in action.
So, about confessing to cosmetic flaws by photographing them…this is actually a fantastic sales tool. Think about it from the buyer’s perspective. Some sellers try to hide the ugly stuff, and others disclose it, letting the buyer decide for themselves.
Disclose any known damage history and repairs, any inoperative equipment and whether it’s deferred legally, any missing logs or gaps in maintenance history, anything your mechanic has told you that you would want to know if you were buying, and as mentioned above, every little blemish, chip, scrape, and ding you can find. That builds enormous confidence in a buyer’s mind. It’s also the right thing to do.
Besides, it’ll help you avoid six-figure problems later if the buyer decides you misrepresented the airplane. Clear, written disclosure is cheap insurance.
As a seller, you should want the buyer to get a solid pre-buy by a mechanic who’s never worked on your airplane, because it gives both of you a clear snapshot at the moment of sale, lowers the odds of nasty “you sold me a lemon” phone calls, and draws a clean line between “our problem” and “your new maintenance project.”
The purchase agreement should spell out what happens if the pre-buy finds issues: price adjustments, which squawks (if any) you agree to correct, and under what conditions either party can walk away with or without a refund of the deposit.
Be certain to use a written purchase agreement. This is where a short conversation with an aviation attorney or AOPA Legal Services Plan earns its keep.
Your agreement should typically identify the airplane and exactly what equipment/logs convey with the sale, set the price, deposit amount, and who pays which fees (pre-buy, ferry, escrow). Make the sale contingent on a clear title, satisfactory pre-buy inspection (defined in writing), and completed payment by a clear method (usually wire).
Spell out what happens if the pre-buy finds significant problems, either party walks away, and if the buyer drags their feet past the agreed-upon dates. State that the airplane is sold “as is, where is, with all faults,” with your only warranty being that you will deliver a clear title. Define how disputes are resolved (lawsuit vs. arbitration, which state’s law applies, etc.).
Even for a $90,000 Cherokee, an escrow service is cheap compared to the downside of having a sale go badly. Escrow will typically do a title search and pull the FAA file (bills of sale, recorded liens, lien releases), coordinate lien payoff and make sure any old liens actually get cleared, collect funds from the buyer and release them to you only when all documents are correct, and file the Bill of Sale and Registration with the FAA. You and the buyer usually split the escrow fee. It’s money well spent.
Because aviation uses large numbers and small communities, it attracts both great people and world-class scammers. Simple defenses include screening buyers by verifying their name and N-number history on the FAA site, looking for a basic online footprint, and asking a few polite questions.
Prefer (maybe insist on) wire transfer through escrow to anything involving physical checks. Don’t release original logs or the airplane itself until escrow confirms funds are cleared and the closing conditions are met—physical logs are a major percentage of the value of your airplane. If a buyer is trying to rush you, bypass pre-buy, or avoid paperwork, treat that as a giant red flag.
When it’s finally time to close, sign the FAA Bill of Sale (Form 8050-2) in duplicate with both originals going to the buyer, remove the old registration from the airplane, complete the transfer section on the back, and ensure the paperwork is filed promptly with the FAA.
Call your insurance company and end or adjust your coverage, effective upon delivery, or ensure appropriate coverage remains in effect if the seller is providing a ferry pilot. Remove all personal gear and data—portable GPS, charts, fuel cards, spare headsets, that one special foggles case, etc.
Give the buyer any 337s or STC paperwork that isn’t already in the logs, keys, POH/AFM, weight and balance, and any supplemental manuals.
Only when all of that is done, finished, and complete, perform the final task of handing the physical logbooks to the new, official owner of the airplane.
The most satisfied sellers tend to be the ones who:
In other words, they act like the seller they wish they’d met back when they were shopping for a new magic carpet.
Do that, and you’re far more likely to walk away from the closing with a fair check, a clean conscience, and nothing arriving later in the mail with a lawyer’s return address. Hmm…that check sure would go a long way toward a low-hours Ovation…