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Downsizing into an RV
Old 08-31-2018, 07:14 PM   #1
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Downsizing into an RV

We are looking to sell our home and downsize to a smaller place.

We’re looking at the option of hitting the road for 12 to 18 months in an RV before purchasing new place. Put everything in storage. Anyone try this?

Not interested in full time RV living, but would love to be home free for an extended travel period across our beautiful country
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Old 08-31-2018, 08:05 PM   #2
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You need this RV, the Caraboat.
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Old 09-01-2018, 02:50 AM   #3
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can you rent an rv first for a couple weeks? They are much easier to buy than to sell.
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Old 09-01-2018, 05:41 AM   #4
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Many people sell their homes and hit the road in retirement. It is very brave of them to make such a life change commitment.
Some buy fifth wheel trailer and only move them seasonally. But some are constantly on the move from place to place and they do better with more expensive motor homes towing cars called "toads."
I monitor a number of RV forums,.and I never hear anyone say they wish they stayed.in their comfortable S&B home. They can always go off the road if health or other life issues arise.
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Old 09-01-2018, 06:39 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by kitesurfer2 View Post
They are much easier to buy than to sell.
Not if you're looking for a quality Class C, such as a Lazy Daze or Born Free. All RV's are not created equal. The majority of the well known RV brands are designed mainly for recreational use, and not full-time living. I subscribe to the RV Travel Newsletter, put out by Chuck Woodbury, and a big topic in his publication recently has been the subject of poor design and build quality from the major RV manufacturers.

By contrast, Lazy Daze RV's have more solid wood frames than most of the others, with more wood, and more screws and fasteners to hold the whole thing together. The skins are made from aircraft grade aluminum. I used to follow a blog by a fellow called Tioga George. He didn't do his research properly before purchasing his used Fleetwood Tioga and consequently, much of his blog was about the latest repair efforts. He seemed to spend a significant portion of his time on the road repairing his rig. It was almost comic, though I have to say that he always approached the task du jour with enthusiasm and commitment. In one blog post, part of either the outer fiberglass skin, or the inner wall (I forget which) was flapping around, so he took it off in order to see what was underneath and re-secure it. He was shocked to find out how very few screws were holding that part of his rig together.

The better-built RV's are more solid, as well as having more insulation in the walls, for more comfort in a variety of year-round climates. They also tend to be better designed, in terms of the use of space inside. One big-brand RV model recently discussed in the RV Travel Newsletter has a problem with it's toilet effectively flushing solids. I forget the exact details, but it was a basic design issue, to do with the routing of the plumbing and/or relative level and location of the tanks. The layout had not been properly thought out before the model went into production. Quite amazing.

The above quoted statement by kitesurfer 2 may well be true for the major brand RV's but, although I do not yet own an RV, have done extensive reading and feel confident in saying that Lazy Daze RV's are easier to sell than to buy. New ones are ordered direct from the factory, for which there is about a 9 month wait. When quality used ones hit the market, they don't stick around for long, and you may have to be prepared to travel a few states over, or even across the country, to get the precise one you want.

I have focused on Lazy Daze, as it is the quality brand I know about. The same things are true for the other known well-built brands too. I repeat - all RV's are not created equal.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Bamaman View Post
I monitor a number of RV forums,.and I never hear anyone say they wish they stayed.in their comfortable S&B home.
I think that's for the same reason that you rarely hear people report in these forums how their particular investment/withdrawal scheme failed, and forced them to go back to work. They just mysteriously stop posting........
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Old 09-01-2018, 06:47 AM   #6
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I am almost there. Renting a place but spending most of my time in my motorhome. Thinking about putting my most important stuff in storage, trading in my motorhome for a one with a better layout and really go full time for a few years. For me it would be a combination of seeing Europe and escaping from the cold winters of Norway.


Have you experience from RVing? If not then I would urge you to try it out first. Rent a motorhome or a trailer. Perhaps spend the first nights away in your own driveway. That's what I did and I had to pop back in several times to fetch things I had not thought of.
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Old 09-01-2018, 07:04 AM   #7
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We did it. Sold the house, got rid of all but a few pieces of furniture, china, keepsakes, etc. and put that in climate controlled storage. Went on the road for 2 years and loved it. Had a great place to spend the winters near my DW's mom. However after 2 years DW's mom's mental and physical health degraded enough so she needed more care. Sold the 1998 2 slide 45' Newell and bought a smaller house in a nearby retirement community. Last year we missed the RV travels so bought a 2004 26' LazyDaze. Realized it was too small for our multi-month travels, sold it for what we bought it for (yes Major Tom is correct, LD's are easier to sell than buy) and bought a 1999 no slide 36' Foretravel. Just spent 2 months in it in the mountains and it is the right size for us. Next year we'll spend 5-6 months traveling on an Alaska trip in it.
To do it again I would sell all the furniture. Sitting in CC storage wasn't good for it and the cost would have bought new furniture. Selling all our "stuff" was an emotional experience for both of us, easier for me than DW.
Spend lots of time walking through different RV's. One huge thing is if you find one you like and it has slide outs have the salesman put in the slides. Can you still access everything? Some units have limited access to closets, drawers, even fridges, etc.
Another thing: are you a handy guy? or will you need to call someone to fix stuff? If you're handy then I'd suggest looking at used high quality, luxury units. There are some great bargains out there for units that cost an enormous amount when new. Let someone else take the depreciation hit. And find an inspector who is familiar with whatever brand you find and pay him to find everything wrong with it.
I'm not familiar with 5th wheels or travel trailers but with motorhomes the best quality units are Newells, Prevosts, Bluebirds, and Foretravels. These are designed and built for full time use. Newells and Foretravels are still being built today and have great factory support. Again if you're pretty handy don't be afraid to look at a 15-20 year old Newell or Foretravel.
Good luck!
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Old 09-01-2018, 09:37 AM   #8
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Our unconventional approach to this lifestyle is to seek out back country solitude when traveling with a smaller more nimble camper/RV.
Periodically or as opportunity presents, we shift to interesting short term housing - e.g. Airbnb, Homeaway, Craigslist etc, in order to diversify the experience.
Our present situation finds us in a desirable longer term rental that will end sometime in the near(ish) future. The next move will be to search for a small footprint home base where summers are cool. The above travel mode will then resume in a fall through spring cycle.
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Old 09-01-2018, 09:06 PM   #9
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I'm shopping for a new truck to better handle my camper. I took a 2 month road trip out west earlier this year, 17 national parks. It sure is a great way to see the country.
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Old 09-01-2018, 09:17 PM   #10
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My friends parents did this and after a year came back and bought a house. We bought the motor home from them but the longest we have gone is a month and then we are done.
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Old 09-02-2018, 06:01 AM   #11
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Sounds like a real adventure. There are times I get a hankering for it. Seems like a pretty drastic change of lifestyle. Also seems like there would be a lot of work involved in getting things figured out and set up. But as Oldbidness said, a great way to see the country.
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Old 09-02-2018, 07:03 AM   #12
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RV is my plan...hopfully in 3 years been shopping kinda know what i want but i need to wait 3 years for it to depreciate to my price point. Have been working on selling stuff and fixing up the house to sell, both have been slow going.
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Old 09-02-2018, 09:35 AM   #13
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Yes, but not to an RV. We downsized from a 3600 sq ft. home to an 8X8X16 container. It took us a few months to sell the house and downsize. We had about four passes at it and we got more ruthless as time went on. The rubber really hit the road when the empty container arrived on our driveway 10 days prior to the move out date. Getting rid of all that stuff was one of the most liberating things we have ever done. Highly recommend it.

We traveled for 7 months. We each had a 20 carry on roller. Air, sea, rental car, rail, bus, whatever. Africa, Europe, Central America, US Then rented a small furnished city apt. for four months. We did not see what wanted to buy so we moved to a very nice rental condo for six months. The six month rental turned into four years.

These experiences had a huge impact on what we eventually bought. Our requirements changed after travelling, then changed again after renting. It also changed our lifestyle to certain degree. Our focus also changed from possessions to experiences.
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Old 09-02-2018, 09:02 PM   #14
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We have met a lot of folks who have downsized to a Trawler.....basically a floating rv. Some did it in stages, building up to the right sized boat, and some, just sold everything and moved aboard. We traveled on our small boat full time for 7 months and now beginning to research rvs. We aren’t planning to downsize full time but certainly would consider one or two years in a class B when we sell our house.
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Old 09-02-2018, 09:16 PM   #15
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We both know that we cannot live full-time in an RV. Doesn't matter if it's a big class A.

But for traveling, an RV is great. I have put 40,000 miles on my class C, and it allows us to take the back roads and go places that hard to do with a car road trip, let alone the fly-and-drive routine.

We can do that only a couple of months at a time before missing home. Guess we could go for as long as 3 months, but something has always happened at the 2-month mark that made me head home.
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Old 09-03-2018, 06:25 AM   #16
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We love to travel but have not tried this route yet. Next year we will do some longer stints in rentals out west. Maybe the RV thing later.
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Old 09-03-2018, 06:47 AM   #17
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Interesting topic and comments.

Quote:
Originally Posted by folivier View Post
Another thing: are you a handy guy? or will you need to call someone to fix stuff? !
This is a critical part of the equation.

Your plan was our plan. Had the fifth wheeler (second owner) and had the house on the market! For family reasons, decided not to sell and, instead, just use the RV for trips.

There are lots of things that pop up needing to be fixed. Fortunately, DH is a handy guy! Just understand that it's a lifestyle choice, not a money-saving choice.

Also, now that we're more acclimated to living on the road (albeit not full-time) I have gone through a "down-sizing" of stuff in the RV.

If we had a do-over, we would get something smaller, even for full-timing for three or fewer years (ours is 37' with three slides).

Looking forward - would love to build something like Fuego did (or more realistic for us, buy a trailer shell and build out the inside.) Then you know the quality, and you know where the pipes and wires are.
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Old 09-03-2018, 04:13 PM   #18
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Even our dogs are sick of it after a month). Someone I know traveled with their 3 dogs for a year and one dog became very aggressive, had to go on anxiety medication and eventually they had to move back into a house.
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Old 09-03-2018, 07:05 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by mchisam View Post
We are looking to sell our home and downsize to a smaller place.

We’re looking at the option of hitting the road for 12 to 18 months in an RV before purchasing new place. Put everything in storage. Anyone try this?

Not interested in full time RV living, but would love to be home free for an extended travel period across our beautiful country
We got rid of most of our stuff. Got rid of the furniture and other large items. Put very little in storage, but we did have a unit we visited about once a year. Bought new furniture when we bought another house 5 years later. The old furniture would not have fit in the new house.
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Old 09-04-2018, 01:09 PM   #20
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This thread is a great illustration that one person's dream come true, is another's absolute nightmare. I can't imagine anything I'd less rather do than move into an RV for a year. Well, other than check in at the local homeless shelter (or maybe jail?).... Eek!

Not that there is anything wrong with moving into an RV for a year! It's just so amazing to me, how we are all so different from one another.
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