Motorhome purchase? Pros/Cons!

[brewer12345]

In most cases I doubt that - when compared with home ownership.  The problem is the RV is a depreciating asset.  A house is an appreciating asset.  It's very hard to overcome that difference even when living very cheaply with a lower-cost RV.

Yes, there are some people who manage it, but they are perhaps willing to buy a super cheap RV, and live a very frugal lifestyle.  Most people aren't interested in living quite that frugally.

Personally, I don't see the point of TRYING to economically justify owning an RV.  What matters is enjoying your lifestyle and just figure what tradeoffs you need to make to afford it.

Audrey

I hear you, I am just trying to square away what I have seen with what I currently shell out. I figure I spend $6k in RE taxes and $3k in misc. maintenence on a supposedly appreciating asset that I can never actually cash out of. $9k a year is an awful lot of depreciation...

 

[audreyh1]

Oh - $9K a year is easily seen on a depreciating motorhome or trailer and truck - especially if purchased relatively new.

Actually that $3K a year on miscellaneous maintenance? RVs easily cost more than that to maintain annually. Especially as they get older.

Personally - the property taxes I no longer pay now go towards fuel I would have not bought without this lifestyle. As fuel goes up I'll probably eventually end up paying as much as I used to in property taxes.

And your house will probably appreciate to cover most of those annual expenses.  Or you can always find a more economical house to own or move to a lower tax location.

Our monthly expenses are quite a bit lower than what they were when we owned a house.  That's great.  But when I look at what I paid for our motorhome - any savings, even over many, many years, go right out the window!!

I took a look at that site.

Looks like they used some of the equity of their home to pay for the up-front costs of getting into full timing - about $140K.

When they decide to by another house - quit fulltiming - where are they going to get the money?  They aren't going to get a large amount back out of their rig.

If they fulltime for 10 years and need to upgrade or replace the trailer or the tow vehicle (more likely) - where is the money going to come for that?  Replacements go up in price while rigs you own go down in value.

Their 2005 budget doesn't show any major maintenance items yet.  That's going to happen too after a few years.

So while you are running around enjoying the lower monthly expenses (not including depreciation) of RV living, you had better also be saving for the big ticket items that will be coming down the road INCLUDING the eventual need to replace your rig.

The thing is with house ownership, due to appreciation you usually eventually break even (usually much better) on upgrades, maintenance and repairs.  And homes don't wear out as quickly and need to be replaced like things on wheels do.

And most people who get into fulltiming invest the proceeds from the house towards the future when they stop and wish to be a home owner again.

It is generally considered unwise to use the equity from your primary home real estate to buy depreciating assets like RVs.  So that kind of means you need to already have enough money to "blow" on an RV without ever expecting to get the money back in order to afford that lifestyle.  Kind of increases the barrier to entry - sure.  So pretty much finding the least expensive rig you think will give you the lifestyle you want is about the smartest thing you can do financially.

Some people still use the proceeds from the sale of their home because that's the only way they can afford to go fulltime and they don't care if someday they may be stuck paying rent for the rest of their lives.  As long as they make that tradeoff with their eyes wide open - fine.  It's an informed choice.

Audrey

 

[nwsteve]

Personally, I don't see the point of TRYING to economically justify owning an RV.  What matters is enjoying your lifestyle and just figure what tradeoffs you need to make to afford it.
Audrey

Audrey and another poster have this right--it is about lifestyle.  Trying to do positive economics on a depreciating vs appreciating assets is mostly futile.
Recognize the RV allows you to have a set of experiences that are not easily replicated (sailing maybe but it has other issues).
The relatively low expense of fulltiming just helps make the experience easier. 
nwsteve

 

[ex_CFO_now_RVer]

Its not the first RV $outlay, thats scary, its that you might like RVing and have to buy the 2nd and 3rd RV later on.  When we purchased our motorhome, shelling out over $200,000, we joked about not liking RVing and selling the RV quickly, thus reducing the financial bath that we were undertaking.  So far we have enjoyed the experience with over 100 nights RVing in 2005.

Dave

 

[MJ]

I just saw Audrey's beautiful rig and I would agree that RVing with it would be expensive.
I was thinking about RVing when I get to my mid 60's but I would probably get an inexpensive small trailer or 5th wheel. I envision my RV lifestyle as being similar to PTing as I would stay in one place that I enjoyed for awhile. This would keep the cost of fuel and vehicle maintenance down.

MJ

 

[Howard]

My B in L, took the opportunity to spend $300,000 on a yacht, they live on it all Summer and plan to sell their home in a year and take off for several years of Sailing the Globe.

Currently they cruise the Great Lakes.

I just met a couple who took their kids out of school, home schooled them, and have been sailing the Pacific for nearly three years.

Several others were doing the same thing, so they were able to make friends, the kids would meet at the next docking, they were able to ensure that thye were always monitored should problems occur.

No gas to buy, minimal maintenance, not sure about depreciation on Boats?

 

[sailor]

No gas to buy, minimal maintenance, not sure about depreciation on Boats?

Howard, have you ever owned a boat?
1. Yes - most will buy a lot of gas ( or rather diesel if it's 300k boat, but you will still buy gas for your dinghy) - most crusing sailor are endig motoring at least 1/3 of their travels
2. Maintenance is actually a huge expense, especially in tropics - either in time or in money or both.
3. Boasts do depreciate. For example a boat we are considering for liveaboard costs about $150k new. You can get a 5 years old for $100k, 10 years old for $75k and 20 years old for $40k.

 

[Nords]

No gas to buy, minimal maintenance, not sure about depreciation on Boats?

Wow, boat owners all over this board are probably nasally spewing their beverages across their monitors right now. Go pay a visit to your local marina and watch all those boat owners gloating over those "advantages".

I suspect a lot of sailboat owners are quite thankful for their motors, especially in the harbor. I may be a fan of solar but it also helps to have a generator for those nights when you really need quick reliable power.

If you immersed your house on one of the most corrosive substances known to humankind, would it still qualify as "minimal maintenance"?

I'm no sailing expert, but I suspect that sailboats depreciate even faster than cars. Dennis Connor compares the sport to standing in a shower stall under a cold stream of water while tearing up $100 bills.

 

[Howard]

sailor, I have been told the two happiest days in a Boat Owners life are the day he buys the boat and the day he sells it.

No, I have never owned a boat, but I live 3 minutes from Georgian Bay and I am always able to find some one who wants company for the day.

My B in L eats, drinks, sleeps sailing, they own a Jeaneau soemthing or other, bought it with his payout at Retirement.

His Boat is docked in Lake Huron, and funny enough he can spend hour after hour working on his Yacht but he doesn't consider it working.

My interest has always been Real Estate, I would rather knock down some walls and do some shingling, after spending almost 30 years of International travel, not to keen to hit the road for extended periods.

I have every recreational opportunity that you could want, all within minutes of my home, I don't have to line up, just walk outside.

We talked about RV'ng once, briefly, very briefly, chacun a son gout.

 

[free4now]

To save money and travel the country, you could do what I did on my 6 week drive across the USA and back: sleep in your car. I have a Prius hatchback and the back seats folds flat. I have a nice cushy mattress with sheets, pillow, and a comforter. The Prius has electric air conditioning so you can keep the AC on at night when it's hot and the engine just runs every once in a while to keep the battery charged. The only annoying part is that the engine starting or stopping can be felt and can make it harder to sleep.

For one person it works great; two would probably be too cramped because you would have to move gear around too much. Two might work in a larger vehicle like an SUV or minivan. I definitely know people who use pickups with shells to sleep two. The cheapest and safest place to sleep is in Wal Mart lots for free. Showers can be found in truck stops and campgrounds.

The other nice thing about driving a passenger vehicle rather than an RV is that I think it's much safer on the road; you are much more maneuverable to avoid an accident and you have all the modern safety features like antilock brakes, vehicle stability control, traction control, six airbags, side impact protection, and so forth. Then again if you're in a head on collision with an RV I think the RV would win.

 

[tozz]

You are hereby banished to the miser thread!

As a teen, two of us traveled from Seattle to Boston in a VW beetle. Somehow we managed to sleep in it. I don't recall comfort being a big issue then, but I suspect it would be now.

To save money and travel the country, you could do what I did on my 6 week drive across the USA and back:  sleep in your car. 

 

[ex_CFO_now_RVer]

Life on the road is an adventure, can be fun or full of problems...


Dave

 

[greenhm]

sleep in your car.

Not in your car... ON your car !

This is the route we are going for now, until RV's get WAY better gas mileage AND I can afford one used!.

 

[free4now]

Nice! Does that sleep two people comfortably?

 

[yakers]

Neat camper. I have seen pictures of these and know they are popular in other parts of the world. We have more of the original version of it, a 1985 VW Westfalia camper. It will tecnically sleep 4, we do 3 regularly. And it works as an additional car too. Now if I had the $WD version I could go ofroad too.

 

[WanderALot]

This is the route we are going for now, until RV's get WAY better gas mileage AND I can afford one used!.

Do tell! Was that something you rigged up yourself?

 

[free4now]

Here's someone who converted a van with a sleeping area:

http://www.ravenfamily.org/andyg/van.htm

If you think about fuel costs and such it just doesn't seem to make much sense to me to carry a full house around with you on the road. I'm much more in favor of converting normal vehicles to be livable, so you don't incur the depreciation of having a dedicated RV.

 

[Martha]

Sportsmobile does relatively inexpensive conversions of vans, with some standard plans and a number of "custom" options. www.sportsmobile.com.

 

[Caroline]

gReeNy -- I have an Orange Honda Element, but it's turning green with envy looking at your camping rig! What a fabulous set-up!

I've actually seen these car-top tents on other vehicles, but wasn't sure of a few things:

1. How does the "loft" behave in a strong wind when it's deployed and you're in it? Is it steady enough to sleep in under those conditions? Any whistling or flapping of tent sides?

2. Does it meet the Element's specs for weight on the roof? Is this mounted on the standard Element roof racks?

3. How does it affect mileage? (And what's your Element like -- AWD or

4. Where have you been in that thing? Any lite off-roading (forest service trails, etc.? It looks like a LOT of fun!

5. I see you have the Honda-OEM cabana on the back - -you like?

Thanks, and happy wandering!

Caroline

 

[greenhm]

Do tell! Was that something you rigged up yourself?

The tent is a "Maggolina" Car Top tent. It is made in Italy (since the 50's) and is quite popular in Europe for expedition travel. For you U.S. folks, your can find more info about models at http://www.loftyshelters.com/IndexFrame.htm

The picture is NOT my unit. The picture I captured from an ad site.
I have mine on a Mazda MPV 4x4. and bought it from a distributor in Canada. There are distributors (with varying prices) all over. They are quite expensive.

The tent weights 115 pounds and is solid as a rock. It is developed for extreme temps (Canadian cold and desert hot). Regular roof racks work fine! (The weight ratings on racks are for movement, not stationary)

An optional side awning attached over the tent is also quite cool as it shelters you from stuff upon entry and exit.

I went this route cause I REALLY wanted a V.W. vanagon camper van, but did not want to put up with the mechanical nitemares that many have experienced. With the tent on top, it frees the remaining space. It's also up and ready to sleep in < 60 secs.

When the MPV dies, I'm going with the Honda Element however.. I LOVE hondas (again, the low maintainence thingy) and the Element and the tent look great together, though I do not think I'll spring for the rear tent...

 

[Martha]

The Maggolina car top tent is really interesting--also works on the back of a small pickup. I liked the disclaimer on the website: Cartop tents must not be open or occupied while the vehicle is in motion.

 

[Caroline]

Thanks, Greeny! I, too, was lusting over the Vanagon camper... UNTIL I went to a user site and heard all the complaints. The only thing worse than having your vehicle break down is having your vehicle break down on vacation and in the middle of nowhere!

I've had my ELement for a year now and absolutely LOVE it. Sleep in it on camping trips, pull the back seats out and load it to the gills with furniture, etc. No worries. The only thing I don't like -- shifting the gear around to set up for sleeping in it at night -- would be solved by your little system here.

As to the back tent -- Honda calls it a "Cabana" and I'd heard from others that it is NOT always waterproof in the rain... so we also agree that it's probably not worth the bucks.

Thanks again!
Caroline

 

[haha]

Caroline- how is tha tElement in crosswinds?

Also, how is your gas mieage?

Thanks, Ha

 

[Caroline]

Ha: I found the Element a tad uncomfortable in crosswinds at first, but maybe you can't go by me, as I moved up from a pretty low-to-the-ground '91 Camry. Other Element owners say it's pretty much like any SUV or light truck - no better, no worse.

Mileage on my 2005 AWD 5-speed is averaging 23 for 100% city driving. I haven't figured out highway mileage yet. Again, I may not be typical, as I drive like a granny.

Caroline

 

[madeit!]

A lot of people here are missing the point. You can buy a good rv for about the same as many of you spent for your go-to-work ride. You do not need a huge class A coach. A small used unit ( I have a truck camper) is all you need. After all, the whole world is your backyard and there is no room to store all that stupid junk that you tend to buy when you have a house to fill up. Some of you are also ignoring the hidden costs of permenant home ownership. I.E. furnishing it, landscape maintenance , two nice cars in the driveway, commuting and did I say all that space to store junk that you buy but do not need?