OT Anyone have any experience with buying an RV?

[Natebishop3]

My wife and I are thinking about renting out our house and buying a fifth wheel to live in for a few years to pay down our student loans and such.

Anyone own an RV? Any advice on brands? Any advice on different retailers in our area?

 

[santeesioux]

I don't, but Keystone Montana's look really nice, especially to live in.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

My wife and I are thinking about renting out our house and buying a fifth wheel to live in for a few years to pay down our student loans and such.

Anyone own an RV? Any advice on brands? Any advice on different retailers in our area?

Make sure it has vinyl windows, cooking meth will destroy the aluminum ones.

 

[barfo]

The trouble with your plan is that there are very, very few tornadoes in this area. You'll need to park it in a flood plain instead.

barfo

 

[jonnyboy]

I would focus more on the engine/ drivetrain reliability than anything else. As far as living space goes, all those things are built similarly. They are built to be lightweight so everything is pretty chincy, but they can be really cozy and pleasant to stay in if cared for properly. If you are even slightly handy you could fix just about anything in them fairly cheaply and easily. Look for something with a reliable motor first and foremost. Ford 7.3 liter diesels are extremely reliable and pull a TON of weight with ease, saving alot on fuel economy. They are put in alot of rv models.

 

[Further]

I don't however when I was thinking about it the best advise I got was to buy used. Apparently RV's drop value really fast because so many people buy them and then go on one or two vacations and then realize they can't stand being boxed in with their family. Buy used.

 

[Natebishop3]

I don't however when I was thinking about it the best advise I got was to buy used. Apparently RV's drop value really fast because so many people buy them and then go on one or two vacations and then realize they can't stand being boxed in with their family. Buy used.

I think this would be true if you paid the MSRP, but if you can negotiate a good price, you won't be so far behind. The problem is that a lot of the older models aren't set up for residential living, but the new ones can even come with an actual Samsung residential refrigerator. They come with more insulation. They come with bigger bathrooms or kitchens.

Some of them are originally listed for $90k, but they're "on sale" for $70k, which isn't much more than a used one is. If you pit the dealers against each other, you can get them for even less. We're trying to buy for around $50k because that's the cutoff for a 20 year loan. We're not planning on keeping the thing more than five or six years though. Just long enough to pay off all our debt and build some more equity in our house.

 

[riverman]

1. Paying off debts by buying something to live in when you have a place already doesn't seem to be a wise move...tags, registration, gas, oil, insurance....etc....personally I think there are probably better moves to save and make money. I'd take out a second mortgage to pay off the loans and chip away at it or get a second job to cover the loans...you could rent a trailer to save money if you still wanted to rent your house and not be liable for expenses and upkeep......contrary to what salesmen tell you...living in an RV isn't that cheap

 

[SlyPokerDog]

1. Paying off debts by buying something to live in when you have a place already doesn't seem to be a wise move...tags, registration, gas, oil, insurance....etc....personally I think there are probably better moves to save and make money. I'd take out a second mortgage to pay off the loans and chip away at it or get a second job to cover the loans...you could rent a trailer to save money if you still wanted to rent your house and not be liable for expenses and upkeep......contrary to what salesmen tell you...living in an RV isn't that cheap

But you can move your home to Canada when the new civil war breaks out.

 

[Further]

My teacher in Walla Walla decided to Airbnb her condo to make some extra since she had another place she could go as often as she wanted. She ended up making a boatloadmore than expected,

If you do RV, consider parking near or st your house and Airbnb your house. It will be more work but if you do a good job you should be able to make several times more than renting it out.

 

[Natebishop3]

1. Paying off debts by buying something to live in when you have a place already doesn't seem to be a wise move...tags, registration, gas, oil, insurance....etc....personally I think there are probably better moves to save and make money. I'd take out a second mortgage to pay off the loans and chip away at it or get a second job to cover the loans...you could rent a trailer to save money if you still wanted to rent your house and not be liable for expenses and upkeep......contrary to what salesmen tell you...living in an RV isn't that cheap

Our mortgage is $1400 a month. I can rent out our house for around $2000 a month.

The RV would be around $500 a month, plus around $150 per month in insurance. We're not driving it around. It's a fifth wheel trailer. It would sit somewhere. New ones have a two year warranty, down to the nuts and bolts. Our main plan right now is to put it on a lot next to my parents house, but if that doesn't work out we have a couple other options we're working on.

 

[Natebishop3]

My teacher in Walla Walla decided to Airbnb her condo to make some extra since she had another place she could go as often as she wanted. She ended up making a boatloadmore than expected,

If you do RV, consider parking near or st your house and Airbnb your house. It will be more work but if you do a good job you should be able to make several times more than renting it out.

Houses in our area are renting out for anywhere between $1700 and $2100. We live in a desirable neighborhood on a cul de sac with a decently sized yard and 2 car garage. I was looking on AirBNB and nobody is renting out houses like ours. It's mostly stuff for an experience.

 

[stampedehero]

I see many of them parked in driveways. Last year, when we were at the shore house, a convention/club of 20 of them were parked in the bay parking lot. These particular people are really dedicated to their "hobby". I had a chance to talk to an owner. It is one expensive decision. Your talking 150K and up for a fairly new one.
With gas prices increasing (which is bullshit), the RV's are great for a driveway house reserved for the night the wife is pissed off at you or when your crazy cousin Ed arrives in town.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Our mortgage is $1400 a month. I can rent out our house for around $2000 a month.

The RV would be around $500 a month, plus around $150 per month in insurance. We're not driving it around. It's a fifth wheel trailer. It would sit somewhere. New ones have a two year warranty, down to the nuts and bolts. Our main plan right now is to put it on a lot next to my parents house, but if that doesn't work out we have a couple other options we're working on.

Why not live at your parents? I can't imagine living in an RV stationary fulltime would be good at all.

 

[Natebishop3]

I see many of them parked in driveways. Last year, when we were at the shore house, a convention/club of 20 of them were parked in the bay parking lot. These particular people are really dedicated to their "hobby". I had a chance to talk to an owner. It is one expensive decision. Your talking 150K and up for a fairly new one.
With gas prices increasing (which is bullshit), the RV's are great for a driveway house reserved for the night the wife is pissed off at you or when your crazy cousin Ed arrives in town.

You guys are thinking about motorhomes. I'm definitely not looking at motorhomes.

You can get a bitchin 5th wheel for between 50 and 70k. And I'm talkin luxury, full time, residential trailer. My wife loves this one - the MSRP is like $93k, but there are dealers selling them for $74k and I think I could get it even cheaper.

https://www.granddesignrv.com/showroom/2019/fifth-wheel/solitude/floorplans/373fb-373fb-r

 

[jlprk]

My kid may have been conceived in a Volkswagen Westphalia camper van. It doubled as a normal car, such as, for commuting to work. One less car in the household. The top floor, the foldup roof, is a double bed, spacious for one person. The bottom has a mattress as big as 1 1/2 single beds.

You guys are thinking about motorhomes. I'm definitely not looking at motorhomes.

https://www.granddesignrv.com/showroom/2019/fifth-wheel/solitude/floorplans/373fb-373fb-r

That's not an RV because it's not a vehicle. That's a singlewide. After the VW camper, we lived in a doublewide. The now-1-year-old destructively split off pieces of wood, molding board. They are built cheaply. That's why they depreciate, instead of appreciating like "real" houses. But it was just fine, with a small yard for me to mow in a nice (= spread-out, not dense) neighborhood with dozens of doublewides. For a singlewide, you should have places of refuge from each other, like the public library.

 

[CupWizier]

Houses in our area are renting out for anywhere between $1700 and $2100. We live in a desirable neighborhood on a cul de sac with a decently sized yard and 2 car garage. I was looking on AirBNB and nobody is renting out houses like ours. It's mostly stuff for an experience.

I would look at a used one as like in cars, as soon as you drive the trailer off the lot, it will immediately depreciate. There should be many available as people tend to buy and then realize it's not that practical for them. Also, buy as big as you can afford as those walls close in real quick. My dad lived in one for a few years and it was a 35' 5th wheel and it was very cozy to say the least for him and his wife.

 

[CupWizier]

Here's a perfect example of the depreciation that can be expected. This invoiced for $109,000 and is now being sold for $55,000 or best offer. That's half in less than 3 years. The money saved by buying a late model used one could be used to pay down your loans.

https://portland.craigslist.org/yam/tro/d/2015-cardinal-5th-wheel/6569332150.html

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Find a good used one that's only a few years old and save yourself a ton of $$.
Be sure to get it re-sealed at least every couple years. Especially if it's parked outside all the time, not covered. I had a travel trailer that developed leaks and it caused a lot of damage. Friends who also had travel trailers and RV's have had similar leaking issues.
Built in generator.
Dual propane tank.
Auto leveling.
Built in sprayers to clean the poop and grey water tanks.
Make sure it has good/new tires.

 

[santeesioux]

Our mortgage is $1400 a month. I can rent out our house for around $2000 a month.

The RV would be around $500 a month, plus around $150 per month in insurance. We're not driving it around. It's a fifth wheel trailer. It would sit somewhere. New ones have a two year warranty, down to the nuts and bolts. Our main plan right now is to put it on a lot next to my parents house, but if that doesn't work out we have a couple other options we're working on.

Why not just look at getting a cheap mobile home in that case then? My parent's have a 2 lot property and I'm looking into doing that. A mobile seems better to live in if you're not moving it over an rv.

 

[jonnyboy]

Our mortgage is $1400 a month. I can rent out our house for around $2000 a month.

The RV would be around $500 a month, plus around $150 per month in insurance. We're not driving it around. It's a fifth wheel trailer. It would sit somewhere. New ones have a two year warranty, down to the nuts and bolts. Our main plan right now is to put it on a lot next to my parents house, but if that doesn't work out we have a couple other options we're working on.

I thought u were talking rv's. In that case, I was provided a brand new (at the time) Montana mountaineer to live in while working out of town by my employer. I spent alot of time in it. 5 slide-outs, 2 bathrooms, pretty nice master bedroom and a back bedroom that could easily house 2 kids. Definitely livable. Everything is easy to work on... plumbing, fixtures, gas lines, electrical, it's all extremely simple. The slide outs are also able to function mechanically with a crank in case your battery dies, which ends up being a great feature.
Remember, you're also going to want a generator for aux. power. And you'll most likely be paying for a parking spot with water/elec/sewer hookups that could easily cost $400 a month or more.
If you're trying to save money, buying a $50k 5th wheel might not be the way to go. I would go cheaper after factoring in all the expenses.

 

[CupWizier]

Find a good used one that's only a few years old and save yourself a ton of $$.
Be sure to get it re-sealed at least every couple years. Especially if it's parked outside all the time, not covered. I had a travel trailer that developed leaks and it caused a lot of damage. Friends who also had travel trailers and RV's have had similar leaking issues.
Built in generator.
Dual propane tank.
Auto leveling.
Built in sprayers to clean the poop and grey water tanks.
Make sure it has good/new tires.

Yeah roofs are really critical as they can leak and cause damage and by the time it

I think this would be true if you paid the MSRP, but if you can negotiate a good price, you won't be so far behind. The problem is that a lot of the older models aren't set up for residential living, but the new ones can even come with an actual Samsung residential refrigerator. They come with more insulation. They come with bigger bathrooms or kitchens.

Some of them are originally listed for $90k, but they're "on sale" for $70k, which isn't much more than a used one is. If you pit the dealers against each other, you can get them for even less. We're trying to buy for around $50k because that's the cutoff for a 20 year loan. We're not planning on keeping the thing more than five or six years though. Just long enough to pay off all our debt and build some more equity in our house.

Why are they on sale? MSRP mean nothing and really if they are on sale now, then new ones will be on sale a couple years down the road and will immediately depreciate when you drive it home. If you can get a new one that has a MSRP of $95k and off the lot for $70k the next person can likely do the same so in reality it's a $70k value that will depreciate instantly. If you buy a couple year old one that has already depreciated (say less than $50k value) then you already saved $20k or more and it will be easier to recover more of your money when you decide to sell it. Depreciation should be factored into as an expense if you buy new (less if you buy used).

 

[stampedehero]

You guys are thinking about motorhomes. I'm definitely not looking at motorhomes.

You can get a bitchin 5th wheel for between 50 and 70k. And I'm talkin luxury, full time, residential trailer. My wife loves this one - the MSRP is like $93k, but there are dealers selling them for $74k and I think I could get it even cheaper.

https://www.granddesignrv.com/showroom/2019/fifth-wheel/solitude/floorplans/373fb-373fb-r

Take and leave it anywhere. Good luck. Man, I can see it would be a passion, if you and the wife are geared for it. Coastline trips are incredible.
TESLA should make an RV. I'll bet that costs a small fortune. I would fathom to guess at 750K basic

 

[Natebishop3]

I thought u were talking rv's. In that case, I was provided a brand new (at the time) Montana mountaineer to live in while working out of town by my employer. I spent alot of time in it. 5 slide-outs, 2 bathrooms, pretty nice master bedroom and a back bedroom that could easily house 2 kids. Definitely livable. Everything is easy to work on... plumbing, fixtures, gas lines, electrical, it's all extremely simple. The slide outs are also able to function mechanically with a crank in case your battery dies, which ends up being a great feature.
Remember, you're also going to want a generator for aux. power. And you'll most likely be paying for a parking spot with water/elec/sewer hookups that could easily cost $400 a month or more.
If you're trying to save money, buying a $50k 5th wheel might not be the way to go. I would go cheaper after factoring in all the expenses.

RVs encompass all motor homes and trailers. At least that's how that community views them.

In terms of expenses, right now I'm paying $1400 for my mortgage, I'm pay $500 for utilities like power, water, internet, garbage, etc. If we can have that extra $1k every month to put towards paying down debt, that would be awesome.

 

[Stevenson]

You guys are thinking about motorhomes. I'm definitely not looking at motorhomes.

You can get a bitchin 5th wheel for between 50 and 70k. And I'm talkin luxury, full time, residential trailer. My wife loves this one - the MSRP is like $93k, but there are dealers selling them for $74k and I think I could get it even cheaper.

https://www.granddesignrv.com/showroom/2019/fifth-wheel/solitude/floorplans/373fb-373fb-r

Looks great!

 

[SlyPokerDog]

RVs encompass all motor homes and trailers. At least that's how that community views them.

In terms of expenses, right now I'm paying $1400 for my mortgage, I'm pay $500 for utilities like power, water, internet, garbage, etc. If we can have that extra $1k every month to put towards paying down debt, that would be awesome.

You can get $40-50k for a healthy baby. Knock up your wife and sell it.

Do that 3 or 4 years in a row and you can pay off your debts and get a free RV.

 

[Natebishop3]

You can get $40-50k for a healthy baby. Knock up your wife and sell it.

Do that 3 or 4 years in a row and you can pay off your debts and get a free RV.

But then they'll come looking for me later when they're older, asking questions like "why" and "how could you?"

I just don't want to deal with that. Plus, my wife would probably cry herself to sleep every night. That would probably get old.

 

[CupWizier]

RVs encompass all motor homes and trailers. At least that's how that community views them.

In terms of expenses, right now I'm paying $1400 for my mortgage, I'm pay $500 for utilities like power, water, internet, garbage, etc. If we can have that extra $1k every month to put towards paying down debt, that would be awesome.

Yep, an RV can be a motor home or a trailer. Have you actually searched some used ones. I bet you can save around 20% of the cost of a new one and that $14k or so should knock a big chunk off your debt. I seldom ever buy new just because of the depreciation factor that goes right out the door when you take it off the lot.

 

[jlprk]

You need a table of payments, which separate the components of principal (equity) and interest.

I'll assume this is for 5 years, then you sell the mobile home. Compare the first 5 years of equity gained, to the next 5 years of equity you would have gained by staying in your current house. Subtract that net lost equity, from the total payments you save, to find your real savings. Not as much as you thought.

Also, compare the resale price of each in 5 years (one will depreciate; one will appreciate). Again, less money saved than you thought.

You keep mentioning utility bills--will this really differ? Fewer square feet to heat, but more leakage between cheap boards (as I said, my tot tore off molding, it was so weakly nailed on), and less insulation.

 

[bodyman5000 and 1]

You need a table of payments, which separate the components of principal (equity) and interest.

I'll assume this is for 5 years, then you sell the mobile home. Compare the first 5 years of equity gained, to the next 5 years of equity you would have gained by staying in your current house. Subtract that net lost equity, from the total payments you save, to find your real savings. Not as much as you thought.

Also, compare the resale price of each in 5 years (one will depreciate; one will appreciate). Again, less money saved than you thought.

You keep mentioning utility bills--will this really differ? Fewer square feet to heat, but more leakage between cheap boards (as I said, my tot tore off molding, it was so weakly nailed on), and less insulation.

I don't see the real upside myself but I don't think he was asking for opinions on the plan. That said, I'm surprised they call these an RV. Do people actually ride in them while they are being towed. I guess you could but I'd feel weird even though it is similar to a motor home.

I'd have to lean towards getting a used one especially considering money is the main factor in doing this.

That one cupwizzer linked sure is brown inside....too brown.