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