Severe water damage: Reno or sell?
Here we go... I recently bought a 2004 Salem camper from a dishonest seller and later found severe water damage throughout. We are on the fence about gutting it and renovating it or just selling it a...
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A few days after I retired, we knowingly bought a small Class C motorhome with significant water and other damage. It took about 2 months of near daily work to seal the leaks, strip the interior, replace rotted wood in the walls and ceiling, replace the interior wall paneling, and refinish/reinstall the cabinets. The water heater and A/C were also replaced along with a new set of tires. Our cost to rebuild it came to about $1800, but we only paid $2000 to buy it, enjoyed the heck out of using it for 3 years, and then sold it for $4500.
The rebuild was an enjoyable hobby, and as expected, there were a few surprises along the way, some good, some not so good. All in all, I'd say if you enjoy doing that kind of work, and don't have a pressing need to use the RV right away, it can be a very satisfying project. Financially, we were lucky that our initial repair estimate was only a couple of hundred dollars less than our actual costs, since hidden damage is always tough to "guestimate". Having to pay someone for the labor to do the work would have pushed the costs well into the "Are you nuts?" range though.
The rebuild was an enjoyable hobby, and as expected, there were a few surprises along the way, some good, some not so good. All in all, I'd say if you enjoy doing that kind of work, and don't have a pressing need to use the RV right away, it can be a very satisfying project. Financially, we were lucky that our initial repair estimate was only a couple of hundred dollars less than our actual costs, since hidden damage is always tough to "guestimate". Having to pay someone for the labor to do the work would have pushed the costs well into the "Are you nuts?" range though.
