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breeno's avatar
breeno
Explorer
May 15, 2013

Living FT in RV while moving to a new Town: ideas?

So our family is moving down to Austin, TX (woot!) over the next few months (me first, family to follow once current house situation is sorted out).

Our current plan involves living in the TT for a few months (longer?) to learn the area before buying/building a new place.

We're on the waiting list for a monthly spot at a recommended RV park in NW Austin, and as such I might need to hop around a bit until I get a monthly spot somewhere decent. I'm shopping around for a nearby storage unit to keep our "stuff" and have a spot for commonly accessed items like clothes, etc that we won't have room for in the TT.

Here are some specific questions:

1) I suppose I'll pick up a PO box in the area for forwarding our mail on a temp basis. Are there other/better services to consider other than a plain ole PO box?
2) Any ideas on what to do for a "permanent" physical address? Use a family member's address temporarily, etc?
3) What sort of things (clothes, etc) did you find you frequently accessed from storage?
4) Any local Austin folks have any recommendations on Storage places in NW Austin (Round Rock would work)

Also -- if you've done something like this and have other thoughts to share, please feel free. Not sure I know what to ask / consider yet as this is all pretty new to us ;)

6 Replies

  • hitchup's avatar
    hitchup
    Explorer
    May 16, 2013
    Good idea to rent before you buy. Living in TT will give you some experience in neighborhoods, etc.

    We thought we'd be moving to FL in 2004, started in an Extended Stay the first month, then we signed a 7 mo lease and moved all our furniture and stuff down to apt w/garage. DH got his DL and set up a UPS Store address because the apt complex was gated and the UPS Store could receive pkgs for us when we traveled.

    Then decided we'd rather live in an RV than have elephants romping overhead after midnight. So we had to pack everything up and move it back to one of our sons who had storage. Also found FL wasn't all it was cracked up to be, so we were thankful we hadn't bought a house afterall.
  • brirene's avatar
    brirene
    Explorer
    May 15, 2013
    Just make sure you consider all the possibilities. Buddy of mine tried to do the same thing when he took a job transfer. Wife was supposed to join him in a couple of months when the s&b sold. Long story short, never did sell, she finally joined him 2 years later. Think it messed their finances up pretty bad. Moral of the story: look before you leap! Good luck.
  • Dyngbld's avatar
    Dyngbld
    Explorer
    May 15, 2013
    We got a PO box when I retired and got a new job several hours away, knowing we were going to move. I lived in a hotel for a few months driving home on the weekends. (ick, wish I would have had the camper then) We kept the PO box after we all moved here. We use it for all "out of town" mail. "Local" mail comes to the house. I like it, I don't need to give my physical address out, and when we hit the road full time I have a place to have my mail sent. The kids can swing by every so often and sort out the trash, and forward on to us. (At least that is the plan)
  • crimmps49's avatar
    crimmps49
    Explorer
    May 15, 2013
    Funny to read this as our DD is going through the same thing. They have everyday basics with them in the TT, but have a lot of extras the movers refused to take. They don't know the new area SIL got stationed at so they want to take their time finding a good neighborhood and a nice house. I think this is a good idea since so many places require leases to rent. Good luck.
  • ricklord2001's avatar
    ricklord2001
    Explorer
    May 15, 2013
    Well I certainly wish,wish,wish I'd had your good sense when I sold our last house and bought the one we're in now! We didn't have the RV then but I regret not renting something and really taking the time to find what we wanted where we wanted. WE looked and looked and found a house my wife liked , she really loved the kitchen. I said fine and bought it. Realized shortly there after that I really didn't like it and should of rented until we found something we both like. Now I have a dilemma because I really like the guys in the neighborhood but would dump the house in a minute. Sometime soon we're going to sell, live on the RV and find something more suitable to us. (really hate give up the guys in the neighborhood though).
    So long winded version of saying I agree strongly go for it.
  • dodgerdog's avatar
    dodgerdog
    Explorer
    May 15, 2013
    if it where just you I would say stick with the RV... Since its your whole family... I think I would look for a 2 bed room condo or something to rent for six months or even a extended stay america hotel for a month or two.... going back and forth to a storage unit for stuff in my opinion would become a big drag real fast..... if you have a family member why not use their house as a temp mailing address? Or just go to the post office and rent a P/O box for a while...

    My thoughts...

    Mike C.

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