preparing to full time

If you need to get financing then buy it while you still have the house...easier to do.

Off Topic - Sorry: Darsben: As for as 'security issues', women can handle anything as well as men. There are many, many single women full-timing out here.

I agree with everything YC 1 said. Get MH park in driveway and slowly move in so you know what you need. It sounds like you have researched MHs and know what you want.
Go for it!

NYCgrrl wrote:

cekkk wrote:
If the OP really wants sound advice/suggestions beyond the purely generic, he/she needs to provide a whole lot more information - is "Ricky" male or female? (Yes, that matters.) Is Ricky skilled in handling home repairs, will those skills, if any, transfer to a MH? The whole financial picture, prior RV experience - so much is left blank. The wording of the post isn't reassuring as to preparedness, but it does indicate a willingness to undertake due diligence.

I don't mean to be nit-picky, but this is a huge step and shouldn't be taken lightly by the OP or those giving advice. So please, OP, more info! If you know what you're doing, say so, If you are starting from scratch, say so louder!

Why do you feel it makes a difference as to the sex of a person contemplating long-term RVing?

Security issues (real or imagined) specially if the need to boondock to conserve finances. Predators abound
Women are still seen as a mark by certain RV repair places to be fleeced.
These can be factors as this is less than a perfect world

I want to thank everyone for your replies. One thing I need to clarify though, we have owned a DP now for 14 yrs but have been working all of those years. We have an exit plan in order. We were just curious as to whether or not we should purchase the new DP BEFORE selling our property as we have been told we could not get any financing for the small portion of the purchase we will need to finance unless we owned real property. We've had a couple of RV salesman tell us this. I believe I have my answer at this point and again thank you all for your replies.

cekkk wrote:
If the OP really wants sound advice/suggestions beyond the purely generic, he/she needs to provide a whole lot more information - is "Ricky" male or female? (Yes, that matters.) Is Ricky skilled in handling home repairs, will those skills, if any, transfer to a MH? The whole financial picture, prior RV experience - so much is left blank. The wording of the post isn't reassuring as to preparedness, but it does indicate a willingness to undertake due diligence.

I don't mean to be nit-picky, but this is a huge step and shouldn't be taken lightly by the OP or those giving advice. So please, OP, more info! If you know what you're doing, say so, If you are starting from scratch, say so louder!

Why do you feel it makes a difference as to the sex of a person contemplating long-term RVing?

If the OP really wants sound advice/suggestions beyond the purely generic, he/she needs to provide a whole lot more information - is "Ricky" male or female? (Yes, that matters.) Is Ricky skilled in handling home repairs, will those skills, if any, transfer to a MH? The whole financial picture, prior RV experience - so much is left blank. The wording of the post isn't reassuring as to preparedness, but it does indicate a willingness to undertake due diligence.

I don't mean to be nit-picky, but this is a huge step and shouldn't be taken lightly by the OP or those giving advice. So please, OP, more info! If you know what you're doing, say so, If you are starting from scratch, say so louder!

4x4ord wrote:

2gypsies wrote:


If you need the money from the house sale to buy the RV then you'll go the opposite way.

I must be missing something here? If a retired person sells his house to pay for his RV what does he do 15 years down the road when he can no longer travel, the RV is worthless and housing costs have doubled?

Your point is well taken even if housing prices haven't doubled.

We have friends that had to stop full timing last year due to health issues. After 12 years they still owed much more on their motor home than it was worth.

They ended up declaring bankruptcy and letting the motor home be repossessed. They moved into two rooms of an apartment they share with their daughter and her husband.

They did not have an exit strategy because they did not have the financial resources to create one. They had decided that their dream of full timing was more important to them than anything else and they enjoyed it as long as they could.

If it were me I'd try to time the house sale to coincide with the DP purchase. Keeps you from having 2 payments to make simultaneously if you aren't buying cash. A good R/E atty can help you with this.

skdmark1 wrote:
just retired and ready to put plans in motion....buy rv first then sell property or sell property then buy rv? any suggestions? planning on a 2014 dp.....please help
Ricky

Many different issues could influence that decision. How quickly are properties selling where you are at? Everyone's individual financial situation is a little different, is there any monetary interest benefits if you buy MH first?

For us we purchased our truck a year ahead then purchased our first 5rh wheel immediately prior to putting the house on the market. House sold in 3 days and a short closing.

We knew we would love RVing and full time RVing based on our 15 years of boating. We owned larger boats and lived on them a couple summers while still working. However, just in case we didn't want to continue the full time RV lifestyle our first 5th wheel was used. After a year we knew we were "hooked" and there was no looking back. We then did some more research and purchased our dream 5th wheel.

For us the exit strategy is simple. Our annual lot rent has never exceeded what we used to pay in property taxes, insurance, and utilities for the house. Even though we travel several months out of the year and spend 4 or 5 months in SW Florida at very high monthly rates. Food and every other expense is the same. About the only extra expense is paying for diesel when traveling. Our savings account has really grown since going full time and will enable us to easily purchase property in the future. Just remember, you are not starting a 10 or 15 year vacation, you are simply making a lifestyle change.

Flanz wrote:

4x4ord wrote:

2gypsies wrote:


If you need the money from the house sale to buy the RV then you'll go the opposite way.

I must be missing something here? If a retired person sells his house to pay for his RV what does he do 15 years down the road when he can no longer travel, the RV is worthless and housing costs have doubled?

I really doubt that the housing cost will double. Some of the areas in the USA are still recovering from a big depreciation on the housing market. IMO, it's going to take a long while before we see a big increase in housing costs. Again, this is in some parts of the country.

-paul

I think having the money from the sale of your house invested in something tied to the houseing market would be prudent. For housing to double in 15 years only requires an increase of 5% per year. Maybe it is common for people to get into rving without an exit strategy...I don't know much about it.