What are some of the disadvantages of beginning full timing?

ksg5000 wrote:
My RV depreciates - my home appreciates. While taking a year or so off to travel in the RV has it's appeal I would think long/hard b4 I would sell my house.

When you factor in, property tax, insurance, maintenance, periodic kitchen rehabs, etc...it's not the great investment you've been lead to believe.

For most, your best chance is to break even "before" inflation which means you are really depreciating after inflation...probably not as much as an RV but unless you go crazy you will have only a fraction as much money tied up in the RV (would you rather lose 10% on a $250k house or 20% on a $25k RV?)

2oldman wrote:

dons2346 wrote:
If you have a paid for home, you would be stupid to sell it. You could either rent it out...

I don't think I'd go so far as to call it stupid. If you're in your golden years it's nice to cash out and have all the money to do what you want.

Many think it's stupid to rent it out. Being an absentee landlord is not something I'd consider a great idea.

X2

Don't become an accidental landlord. Particularly an absentee landlord.

I will say, don't sell the house and dump every penny into an RV but you should be able to upgrade your RV for less than 10% of the house cost.

The downside is how you adapt to the new lifestyle. Lots of peopl burn out treating it like a vacation. Remember you aren't on vacation so you don't need to do 2000miles in a week and hit 3 attractions per day every day. It's OK to find a comfy nice place and hang out for a week or two. Travel days of a 100-150 miles are nice. See 1 or 2 attractions per week.

Of course a big question is are you working or retired? If working, you need to figure out how to fit that in.

My RV depreciates - my home appreciates. While taking a year or so off to travel in the RV has it's appeal I would think long/hard b4 I would sell my house.

Disadvantage? Waking up in the middle of the night from a dead sleep and realizing for that instantaneous moment, you have no clue where you are. Oh ... I experience that right now, we are in the camper so much, between drive way camping and State Park camping. I haven't been in the house, except for an occasional shower for 7 months now.

You can't know if you like full-timing in 6m time. That's the period where you work out the kinks of the lifestyle.

We made our decision in one month's time and took off for good after 4 months. We happily full-timed for 16 years and never regretted a thing.

First, don't sell the house and buy a RV with the money. That money should be earmarked for your 'exit plan'. Storage fees on your belongings will add up fast. By the time you stop full-timing you won't need a big house with lots of maintenance and a many rooms of furniture. You may find a better state to live in (we did) and a much smaller place (we did). We also bought furnished so didn't have to buy a thing. Over the years we met many new friends and eventually we all began wintering in the same area. Consequently, 23 couples bought in the same area and we have an instant family.

There is no better feeling than 'freedom from stuff'!!

DownTheAvenue wrote:
You would be very wise to go on the road for about 9 months before you sell anything. Go in the summertime when the heat is oppressive in Miami. Go North. See how you like RVing for a 9 month period. Come home and evaluate. You may be ready to kill each other by then, or have a realtor on the phone to list the house.

I agree with this. We've made friends with a couple at a CG we stayed at for 6 weeks this summer and are back there now for a month. They are renovating their house and are living in their MH. They were told it would be at least 6 months. In no time flat, he's climbing the walls and has "MH cabin fever". Granted, he isn't doing this with a fulltimer attitude or intention, but the point is you might be tearing your hair out after a few months.

You would be very wise to go on the road for about 9 months before you sell anything. Go in the summertime when the heat is oppressive in Miami. Go North. See how you like RVing for a 9 month period. Come home and evaluate. You may be ready to kill each other by then, or have a realtor on the phone to list the house.

I think the discussion was on a rental home not a primary and turning a primary into a rental?

If you pay capital gains on a primary home sale you're richer than I am!

Selling your home isn’t stupid but it is a major decision that requires restraint on using those funds, sound investment, excellent tax advice etc.