Buying a motorhome in a different state for a full timer

One of the key things I would suggest is keep good documentation. Know the laws of a state, such as CA for residency. It is up to you to prove your residence, including in another state if you stay more than XX days in a state, and compliance to state laws. It may even require you to prove you were not in the state more than XX days, such as gas receipts where you filled up in another state.

We left Calif in 2002 and registered in SD. We use Dakota Post as our estblished residence and mail forwarder. I'd advise you to completely sever all ties with Mass if you take residency in another state. If they are anything Like Calif they'll use any excuse to try and get you to pay income tax there as well as vehicle fees. We had a time of it getting it across to Calif that we were no longer Calif residents and owed not income tax etc. In SD the "tax" on vehicle purchases is 4% (check to be sure on this) of the sale price less trade in value. Some states are now taxing you at their rate and then refunding overages paid them in your state of residence. Check with AZ to find out what their policy is. We bought a new MH in Indiana on 2004 and registered it in SD, they gave us a 30 day operating permit. We did the same thing when we bought a car in Missouri. Dakota post has a service they provide to do this for you for a fee. We have a cabin in Mo and must be careful to stay out of Mo for at least 6mos per year to avoid having to declare residence there. We settled on SD because there is no incme tax and vehicle tax on purchase is low and registrations fees annually are low as well. I strongly suggest you call the various mail forwarders who provide residence requirements to see if rules have changed. Many high tax states have become very tight with their rules about buying out of state etc. Check carefully before you jump.
Ron

Hello

Establishing a domicile in another state is the easy part.

If you are going to buy a RV out of state then you really need to know how the state you are buying in handels the taxes and fees. As an example in California if you buy in the state you are required to pay the sales tax.

Also there is something about AZ with taxes and registration for a vehicle that will be registered out of state that has been on this forum.

Just an FYI

JimR

Jarata 1, A few things others may have missed. You stated you were selling your house and purchasing a MH. If your paying cash from the sale of your house there's no need to worry about interest.

I'm not sure about Texas and Florida but you can setup your mail forward address and license your vehicles without visiting the state. You will have to go there to receive your SD drivers license.

We used a mail forward service for two years before we sold our house just because we didn't want to burden the daughter. It was only then that we registered our truck and 5er got new drive license and set up domicile.

What ever you do, do not register it in AZ. They will eat your shorts. We had to for two years due to job in Az. $3,200.00
FOR TAGS THE FIRST 3 YEARS AND NO fast DECLINE after.

2gypsies wrote:

kerrlakeRoo wrote:
Select a state to establish domicile first, and do so enroute to Az.
A couple of other states are good for this as well. Texas, and Florida being the most common, but they will require longer stays.
South Dakota also doesnt require annual vehicle inspections so you dont have to revisit or request letters for that.

You can get everything done in 3-4 hours in Livingston, Texas - home of the Escapees RV Club - setting up your mail forwarding address, getting your new driver's license, getting your voting card. No overnight stay required although staying a few days at the Escapees RV Club is recommended. :) Take their office/mail forwarding tour and tour their Care facility. The town of Livingston knows all about the Escapees and full-timing. The offices you'll need to go are very friendly. They'll do it fast.

You don't have to keep going back to Texas for inspections. You can just check a box on the registration form online. However, if you do go to Texas in later years for visiting you then will have 3 days (or 5?) to get your inspection and the inspection is a very simple 15-minute thing. No big deal.

X2 ^^.

Rob

kerrlakeRoo wrote:
Select a state to establish domicile first, and do so enroute to Az.
A couple of other states are good for this as well. Texas, and Florida being the most common, but they will require longer stays.
South Dakota also doesnt require annual vehicle inspections so you dont have to revisit or request letters for that.

You can get everything done in 3-4 hours in Livingston, Texas - home of the Escapees RV Club - setting up your mail forwarding address, getting your new driver's license, getting your voting card. No overnight stay required although staying a few days at the Escapees RV Club is recommended. :) Take their office/mail forwarding tour and tour their Care facility. The town of Livingston knows all about the Escapees and full-timing. The offices you'll need to go are very friendly. They'll do it fast.

You don't have to keep going back to Texas for inspections. You can just check a box on the registration form online. However, if you do go to Texas in later years for visiting you then will have 3 days (or 5?) to get your inspection and the inspection is a very simple 15-minute thing. No big deal.

jarata1 wrote:
We plan on selling out house this year which is in mass and going full time.We want to buy a motorhome in az and stay there for a month and then start our journey.How would I work the registration and sales tax since i wont have any residence in any state

Doubt the dealer will sell w/o an established address/domicle (you'll need to check this out). DW and I plan on full timing 3rd qtr 2019. We're under 65 thus unless Managed Care plans change, at this point we're going with FL for our domicle. We plan on establishing the mailing address 2-3months prior to picking up the rig. Would prefer SD and will go that route if Managed Care plans change for those under 65.

You have to be in SD for at least 24 hrs, and then you can change all the licenses. Again Escapees can help or there are several local companies. But, if you are selling the house I would do it on your way to AZ to buy the MH. And at the same time you can verify at the DMV how to get a temp tag. SD along with no state income tax is only 4% for the vehicle sales tax too. so dont let a dealer in another state charge for the sales tax if you dont have to. SD will accept the state tax paid elsewhere, and not charge you, but it is likely cheaper there.
Plates there are more on a MH than some other states, depends on weight.
Happy Motorin.

If you have a friend in NH I'd "move" there and use their address to get a NH driver's license to begin with. You do not want to buy in AZ as you will have to pay sales tax. They get around this by having the MH driven to NM and doing the transaction there. After SIX months you can "move" to Florida where there is no income tax and a two year RV tag is less than $200.