Financing

Now that everyone has chimed with their answer on some question that you didn't even ask, I'll try and answer the question that you did ask. A lender really doesn't care how many and how big your loans are. They look at your debt payments as a percentage of your income. The general rule of thumb is about 35 to 40 percent (Ideally about 36 percent, but some will stretch to 40 percent with a good FICO score). So in other words, they want your monthly payments not to exceed about 36 percent of your monthly income.

Join a credit union if you can. Essex / Bank of the West is RV friendly.

I agree with buying what you can afford, but with cash I purchase appreciating assets. With loan rates at historic lows I buy depreciating assets with other people's money.

You don't need to buy the RV first but you should have narrowed it down to a few possibilites so that when you do buy the truck you'll know how much of a truck you'll need. If for example you have it down beween 3 RV's, take the weight numbers off the heaviest RV and you'll know, worst case, how much truck you'll need.
Also if you do get it narrowed down, you can come back here and post what you are looking at. One thing about this place, not many are shy about telling a newbie what they need.

A new truck and a new large toy hauler 5th wheel is going to run you around 130 to 140 thousand. This is still less thabpn many class A gas and almost all Class A Diesel motorhomes. So what is the difference in going into debt for a truck and camper or a motorhome. At least the truck is usable everyday vs the motorhome.

Kellen723 wrote:
Main question is will taking out two large separate loans be hard to do that close together?

That would all depend on your financial situation and we cannot know that. I have done it so it's possible.
As for one big loan I'd advise against it because the interest paid on the RV loan would be deductible if you itemize but not on the truck. Talk to your tax man.

Jayco-noslide wrote:
I'll chime in with the lectures. Taking out a loan is just a way of delaying payment for something we can't afford. Secondly, if you don't have a really big down payment you will soon owe more than the items are worth. My suggestion: try to scale back the amount you will borrow by going used, cutting back on what you want or saving first. Being debt free is a wonderful feeling and the benefits snowball.

I think that philosophy has merit when interest rates are high, but not necessarily now. There is more then one way to look at this.

Interest rates are at historic lows. I got a NO INTEREST loan from Ford when I bought my truck. For 6 years ! Why in the world would I pay cash ? Keep your own money making interest and use Ford's money for FREE !

Interest rates for RVs are also very low and usually tax deductible. Again, keep your own money in stocks and bonds, making more interest then you are paying on the loan and use someone else's money for cheap.

downtheroad wrote:
I certainly don't want to 'rain on you' and of course I don't know your financial situation....but I will chime in anyway.

Have you ever owned an RV before..?
RV's and (tow vehicles) are not a good investment to start with... and really are not a way to save money - massive depreciation right away and if you take out loans for both trailer and truck and find that RV'ing isn't what you thought it would be and really isn't for you...you can be in a world of hurt financially.

But, many of us really love this RV'ing thing and have had lots of great adventures and have made many wonderful memories...

Good luck with your choice.

This is some real good advice!

We see many on the forum that are looking at getting a big New RV and TV, and have not been RVing before. If you decide you done like it, big hit on both the TV and RV.

If not retired and only going to use for vacation or a weekend or two really not a good investment.

We had been out of RVing for about 15 years, work getting in the way.
When we decided to try again, we had the TV already, for horse pulling. we found a fixer for about $1,200. Then put about $1,000 in repairs, and enjoyed for three years.
Then decided to go newer and bigger, now very happy.

No one should ever use the term investment (good or bad) when talking about an RV. You buy an RV for the enjoyment of traveling and family time. If everyone looked at it as an investment then the RV industry would go bankrupt. You can't put a price tag on enjoying life, if you do you are going to die with money in the bank and having lived a dull life. End of story.

Just look around at the RV's that you would like to have...then you will know the price and weight requirements, and then you can look at the trucks necessary to pull it...That way you will know your needs "BEFORE" acquiring anything...That way you will have the info to make a decision...:C

Financial institutions and lenders are part of a culture that has for many years been successful in convincing us that borrowing money is not only OK but actually a good thing. Acceptable car loans have been stretched from 3 years to who knows how long, etc, etc. We've been tricked into thinking that borrowing at low rates is good and actually makes us money. Wrong. Nothing beats being debt free, paying cash and putting monthly payment amounts away to spend for our next cash purchase. Save borrowing for a home or starting a business.