JimNH wrote:
I was talking to my wife yesterday about this sort of thing...for what my daughter was paying in rent for student housing, we could get her a $6000 trailer and a $3500 seasonal/annual campsite on a lake (or about $2600/year in other places, we haven't really shopped around as this was all just speculation) - $20,000 for four years vs. $800/mo in rent - or $38,400 in rent over four years (and you don't get any equity out of that either!)...so the "asset" of the trailer could be completely depreciated over four years, and you'd still be almost 50% ahead...assuming that utility costs were the same for both. If you aren't worried about freezing to death, I'd definitely look into it!
JIM in NH
Once again.. "false economy".
Your assumption is flawed and does not take into account a LOT OF planned and UNPLANNED maintenance expenses. You do not simply buy a RV and live in it without the need to repair or replace things. Not to mention depending on where you live heating a RV can be extremely expensive (average nightly temps of 40F or less can eat up a 30lb propane cylinder in less than a week and that is keeping the inside temps at 50F)..
RV require maintenance, things like dumping grey and black tanks, replacing caulking along roof, doors windows, fixing broken items. Most RVs are designed for CASUAL usage, full time usage will wear out materials (flooring like vinyl and carpet, drawers cabinet doors and such) and expensive equipment (A/C, furnace, water heater, water pump, fridge) at a much faster rate.
Failure to address the caulking results in a severely water damaged RV to the point of worth nothing more than a few hundred in scrap materials in a short amount of time!
Getting a RV repaired means you LOSE YOUR "HOUSE" if you have to take it to a dealer.. Better plan on being your own "handi person" or having a backup plan for living until it is fixed..
Finding folks who repair RVs is not easy nor is it cheap.. Try finding a RV furnace repair person on a Sat night or Sunday morning, heck even after 5 PM on most any day would be pretty tough..
Then there is the grey and black tanks, and RV toilets to consider, not a lot of "fun" to deal with occasionally, it would get very old in a hurry if you had to dump tanks every few weeks the rest of your life or in the winter or have to figure out why the toilet no longer flushes and you have a full black tank of "stuff" that won't empty..
Freezing water lines in the winter add some special moments to living in a RV..
I see the allure that you might have a "asset" (even if it only a few hundred dollars) but in the end the savings will be so small it simply is not worth the hassle..
In general RVs are built to be part time "toys" after all RV stands for RECREATIONAL VEHICLE.. You use it during your RECREATIONAL TIME.
"TOYS" do not increase in value and never "save" you money..
I worked with a guy that loved his boats.. He told me, Boats and RVs are pretty much the same.. Insert money into the toilet and DUMP the black tank..
Don't buy a RV to save money..
