home built plans

GrandpaKip wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

workhardplayharder wrote:

GrandpaKip wrote:
Insurance may be an issue. All I could get was coverage on the cargo trailer, not the conversion.

Home built with no bank note- I really don't see a need to insure. On my auto policy any trailer that I am pulling is covered under the auto policy. The money that would have been spent on insurance will be put in the tank.

Correct!

Unfortunately folks just don't seem to understand this concept..

Oh, I understand all right. It was the $4000 in materials and possessions I put into the conversion on top of the $2000 for the trailer I wanted to insure. My insurance company would only insure the trailer, which was covered by my auto policy and my homeowners. So, following this logic, since I built my house with no loan, I shouldn't waste my money on insurance?

TWO DIFFERENT "CONCEPTS".

Your trailer like ALL trailers along with NEARLY ALL vehicles DEPRECIATE IN VALUE OVER TIME.

This gives a NEGATIVE "EQUITY" in which the item is worth NOTHING over time and you will NEVER, EVER get the money you spent on it out of it.

Only a handful of very "rare" or "classic" vehicles APPRECIATE in value and in the case of RVs only two COMMERCIALLY BUILT brands come to mind that may fit this EXCEPTION and a HOME BUILT TRAILER DOES NOT FIT THIS EXCEPTION.

A sticks and bricks HOME generally WILL APPRECIATE in value over time, this gives you a POSITIVE "EQUITY".

This means pretty much unless you over spend on the value in the area you built or bought in you are going to see some return in your money if you sell it as it gets older.

I hate to break it to you but your trailer no matter how much time and money spent is not worth anymore than the ORIGINAL trailer you started out with and that value is dropping DAILY.

What my motivation was for either building from scratch or rebuilding an old one was to NOT MAKE money on it. No, it was solely a labor of love that I could take a piece of junk, tear it apart and build it to MY OWN NEEDS AND TASTES.

I knew going in that the money I put into it was a LOSS but it was much less loss than buying a new RV for $30K and paying $3K in interest then selling it for $2K after 10 yrs.

I bought my now 30yr old trailer for $700 six years ago, redid it the way I want it and if I wanted or needed to sell it I would only get $1,500 for it. Yes, I spent over all about $5K in cash to buy it and fix it but in the end it is not worth paying even $50 a year let alone $200 or in some cases $1000 a year on it.

You have some very smart AND HONEST insurance companies that turned you down, they DID YOU a favor by not wasting YOUR MONEY. They could have smiled and taken your money but they didn't and YOU owe them an apology.

Put it another way.. After you pay off a vehicle, do you keep full comprehensive insurance on it after say 6 years?

I don't, instead I remove the comprehensive when the VALUE of my vehicle drops to the point that the insurance co would basically JUNK it for a fender bender. I take the savings of the insurance and tuck it away for future repairs or as a down payment for the next vehicle.

I work hard for every penny my money I have and I don't give it away...

I have not as of yet seen a POOR insurance salesman driving a 15yr old bare bones car with rust holes through it. Nope, they tend to have pretty expensive 1 or 2 yr old LUXURY CARS...