Noob Request Assistance!

the bear II wrote:
1.) I have been preparing to offer 30-40% off of MSRP for a few of the models we were interested in .. Yet it seems the dealers aren't budging on their "Sale Price" (after reading forums it seems this is a standard start point.)
2.) I feel like "Fresh Meat" when I go looking at TT's and feel like the salesmen want to take advantage of me.
1 & 2- Salesmen and sales manager will take advantage of you if you let them. By doing research, you will have a pretty good idea what the TTs are going for in your area. Hold solid on the price and walk away if you need to. If your offer is close to what they need to sell the unit for, they will call you. It may take a day or week but they will call. It's a fun game of give and take.
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3.) I was anticipating getting a 30-31', But after seeing the sheer size of the trailer, I am concerned about being inexperienced with towing a load that I am going to crash into things!! ( I am a pilot for the military and cannot believe I am intimidated about this.)
3- after the first few times of towing a big TT you will get used to it. Just like you got used to flying a C-130. Thanks for your service.
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4.) I want the flexibility of being able to invite two or three friends to camp with us, and it seems the small campers are extremely cramped.
4- Most of your time camping is spent outdoors. We rarely spent time during the day in the TT. Our 24ft TT would sleep 6 adults comfortably and had space for 2 kids as well to sleep. There were two dining tables one would hold 6 and the other 3. So look for a good floor plan with seating and sleeping.
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5.) My wife is insistent that we stay small and get the best build quality i.e. 4 person Keystone premiere type trailer.
5- Use this statistic on her...most RV'ers go through 3 RVs before they get one that really fits their needs. We started with a camper, then a 25ft MH, a 24 ft TT and now have a 38ft 5th wheel. Here's another consideration- if you are camping and get stuck in bad weather where you had to stay inside the RV for a week would you rather be in an 18 ft or 30 ft TT.
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6.) I was planning on spending around 20k... and I just cannot figure out what is going to be the best bang for my buck / please my wife / allow the afore mentioned items.
6- If you can buy a good hardly used TT. The RVs lose a lot of value in the first 5 years. Let the original owner take the hit. There are a lot of hardly used RVs out there. In our storage lot, I can count on two hands the number of RVs that get used more than 6 times per year. The rest just sit waiting.

Good luck in your quest.