Hannibal wrote:
....If you find a rare gem, better snap it up....
I guess we were very fortunate. When we were shopping in '13, we couldn't come close to buying new (still can't). We looked at a few and feared our budget wasn't going to get us much. Cheaply built, poor condition, etc. We tried to be patient. One week, a '98 Sunnybrook 26 DB showed up on CL from a private seller only 25 minutes away. We weren't very hopeful as the seller only had 1 pic, and not a very detailed description. We made an appointment anyway. When we got there and looked it over, we barely could contain our excitement. It had always been sheltered, and was in fantastic shape for a 15-year-old. The build quality was surprisingly good, also. We gladly parted with our cash ($4,800). We got a nice trailer with no payments.
We have averaged 25 to 35 nights per year and still love using it. I can't keep it as nice looking as before because it isn't sheltered at our house. But we do the best we can.
There are some good buys out there if one is patient.
Edit: we did replace the master mattress soon after buying so it would be new. I fixed a few other things, such as replacing the water heater control board.
