Rent a House/Duplex Rather than RV??

[5thwheeleroldma]

We like to spend a couple of months each winter in the Mesa/Apache Junction area in our RV. Towing the 5th wheel out and back each year is getting to be a chore as we age. Depressing, yeah.

Have any of you considered renting a house, flying out and back? I know the logistics and economics would be so different. Have to find a house to rent, rent a car, rent storage for kitchen utensils, etc. Any experiences/advice in this area?

[darsben1]

JAXFL wrote:

darsben1 wrote:
IN a neighborhood most people work all day leaving the area deserted except for us. When the young people get home they are busy eating, taking care of children and just trying to work up the impetus to go back to the grind the next day. They do not want old folk bothering them. No dances, card games, Happy hour etc..

Actually in a lot of RV parks I see this same thing as more and more folks move from a SB to an RV. You can pretty much have the RV park to yourself Monday - Friday from 7am - 6pm. Then about 6pm folks start to come home or out of the RV's and then about 9pm it is all over again as they all go to bed. NOW on the weekends there is life at the park once again.... until Sunday night.

You are in the wrong park. We as a community do things all day and evening. Everyone is retired and active

[Nolan]

I'd say rent a park model. Then don't have to worry about your RV. Don't have to pay for insurance, repairs, etc.

We purchased a park model in the park we work during the winter since we plan on moving in to it when we got tired of full-time RVing. Which that time has come. For now we are renting it out. The sellers wanted out and sold it with everything in it. All a renter needs to bring is their personal items. We have everything else. If they want to bring their own sheets, towels, pillows, whatever that's fine too. If a renter isn't happy with something we will fix or change it. So far the only thing we needed to add was a tea kettle, although there have been some repairs. Like a new water heater. Mainly people stay two to five months. October 1 through April 30. No one wants to be here in the summer.

Just be sure you get renters insurance. We have that in our written agreement renters have to sign.

[homefor2]

We've been RV'ing for many years and a couple of years ago we had a friend that offered us a nice home with a pool FREE for our winter stay in Mesa AZ. It was the most lonely, boring and wasted holiday in my life. Everyone in the neighbourhood was working or staying to themselves. I hated it and would never do it again.

[Gale_Hawkins]

5thwheeleroldman wrote:
We like to spend a couple of months each winter in the Mesa/Apache Junction area in our RV. Towing the 5th wheel out and back each year is getting to be a chore as we age. Depressing, yeah.

Have any of you considered renting a house, flying out and back? I know the logistics and economics would be so different. Have to find a house to rent, rent a car, rent storage for kitchen utensils, etc. Any experiences/advice in this area?

Like they say time changes all things. The excitement RV'ing brought the kids was a big motivator in my case it seems now. RV'ing is not going away however.

[BarbaraOK]

JAXFL wrote:

darsben1 wrote:
IN a neighborhood most people work all day leaving the area deserted except for us. When the young people get home they are busy eating, taking care of children and just trying to work up the impetus to go back to the grind the next day. They do not want old folk bothering them. No dances, card games, Happy hour etc..

Actually in a lot of RV parks I see this same thing as more and more folks move from a SB to an RV. You can pretty much have the RV park to yourself Monday - Friday from 7am - 6pm. Then about 6pm folks start to come home or out of the RV's and then about 9pm it is all over again as they all go to bed. NOW on the weekends there is life at the park once again.... until Sunday night.

Not in 55+ snowbird parks in AZ.

[JAXFL]

darsben1 wrote:
IN a neighborhood most people work all day leaving the area deserted except for us. When the young people get home they are busy eating, taking care of children and just trying to work up the impetus to go back to the grind the next day. They do not want old folk bothering them. No dances, card games, Happy hour etc..

Actually in a lot of RV parks I see this same thing as more and more folks move from a SB to an RV. You can pretty much have the RV park to yourself Monday - Friday from 7am - 6pm. Then about 6pm folks start to come home or out of the RV's and then about 9pm it is all over again as they all go to bed. NOW on the weekends there is life at the park once again.... until Sunday night.

[tatest]

Depends on what you are looking for. If you are going to the same place for every winter, house or apartment rentals, or even ownership of a second home, can be a more comfortable and less expensive snowbird solution. Probably non-PC to say on a RV snowbirding forum, but the great majority of snowbirds have real estate at both ends of their journey; RV snowbirding is a very tiny part of the whole snowbird movement.

Rving lets you try out something different every winter, or be connected with a group that RVs to the same place every year. You may or may not find a rental in a mobile home park or a park model in a long term RV park to provide a similar experience to RVing, but more likely it will a low budget version of renting an apartment, house, or owning a winter home.

[darsben1]

Deb and Ed M wrote:
I'll throw this thought out there: when we really looked hard at Snowbirding in FL, *assuming the purchase price is doable* - it was just as cheap per year, to buy a condo and pay the monthly fees; as it was to either rent an apartment/house; or pay seasonal rent for an RV site. In the case of Florida, we felt better having the storm protection of a real building, as opposed to the non-protection of an RV. While we don't have quite as busy a social scene as a seasonal RV Park, our condo ass'n DOES have plenty of activities. We also have the added bonus of extra bedrooms for visitors.

"extra bedrooms for visitors" is not necessarily a bonus

[2gypsies1]

5thwheeleroldman wrote:
Lots of good advice. We used to go to Rio Grande Valley, but don't like the continual wind, clouds, and cold fronts that blow thru there pretty strongly.

Have you tried Rockport, TX...not as windy as further south in the 'valley'?

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

I'll throw this thought out there: when we really looked hard at Snowbirding in FL, *assuming the purchase price is doable* - it was just as cheap per year, to buy a condo and pay the monthly fees; as it was to either rent an apartment/house; or pay seasonal rent for an RV site. In the case of Florida, we felt better having the storm protection of a real building, as opposed to the non-protection of an RV. While we don't have quite as busy a social scene as a seasonal RV Park, our condo ass'n DOES have plenty of activities. We also have the added bonus of extra bedrooms for visitors.

[Community Alumni]

Where we winter in South Carolina we started renting a villa (like a large park model) in the campground where we would normally have our trailer. We used to go down in October but now we only leave in January so not having to dig the trailer out from our Canadian winter works best for us.

Being within the campground lets us still be with our friends and participate in camp activities.

[5thwheeleroldma]

Lots of good advice. We used to go to Rio Grande Valley, but don't like the continual wind, clouds, and cold fronts that blow thru there pretty strongly.

[pawatt]

I think you would miss the activities and socialization of an RV Park if renting a house or apartment.

[2gypsies1]

If you like the campground atmosphere with activities you'd enjoy renting a Park model a lot more than renting a house. Plus... it is a lot less expensive. Yes, they are usually fully-equipped with everything you might need. If not... there's a WalMart close.

Keep in mind that once you fly there you will need a car to travel around.

If you leave your RV there you can find transporters to place it on a lot.

Have you just thought of going to south Texas for those months - a lot closer for you?