Coming back off the road

[MagillaGorilla]

Let me start by saying that I am in my 40s and I am not a full timer. It is my hope that someday this will happen and we will spend our retirement in the wind.

I had put a decent amount of thought into full timing and how to afford it but until recently I had not even considered getting to a point that I would have to come back of the road and go back into a stick built house. So my plan had always been to sell our house when we retire, use the proceeds to buy a new MH and hit the road. I felt that our savings, pensions and other planning would be enough to live on the road until we died......if we were lucky.

Now I am seeing stories about people getting to an age where they need to hang up their keys. I get it and it makes sense but I had never really thought about the end game. Now I am worried that when its time to come off the road, I don't know if I will have enough to buy another stick built home. If I keep the one I own I would have to pull to much form my savings to buy a new MH and that would mean that we would not have enough money to live in the wind.

So please share your stories of how you did it. How did you plan for coming off the road?

[2gypsies1]

Rlaubert wrote:
We are living our dream. When we finish this then we will plan for the next phase of our life.

You have the mindset to make full-timing really work. Have fun!

[Rlaubert]

It's simple, what happens to the millions of people that don't have a house?

We are talking about years down the road. SO many things can change in that time. The housing market could bust again, it could boom. The house might burn down or be damaged by weather. Our motor home could become damaged beyond repair. Live is way to short to worry about the what if years down the road.

We have lived now in various recreational vehicles for almost 14 years. We just finished our 1st year of traveling around the country and will be spending the next 5 years doing so. That is the plan. Who knows what will happen. But you know what? We are living our dream. When we finish this then we will plan for the next phase of our life.

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Fortunately we are very very close to our youngest daughter and future son-in-law, who intend to purchase our acreage off us, renting for a couple to four years initially when we hit the road, to ensure they can handle the commitment and costs. We are putting enough funds aside to build a Mother-in-law type suite on the property for the future (their home address, which is our current one will be our home base address hopefully indefinitely for ease).

That's the plan in the big scheme of things for coming off the road, however, we are realists and realize that even on occasion the most solid relationships can rock. Heaven forbid if that were to occur, and assuming we could absolutely no longer travel/drive the RV we'd consider the following options as a last resort:

a) Move to a more moderate climate in Canada ie; British Columbia on an RV lot

b) Remain in our Freezer Box but purchase a small condo (yuck, but ........)

We know we are not renter mindsets, and couldn't handle the worry of what if at the end of the next year the landlord wants us out to sell or otherwise, and it occurred when we were not as able bodied to handle such upheavals. You know yourself better than anyone and we know we couldn't handle being a tenant.

Bottom line is to have some sort of a plan and ideally a back up idea to cover "what ifs" but we believe wholeheartedly first and foremost live for TODAY, as it's a gift which is why it's called the present. We do however try to plan for tomorrow as best we can but there are no guarantees for every eventuality.

[JC2]

I think if we decide to go fulltime, and we keep talking about it, we would never go back to home ownership and all that it entails. We most likely would retire to a half way decent affordable CG until we passed away or someone carted us to a Nursing Home. In a home we would be socially isolated again unless we went into a Gated Community and we would never consider that. In a Resort/CG there would always be people around and those we had something in common with.


WandaLust. Retired. Middle TN
1999 Fleetwood SouthWind 32'

WandaLust 2,

Why would you not consider a gated community?

[kakampers]

We've been full time for over ten years...our "exit plan" is a little different than most.

We purchased (paid cash) an RV lot with a fully functional coach house in a 55+, RV based community. It is lock and leave, no maintenance required...we use it currently as our winter destination and can rent it out when not using it, so it pays for itself (taxes and maintenance dues). This gives us a home base while we continue to full time without the headaches of a traditional home...in addition, it has risen considerably in value since we bought it...as evidenced by sales of other lots around us...so it's been a sound investment.

When we are done traveling, for whatever reason, we will park our RV there and live out the rest of our lives for less than $400 a month...can't find a decent apartment for that!

[WandaLust2]

I think if we decide to go fulltime, and we keep talking about it, we would never go back to home ownership and all that it entails. We most likely would retire to a half way decent affordable CG until we passed away or someone carted us to a Nursing Home. In a home we would be socially isolated again unless we went into a Gated Community and we would never consider that. In a Resort/CG there would always be people around and those we had something in common with.

[C-Bears]

MTPockets1 wrote:
I for one will not have property as part the escape plan.. We may change our mind before the time comes and we'll strapped with a house, condo, or whatever that we would be stuck with.. At this point (Going on 4 yrs full time) we know where we don't want to land, but there are so many wonderful locations, it's more fun to keep looking. We camp host 2 - 3 months per year and we've wintered in AZ and FL. Our personal policy is never do the same place twice, hosting or wintering, that way we get to experience new places.. Most have been great and possible landing zones, but we'll keep looking and decide when we know it's time.. As far as some emergency, if that occurs I really won't care where.

I agree with this thinking. What changed our minds was more financial. We thought when we came off the road we probably would buy a home in SW Florida, but not for another several years or until we felt we had to.

The problem with that plan was the rising housing market. My buddy bought his 4 bedroom home (built in 2008) just a few years ago for under $90,000. It is now valued at $165,000. Another couple we know bought their home in Cape Coral 5 years ago for $80,000, it is valued around $170,000 now. When our home was originally built in 2005 it sold for $274,000, we paid about half of that.

So we realized that if we waited another few years we probably would not be able to afford the house we wanted in SW Florida. Add to this the fact that we would be spending several more years paying "snowbird" campground prices for our winter stays down here, which is money we are never getting back.

At first the thought of giving up actual full timing was hard to take. But in reality as full timers we were spending at least 4 months camped in the same spot in SW Florida anyway, then traveling the other 8 months. Now the only difference is we will probably spend 5 months at our home in SW Florida and travel in our fiver full time the other 7 months.

[BarbaraOK]

We've been out for 9 years. Last fall we purchased a park model in a park that we really enjoy for the winter months, to spread out just a little, and then come spring we hit the road again in the motorhome to travel in good weather. We love Mesa for the winter - concerts, shopping, museums, restaurants, always something to do, plus the park we are in has more things going on than anyone could possibly want during the winter. We have long term care insurance in place, so if one of use needs more assistance, funds are there.

Barb

[MTPockets1]

I for one will not have property as part the escape plan.. We may change our mind before the time comes and we'll strapped with a house, condo, or whatever that we would be stuck with.. At this point (Going on 4 yrs full time) we know where we don't want to land, but there are so many wonderful locations, it's more fun to keep looking. We camp host 2 - 3 months per year and we've wintered in AZ and FL. Our personal policy is never do the same place twice, hosting or wintering, that way we get to experience new places.. Most have been great and possible landing zones, but we'll keep looking and decide when we know it's time.. As far as some emergency, if that occurs I really won't care where.

[C-Bears]

Naio wrote:
One thing to consider: If/when you have health issues that prevent you from RVing, those same issues might make it a problem for you to move out, if you are renting and the landlord requires it. Moving might cause a crash in your health that you never recover from.

I think owning something -- a condo or whatever -- is wiser.

When I was very young and just out of the military I purchased my first house, for 40 years I never paid rent.

Being full time after selling our last home I didn't mind paying for RV sites. We move around a lot and it is just a short temporary stay. But the thought of renting a apartment, condo, or house just rubs me the wrong way. I don't want to ask permission from someone to plant a bush, or paint my living room a certain color.

My buddy retired and bought a house in SW Florida almost 4 years ago. We were discussing my RV resort fees that I was paying last winter to spend 4 months in the town of Ft. Myers Beach. His argument to me was that I could buy a house and spend about the same as I was spending for my 4 month lot rent.

Well, he was almost correct. We now own a 1800 square foot home that was built in 2005 in Cape Coral. It is only costing us slightly more per year to own than what our winter site down here had cost us.

[tonyandkaren]

A lot of good advice so far! My contribution is: Do not buy a new motorhome. Let someone else take the initial drive-it-off-the-lot depreciation. Put the extra money into your savings. Or if you're planning on fulltiming in the near future use your current motorhome until it becomes to costly to repair.

[Clay_L]

When we started full timing we knew that at some point we would have to or would want to leave the road. We also knew we would not want to live in a rental or an apartment. We put the money from the sale of the house away to draw interest.

After 11 years of full timing the time came when it was time to leave the road. We had all of our stuff in storage in NH moved to the house we bought in CO.
The 4 bedroom house sits on 3/4 of an acre and has a detached 20 X 30 metal shop building and an attached two car heated garage.

There is some grass in front and on the side but most of it including the back yard is xeriscaped (desert landscaped) and requires very little maintenance. The house has vinyl siding - also very low maintenance.

I did have to get a lawnmower for the small amount of grass we have. His name is Salvador and he charges $10 per week to mow and trim during the summer months.
We have two RV sites in the side yard.

Why four bedrooms? One large bedroom for us, a guest bedroom for kids or friends when they visit, an office and a hobby room for my wife.

We have a robot vacuum cleaner and a robot mopper.

There is a great medical community here and the house has wide doors so if needed a wheel chair will fit through them. No stairs.

Just took the motor home to a local dealer this morning. For ten percent he will sell it and handle the loan process.

This is what worked for us.

[2gypsies1]

You might want to look into getting a lot at an Escapee park or co-op. They have wait lists so we put our name on two different parks when we first began full-timing. You get the small deposit back if you decide later that you don't want the lot. The lots are very reasonably priced. When you give up your lot you get the full purchase price back plus any improvements. The yearly maintenance fee was around $400/year - not bad at all. We had one for 10 years at the Saguaro Benson, AZ co-op. That's where we spent part of the winters. It's a wonderful place and many live out their remaining years there. They live in their RV or place a Park model on the lot. You're surrounded by friendly, helpful people doing the same thing - full-timing. There are many activities to partake in and you're never alone for holidays.

The Escapees also have a couple parks in Florida if that's where you're thinking of settling. There are some more similar parks in other areas of the country like Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, California, Oregon and Washington.

Also, through Escapees is the CARE Center in Livingston, TX. You can go there for short-time recouping from illness or surgery and live in your own RV. Or you can live there full-time in your own RV. Either way, you would have housekeeping service, laundry, meals, limited medical help, help with bathing, etc. They also will transport you to medical appts.

Ourselves, we sold our Michigan house and everything in it when we began full-timing. We didn't want to have to worry about it just sitting there and with possible renters. We invested the money. We didn't have a exit plan. We just went with the flow and took off. We had no idea where or if we ever wanted to settle down again. We traveled constantly and volunteered a lot for national and state parks. It was an absolute wonderful lifestyle.

After 16 years of full-timing many long-time full-timing friends from the Benson, AZ park began moving to a 55+ community near Tucson. We loved Arizona by this time and knew we'd never want to move back to Michigan. We bought a 1,000 sq ft townhome that was completely furnished in Southwestern decor to fit the area. Had we kept our furniture stored for 16 years we would never have even liked it in our new home. The house cost very little compared to one the size of our last house.

We would never want a big house with a yard to take care of ever again. We also didn't want to buy acreage and live by ourselves at this age. Our current neighbors look out for each other without being intrusive. We have a small no-upkeep yard. We can partake in any activity imaginable, and we do. Our community has every medical facility you might need and tons of assisted care and long-term care facilities, if needed. I'm sure there are areas like this throughout the country.

We have a new lifestyle now and absolutely love it.

If you're just starting out with full-timing, I would highly recommend that you don't make any definite plans as to what you'll do when you stop. We had never visited Arizona before and would have never imagined that we'd love it so much to settle here. I really don't think many want to go back to the same big house or in cold climates. None that we know did. Invest your house money and take your time traveling. Then you're better able to make your next big decision.

[Mr__Camper]

We are 3/4 timing. This upcoming year (from August 10th) we will be on the road for 300 of the 365 days. Our oldest daughter needs some quiet time and she is going to house sit. We are going to do this for the next two years and then sell the stick house and move somewhere in the Pac NW. If we decide to hang up the keys we are going to look into a tiny house, or find an RV park to stay for extended (forever) time. We've already been downsizing and are almost at 50% through with that project. What we pack up and store will be what are kids will inherit.