In the process of becoming a full-timer

[Kels4g]

Hello All! This is my first post :B We are in the process of becoming full time RV'ers. It will be me, the hubby, and our furry daughters (small dogs). We have just purchased a 2015 Salem Cruise Lite 261BHXL- which we love.

We don't have a departure date yet, as we are waiting for our house to sell. We just listed it Sunday. Our first house is already under contract and we are supposed to close by July 1.

Anyways, my question has to do with establishing a "legal address." We are already Floridians (born and raised) so our vehicles are already titled here, etc. So, we were thinking of just joining Escapees to get the address to have on our license and them to forward our mail. Is that correct or am I missing something?

Our daughters:

[Kels4g]

UPDATE:

We have now been full time in the RV for a month! It has been a period of learning for sure.

In the end, we decided to go with the mail service in Crestview.

We are loving the RV life and our girls have settled in nicely. We both wish we would have done this sooner!

[rockhillmanor]

GoPackGo wrote:
...
Do not get talked into using a P.O. Box as your address. Some folks on this forum have run into problems when trying to do this and use it as an official address...

X2
Because of the ID act, Patriot Act, etc., you name it. Credit cards, insurance, DVM, etc, etc, will NOT accept a PO Box as an address because the gov now thinks you might be trying to hide something. :R

I used to live rurally where all we had was a PO Box in town. After 911 I had nothing but problems and headaches regarding everything.

[GoPackGo]

I was in your situation 2 years ago - Already lived in Florida and going full time as an RVer.

The short answer is - yes, you can join Escapees and sign up for their mail forwarding service. There is also some other paperwork to file (Domicile). They will then provide you with your new address. This address will be the one you use on your Driver's License, to register your vehicles and get plates, Voting card, etc. In short, this will become your new 'official' address - use for banking, IRS, everything.

As others have said, there are other services in Florida - I also use St Brendan's Isle and am very happy with them. I review my mail online, and tell them where and when to forward my mail. SBI is great to work with and gives really great personal service when needed. I know this would also be the case with Escapees. I would recommend one of the dedicated mail services over UPS. These mail services are directly geared towards supporting full timers, traveling nurses, etc as their only business, whereas UPS is not. You will get great personal service from them when needed - such as calling them and asking them to open particular piece of mail.

If you have any questions regarding the necessary domicile paperwork to file, I recommend contacting St Brendan's Isle as they can set you up.

I see no reason for you to choose another state as your domicile since you're already in the state that is probably the most popular choice. My .02

Do not get talked into using a P.O. Box as your address. Some folks on this forum have run into problems when trying to do this and use it as an official address.

Escapees is a fine organization and I would encourage you to join even if you do not use their mail service (I am also a Escapees member). Take a look at their website. They are a full-timer's best friend.

Tim

[Kels4g]

WyoTraveler wrote:

Executive wrote:
Just a couple caveats. If you are true full timers...that is, you regularly move from place to place as opposed to living, say in Florida for six months and Michigan for six months, then you can pick and choose any state as your domicile state. Choosing your domicile state is important. Most entities use the IRS guidelines for determining which state that is. They look at what they call your "intent" when choosing your state. You establish 'intent' by moving your registration, driver's license, voter registration, bank accounts, mail, credit card accounts etc. to a particular state. We chose South Dakota because of 3%, now 4% sales tax, low registration fees, no income tax, no vehicle inspections and no luxury taxes on the coach. We use Americas Mailbox. Only issue we've had with using a mail forwarding service is with the stock brokers. Merrill Lynch had no problem with it but Scottrade demanded a physical address. So they are no longer handling my portfolio...:). Oregon and Nevada are two other states that have no income tax but they do have an additional tax on your RV. If you choose to establish another state as your resident state, be sure to sever ALL ties with your current state. That way there can be no doubt as to your intent.

Finally, medical coverage is important, so research that fully before you make a decision....Dennis

If I FT'd my choice would be SD and "Dakotapost". I don't FT but I use a P.O. box for all business mail and have never had a problem with Scottrade. Interesting.

We don't want to change states as we are already licensed drivers in FL and our vehicles are registered here.

[Kels4g]

rockhillmanor wrote:

Florida is our current state and our proposed domicile state.

Use a UPS STORE for your address. NOT UPS. UPS Store.
https://www.theupsstore.com/Pages/index.aspx
Pay a yearly fee no club to join and have your mail sent there. They give you a 'real address' so it will be accepted by all the things you need a real address for. And they will forward your mail where ever you want them to as you travel.

Once you have established that address for insurance etc. the FL DMV will accept the address for your license.

They are a franchise and they are in almost every city. There is one in the Villages in Florida off 441.

Thank you. I will contact them as well. We have one just down the street.

[WyoTraveler]

Executive wrote:
Just a couple caveats. If you are true full timers...that is, you regularly move from place to place as opposed to living, say in Florida for six months and Michigan for six months, then you can pick and choose any state as your domicile state. Choosing your domicile state is important. Most entities use the IRS guidelines for determining which state that is. They look at what they call your "intent" when choosing your state. You establish 'intent' by moving your registration, driver's license, voter registration, bank accounts, mail, credit card accounts etc. to a particular state. We chose South Dakota because of 3%, now 4% sales tax, low registration fees, no income tax, no vehicle inspections and no luxury taxes on the coach. We use Americas Mailbox. Only issue we've had with using a mail forwarding service is with the stock brokers. Merrill Lynch had no problem with it but Scottrade demanded a physical address. So they are no longer handling my portfolio...:). Oregon and Nevada are two other states that have no income tax but they do have an additional tax on your RV. If you choose to establish another state as your resident state, be sure to sever ALL ties with your current state. That way there can be no doubt as to your intent.

Finally, medical coverage is important, so research that fully before you make a decision....Dennis

If I FT'd my choice would be SD and "Dakotapost". I don't FT but I use a P.O. box for all business mail and have never had a problem with Scottrade. Interesting.

[Dog_Folks]

Kels4g wrote:

sdianel wrote:
www.myrvmail.com

in Crestview FL will help establish address and help with mail forwarding and other things.

We used them for awhile until we changed to our daughter's address. We found their service great. Never had a problem getting driver's licenses or tags using their service.

Thank you. We will look into it.

Do they just package up all your mail and send it to you periodically or open and scan it?

You can do both. You can look at your mailbox, on line 24/7. Scan what you need to read right away, forward the rest. You can have the mail sent on a schedule or when you request.

Lots of information on their website.

We have used them for 9 years now. Great people, with a personal touch to their service.

[rockhillmanor]

Florida is our current state and our proposed domicile state.

Use a UPS STORE for your address. NOT UPS. UPS Store.
https://www.theupsstore.com/Pages/index.aspx
Pay a yearly fee no club to join and have your mail sent there. They give you a 'real address' so it will be accepted by all the things you need a real address for. And they will forward your mail where ever you want them to as you travel.

Once you have established that address for insurance etc. the FL DMV will accept the address for your license.

They are a franchise and they are in almost every city. There is one in the Villages in Florida off 441.

[Kels4g]

Executive wrote:
Just a couple caveats. If you are true full timers...that is, you regularly move from place to place as opposed to living, say in Florida for six months and Michigan for six months, then you can pick and choose any state as your domicile state. Choosing your domicile state is important. Most entities use the IRS guidelines for determining which state that is. They look at what they call your "intent" when choosing your state. You establish 'intent' by moving your registration, driver's license, voter registration, bank accounts, mail, credit card accounts etc. to a particular state. We chose South Dakota because of 3%, now 4% sales tax, low registration fees, no income tax, no vehicle inspections and no luxury taxes on the coach. We use Americas Mailbox. Only issue we've had with using a mail forwarding service is with the stock brokers. Merrill Lynch had no problem with it but Scottrade demanded a physical address. So they are no longer handling my portfolio...:). Oregon and Nevada are two other states that have no income tax but they do have an additional tax on your RV. If you choose to establish another state as your resident state, be sure to sever ALL ties with your current state. That way there can be no doubt as to your intent.

Finally, medical coverage is important, so research that fully before you make a decision....Dennis

We will probably stay in each place for a month or so unless we want to move on sooner or sty longer once we get there.

Florida is our current state and our proposed domicile state.

[Kels4g]

sdianel wrote:
www.myrvmail.com

in Crestview FL will help establish address and help with mail forwarding and other things.

We used them for awhile until we changed to our daughter's address. We found their service great. Never had a problem getting driver's licenses or tags using their service.

Thank you. We will look into it.

Do they just package up all your mail and send it to you periodically or open and scan it?

[Kels4g]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
2 questions....

What type of full timing do you have planned?
CGs, state/fed parks, boondocking.
Reason I ask.......when we traveled FT we encounter lots of restrictions on pets. Max number, size and type........size/weight got us a few times

What are you going to do for Medical Coverage?
FT and Medical can be an issue when not on Medicare. So make sure your Medical is a PPO (not HMO) and check for what it covers/where it covers when not in state.

We plan to make use of all different manners of stays- we don't want to be limited to just one manner of "stay" We will only have two pets when we go on the road- our one dog- is in the final stages before we have to "make the big decision" and our other dog is a service animal. The remaining two are pets.

My husband's job provides us with BCBS which has providers worldwide (because he works for a global company). So we are covered for medical.

[Executive45]

Just a couple caveats. If you are true full timers...that is, you regularly move from place to place as opposed to living, say in Florida for six months and Michigan for six months, then you can pick and choose any state as your domicile state. Choosing your domicile state is important. Most entities use the IRS guidelines for determining which state that is. They look at what they call your "intent" when choosing your state. You establish 'intent' by moving your registration, driver's license, voter registration, bank accounts, mail, credit card accounts etc. to a particular state. We chose South Dakota because of 3%, now 4% sales tax, low registration fees, no income tax, no vehicle inspections and no luxury taxes on the coach. We use Americas Mailbox. Only issue we've had with using a mail forwarding service is with the stock brokers. Merrill Lynch had no problem with it but Scottrade demanded a physical address. So they are no longer handling my portfolio...:). Oregon and Nevada are two other states that have no income tax but they do have an additional tax on your RV. If you choose to establish another state as your resident state, be sure to sever ALL ties with your current state. That way there can be no doubt as to your intent.

Finally, medical coverage is important, so research that fully before you make a decision....Dennis

[sdianel_-acct_c]

www.myrvmail.com

in Crestview FL will help establish address and help with mail forwarding and other things.

We used them for awhile until we changed to our daughter's address. We found their service great. Never had a problem getting driver's licenses or tags using their service.

[HappyKayakers]

Escapees is not the only option for a legal address in FL. I used St. Brendan's Isle mail forwarding service for years, always with great service. If you have other reasons to join Escapees, your proposal may be better but you don't need to join an organization just to get the mail forwarding.

When I started fulltiming in 2006 I was married and the DW wanted to join every camping/RVing related organization in the country but we didn't really need to.

You should plan on camping close to the dealer where you purchased your RV for at least a month before you start traveling. That way, if you run into warranty problems, it should be easier to get them resolved.