sell home or not to sell

[soozcna]

WE are in a situation where we are thinking about selling our home and buying a class A rv to travel for a few months before we purchase another home. We do not have a mortgage and are both retired with a steady income. We are not new to RVing, recently sold a class C. (we are not selling our home so we can travel, we want a smaller home)Need some advice from anyone that has done this. What to expect? What to plan for and if you regretted it. Thanks!

[jdc1]

If you lived in California, it would be a no brainer. If I sold my home, then bought a another one for the same price in a year, my property taxes would go from $1,750/year to over $7,000/year. I would rent it out and take my time to decide what to do. I would pocket another $36,000+ in a year renting my home out.

[joezippy]

Sell it all, except those things you truly love, put them in storage. Once you cash out you can clearly evaluate all you have and all you want. If you are downsizing you are going to have to "lighten the load" regardless... Sooner you do the more you save. Once you free yourself from your stuff including the home the new plan will become crystal clear, your stuff is holding you back. This housing market will not last, get out at the top. We did. Good luck, regardless of your decision... Cheers.

[time2roll]

For 3 to 6 months? Keep the house for now.

[JC2]

My thoughts also 100%. I recommend waiting a year before deciding whether to sell or keep the house. In the "real" world true full timing don't also work for everyone.

[winnietrey]

I would not sell the house. If you do, you are taking your options away.
What if you don't like life on the road? Where will you live if you are house hunting.

I assume the next house you buy, is where you want to live for a long time.
Don't know about where you live, but here in Puget sound it's a feeding frenzy. Houses going for way over asking. And the competition is brutal

If you sell, you risk paying to much for your next house, and ending up with one you don't really like. Just to get out of the RV. That would cost you much more than leaving the house empty for a few months.

Just me, but I like Having options, and not locking myself in

And to me, the two are not really related. At some point you want a smaller house, and you want to RV for a few months. Trying to combine those two goals could lead to regrets in my opinion

[wanderingaimles]

Have to agree with Valhalla,
IF you don't plan to go back and live in the house, then sell it now, Save the taxes, insurance and maintenance cost and store the household items you feel you must keep.
IF you know where you want to eventually buy again, go ahead and move the household goods to the area to simplify the final move a year or so from now.
We're in Va, and are putting the house up as soon as m'ladies health issues are resolved. We will move them to somewhere in the midwest and store them there until we decide on our final landing spot which could be anywhere from SD to NM, to Id. In our case, once we get out west, I don't see us coming back east, so staging them in the region, probably near Denver seems to make sense.

[Lwiddis]

IMO keep the house until you are sure you like full timing. No better place for investment right now than homes in SoCal.

[valhalla360]

If you aren't planning to return to the house (as indicated by your post), sell it. By the time you factor in property taxes and insurance, it will be cheaper to pay for a storage unit for a few months.

Then you have better options:
- If you decide you love the full time lifestyle, you don't have to worry about the old house. Eventually, you can have a yard sale with the stuff in storage (or give it to the kids)
- If you don't, when the time comes to buy a new house, you don't have the issue of having two houses with the expenses they incorporate. It makes a much cleaner purchase process and you don't feel pressured to sell the old before buying the new.

[JimK-NY]

For me the time period of a "few" months would be a big consideration along with the amount of household furniture and items. My inclination would be to sell and not have to worry about leaving a house empty while you travel. There is an expense to that. You would need to pack up and move your stuff into storage and then later on move again to a new place. I suspect that would be cheaper and move convenient than paying for a house you are not using. We did the same thing but our "few" months was close to two years.

[Ivylog]

Don’t know if the housing market is hot in Delaware but if it is, now is a good time to sell but the Motorhome market is hot also. Why did you sell the C if only going to RV for several months???
Are you going to move to a lower tax state or stay in Delaware with a smaller house? The current housing bubble and RV frenzy will bust but hard to say if it will be one year or two years. Selling your home now and using a motorhome for a couple years to buy low in the future might make sense.
Hard to give answers when there’s so many questions.