Rv ownership in the land of HOA's

[Clamdigger213]

Hello all, I'm thinking of purchasing a Travel Trailer. Fortunately and Unfortunately I live in an area in Northern Virginia that most of the communities are governed by Home Owner Associations that are not too friendly to RV ownership. I am wondering what types of storage facilities are available to me. What is a going price per foot for storage? What things I need to consider in selecting the right storage facility?

[wbwood]

the bear II wrote:
Our rate in the Los Angeles area is $200 to $350 for a 35 to 45ft long space.

That's redicilous...That's more than what people pay monthly on their note for it...

[SC_camper]

We live in a HOA neighborhood and keep our TT in the back yard. Our covenant states we can have boats or rvs as long as they are under an "approved covering". They wouldnt approve a metal building for a covering and didnt like the thought of a 20'x40' building with a 16' tall door. It would be like a 2 story house in the back corner of everyones 1/2 acre lot. We did get approval for a proper fitting Adco type cover. I will add that we have a 6 foot tall wooden fenced back yard and no other storage buildings.

[wintersun]

Check the actual HOA regs. Often an RV cannot be kept on the street or in a driveway but can sit on a pad behind a fence. Then you can decide whether to spend the money on a slab and gate or on an RV storage facility.

Problem with the off property storage is the worry about theft and logistics of loading the RV before the trip and off loading it when you get back home.

[Playtime_II]

try for prince william county to save you some tax money.

[mgirardo]

When we first moved to GA we moved into an HOA controlled neighborhood. We put our Hybrid TT in storage literally down the street from us. It was great being so close to home, but it was in a very unexposed area. The lot could only be seen from two sides in a low traffic area. At night it was very dark. Needless to say, our TT was broken into twice in 1 month after being stored there about 6 months. The first time I figured they were looking for valuables, found none and left. The second time, I figured they were looking for a place to stay.

We moved to a lot a couple miles away right along a US highway which is much more exposed and has better lighting. We've been there almost 6 years without incident. We pay $30/month for uncovered storage. Cameras are very important as is controlled access. Our storage center has both.

We never leave our Motorhome at the house overnight. It's about 4 feet too long for he driveway anyway. We do bring it home to get it ready for trips and when I need to work on it/winterize, etc.

-Michael

[mdamerell]

We live within the city limits and thus my "city lot" is not large enough to even fit my camper. We belong to a "resort" for lack of a better term. It's also the home CG for C2C (Coast to Coast) if I chose to activate my C2C membership. One of the benefits for us, is we store our camper at the CG for about $200 a year (assigned location, outside, no power). We have 24/7 card key access and there is staff in the area year round 7 days a week.

There are options, just need to find what fits your needs.

[the_bear_II]

We have always stored our RV. If we kept it at the house, the bad guys would know when we are gone. No RV-- No one is Home.

Our present lot has a keypad entry and exit system, cameras and live on site manager. We have never had a problem.

You want to find a secure facility preferably with someone living on site. Fully fenced with keypad or card type entry. Asphalt or cement parking spots that are at least 10' wide (12' is better). Wide roadways with a sewer dump, washing area and fresh water fillup. Access to electric is nice for those times when you need to do some work on the RV or to charge up the batteries if you don't have a generator.

Our rate in the Los Angeles area is $200 to $350 for a 35 to 45ft long space.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

First - find out the limits for the HOA you live under.

We could park ours in front of our house for 48 hours before being in violation of the agreement we signed with the HOA. (There was no room to park a 30' TT at our home - so that was never an option. I always tried to avoid parking it in the street in front of the house over night. Never trusted some of the local teenagers, or their parents, ability to see a TT at night.)

If you have to store off-site - most likely - start driving around and look for storage locations. Many great suggestions above about watching for theft potential.

Remove high value, easily re-salable, items like TV's and electronics. Some places you have to remove things like batteries. Depends upon the local crime rate.

I stored my boat in a locked indoor storage at $125 per month for a couple years. When I bought the TT, I moved the boat and new TT to an outdoor lot for $77.28 per month (have to pay sales tax on TT storage in Texas, but not boats ???)

That lot had one theft during the over two years I used it. The owner called us on a Sunday at 10am to report there was a theft at one unit at the lot. (We were out with out TT and boat at that time. After finding evidence of the break-in and theft, and notifying the owner of the rig involved - he called every person who had something stored in his lot and made them aware of the situation. Which I think is great customer service. Only one person decided to move their rig out after the theft.) Someone cut through the back fence, crossed three quarters of the way across the lot, jacked up a Cardinal and took all four wheels/tires and the spare.

I prefer to rent storage space from a local person who is at the lot daily. However, there are a lot of chain type storage locations which have an apartment and someone living on the lot full-time. That would be my second choice.

[Horizons28]

Most places don't charge by the foot, just a flat fee per month for a space. When we lived in northern VA (near Leesburg) we stored our RV near Winchester. The 45 minute drive was inconvenient, but spaces were available and a bit less expensive.

[wbwood]

bukhrn wrote:
Our local self storage place has fenced, uncovered storage. But I have no idea what it costs as I park mine in my driveway next to my house.
Many campgrounds store RV's, if you can find one out away from the city, it may be a little cheaper.

We used to store the 31' TT we had here in the Mooresville, NC area at a self storage type of place. It was fenced in, no assigned spots and on gravel/dirt. Got real muddy when it rained. It cost us I believe $40/month. Other places that were paved, were nearly twice as much. We did park it at our home for a while as we do not have HOA. But we live on a slope and could only park in the side yard towards he back. If it rained, we could not get it out. Often when it was dry, I would have to put the truck in 4 wheel drive to pull it out. That got old and so we put it in the storage lot. The motorhome we can park in the driveway. It's still on a slope, but has brakes to keep it from going anywhere.

[2012Coleman]

Check local farmers or classified listings to see if anyone wants to rent barn space.

[opnspaces]

How true this is. The first place I stored at had multiple break ins over a couple of months. My friend who was also storing there told me he talked to the Sheriff deputies about the theft rate. They told him that they are always at this facility for theft, but have never in ten years been to the facility 3 miles away. That week both of our trailers were moved to the new facility. So far after seven years no problems.

[DutchmenSport]

Check with your lcoal police department and see if they will give you stats on theft and vandalism for the facilities you end up considering. The numbers may sway your opinion.

[LakeN]

You want a storage facility that is gated with video surveillance (SP). As said covered storage is much more expensive, our area about 150/mth.