IdaD wrote:
stevennlv wrote:
I think it might have to do the fact that a lot more people are becoming full-timers. A lot of us have never recovered fully from the great recession. That's a big part of why I became a full timer. I live in a mid-range nice park. It has good amenities and is extremely well maintained. It's not high scale or upend, it's mid-range priced. I've been living here about a year. I think we have about 150 spaces. I have not counted but if I had to take a guess I would say roughly 110 of those are long-term full-time residents. I know we have a waiting list for the month leases that's a year long. We have so many long-term families in here that we actually have a school bus stop inside the park.
I was looking at maybe relocating. I was spitballing a few ideas on job markets and doing some research. I looked at several different cities in a few different states in the northwest. The parks that appear to be similar to what I'm in now had waiting lists for month leases that ran anywhere from 18 to 24 months.
A couple of years ago I was up in Boise. I stayed in a mid to lower end park at the time. It was by far not the worst I've seen but nowhere near as nice as what I have now and significantly cheaper than what I have now. It was not a meth lab / biker kind of place, which I have seen. But it was definitely full of a lot of older trashy units and folks on hard times. Even that park now has a two-year waiting list.
My personal opinion is that a lot of people are finally starting to figure out that modern homes are not worth it especially in uncertain economic times. I did construction when I was young. Most stuff built before the 50s or 60s (before my time) in this country was built with durability in mind. I've got a buddy that's a contractor now. He tells me that modern houses are basically just slapped together and are only designed to last 30 years, basically the life of the mortgage. And as soon as you pay it off it's a falling apart piece of junk and you need another one. One example I love, when I was a kid stucco was done with metal lath and a mixture not dissimilar from concrete in texture and "heaviness". Now so-called stucco is thin-crete sprayed over styrofoam and chicken wire.
Unless you go all high scale / up end your average track home now is built with no more quality than your average RV. And while both are going to fall apart an RV cost a lot less and if taken care of might even actually last as long as the 30-year house. Even if it doesn't I can buy an RV every 10 years for 30 years and still come nowhere near the price of house that is designed to only last 30 years.
With all due respect, that's a whole pile of really misguided opinions. Homes are built far better than RVs, even basic new construction homes, and while many of the components certainly have finite lifetimes, with proper maintenance a home will basically last indefinitely. Home ownership is also a major driver of wealth in the US. In my own case a fairly significant percentage of our household net worth is in the form of home equity, and our current home has appreciated significantly since we bought it about 8 years ago. Show me an RV that'll do that.
As far as full time and part time camper overlap, I'm sure there's some in state parks during the summer. I don't think there are many campers in the type of parks you're describing, though.
Agree 100% People have way too kind memories of the "good ole days". Those tract built homes from the 50s were just as slipshod constructed as any home today. You had lead paint, iron pipes that rust, poor insulation, leaky roofs and windows and on and on. Own a home and maintain it for a period of years you will almost assuredly see the value rise. An RV, no way.
As far as finding more people living on the edge in RV parks, it is mostly a function of math. The population of the US has surged from 240 million in 1980 to nearly 330 million. That means there are more people in each economic strata. In that same time, I doubt there has been any increase of low end, transient accessible, housing. Trailer parks and the like are being closed, not built. That leaves RV parks as one of the only possible locations.
And a fact of RV parks is once one decides to accept longer term tenants, the park likely will spiral into becoming a park full of those type of tenants. Reviews and park appearance will reflect the long term tenants and shorter term guests will shy away leaving only more long term tenants as a business base. It is a very long and difficult road to change that momentum.
