Once house is sold then what! - RV-Dreams Community Forum

leilani59 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Once house is sold then what!

Happytrails · RV-Dreams Family Member

IMHO - I would start purging right now! Don't wait until the house sells. Getting rid of stuff takes a lot of time. We started with the surface "junk" and had a huge yard sale. We took to Goodwill anything that didn't sell. We then went back and did the purging again. This time it was not just "junk" but nice stuff that you want to make sure you try to get a little money for. We used Craig's List and E-bay. We then talked with our son about what items he wants. This is the nice stuff that we want to keep in the family.     What is left over we have talked about word of mouth and sold a few more things. We are getting it down to what we need to keep until the house sells. Once it sells we will try another round of sells and what doesn't sell we will give away.
We already have our motorhome but I am sure lots of folks wait until the house sell to purchase. If you order your RV you might have to rent because it takes awhile to take delivery but if you purchase off a lot or from an owner you just get busy when you get the contract and you know the contract is going to go through. Be careful though because things do happen and as they say, "it ain't over until the fat lady sings."
Our biggest problem is getting the house sold. We have two "looker" again this week. Oh well, it will sell when it sells. Until then we wait! I know I didn't pray for patience, LOL!!

Froggi · RV-Dreams Family Member

Definitely start the purge now....as already stated, some things you will want to pass along to family and good friends and what better time to do it. If it seems overwhelming (I know it was for me), one tip that helped me was to do it one room at a time. Have 4 boxes or totes: trash, donate, sell, store (if you plan to store some things).

What I did was go through each room using this method, what was left was what would go into my RV when I got it. It might take a couple of attempts to really get down to the basics, but it definitely gives you a sense of accomplishment.

When I was selling in 2006, I was in the same boat as you...no RV until I sold. My plans were to either stay with friends or hotel it (weekly rates help). The good thing is that it gives you plenty of time to evaluate what is out there, make the decision for new or used, size, truck if you need one, toad if you need one.

You will also start to look at purchases differently...deciding that it will or won't work in the full-timing environment. I remember doing a lot of that when hubby and I went full-timing.

Once you have a contract and are comfortable with that, then you can get more serious about looking. If you find something you really like, then you can possibly arrange financing and pay it off after the closing. Otherwise, if a private sale you may get them to hold it till closing.

Good luck & keep us updated!!

leilani59 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for the replys.. Now.. I hate to purge now and the house doesn't sell!! We have already had the house up a few months ago for 6 months with no sale.. Of course the house was going for a much higher price. Now we dropped the price by $40,000. so hopefully this time it sells.
Of course we don't have lots and lots of stuff!!!
Being retired military and traveled much we always sold stuff, so i don't thnik the getting rid of things will be difficult.

And yes, we thought that if we get a contract, we will really start looking seriously and ask the private owners to hold until the house sells..

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

We purged the house while it was up for sale and picked out exactly the trailer we wanted to buy and negotiated the final price. The day we agreed to a sale we ordered the trailer. We ended up closing in 30 days and had to live in a motel for 30 days till the trailer was delivered.

Looking back it was a whirlwind period and very stressful, but BOY OH BOY, did it have a great conclusion.

Good luck,

Fred

Judy · RV-Dreams Family Member

We bought our fiver first, paid for it. Then sold the house. After selling the house the buyer wanted some of the things in the house so sold them with the house. Once home was sold items went to either storage, garage sales (4 of them), kids, friends and Good Will. I wouldnt sell all the things in house before home is sold. Just items that are not needed. After all you dont know when or if it will sell and you would have to plan for a bed somewhere wether it be a motel or apt or condo, relatives or friends place.
southwestjudy & Bob & blackdogs

blijil · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just a thought about taking your time when looking for your fifth wheel. We would suggest looking around and getting a handle on things like floor plan, size, two or three manufactures that you are interested in and price range. This may get you looking at RV Trader adds and thinking about a slightly used rig with your "requirements" in mind. The dangers involved in rushing into and RV purchase are many and often costly. You don't have to buy now just get a handle on what you want. When the time comes you will be much more likely to make good decisions without so much pressure.

On the other hand you can get the truck you need fairly quickly once you know the rig size.

Just a thought. Getting rid of your stuff takes a long time if you have as much as we do. Take every opportunity.

Hope you house sells soon.

Larry and Jacki